Poetry , Lyric , Free Verse , Epics , Art of Reading [ 3 ]

3- ] Art of Reading .

Poetry .

These reading strategies will be especially useful , when you read poetry .

Clarify :

Unravel [ paraphrase ] difficult passages by asking yourself “ What is another way of saying this ? Then , read slowly .

Visualize :

As you read , try to picture what the poem is describing .

Listen :

Whether reading aloud to yourself , listen to the sounds the words make . Ask yourself how the sounds fit with the meaning of the poem .

Interpret :

Look beyond the literal meaning of the words and try to find he larger ideas the poet wants to express . Ask yourself what certain symbols might stand for . Look for new connections in similes and metaphors .

Personification :

It is a figure of speech that describes an animal , an object , an idea or a force of nature as if it had human qualities , feelings and characteristics .

Speaker :

The speaker in a poem is the voice that communicates the actions or ideas to the reader . The speaker may be the poet or an invented person , animal or thing .

A Lyric Poem .

A lyric poem might be about an object , a person or an event , but it usually focuses on an emotional experience of the poem’s speaker . Lyric poems are generally short and musical . They often include a variety of sound effects , such as the following :

1-] Repetition :  The repeating of sounds , words , phrases , lines or stanzas .

2-] Rhyme : The repeating of vowel and consonant sounds at the ends of words as in / wood , stood , could .

3-] Rhythm :    The pattern of stressed [ / ] and unstressed [ ˇ ] syllables as in .    /        /           ˇ       /     ˇ   ˇ     /   ˇ         /

       Two roads  diverged  in a   yellow  wood .

What you should do in reading a poem :

 1-] How long is the poem ? 2-] What’s the poem about ? 3-] Name one emotion the speaker experiences . 4-] Name one phrase that is repeated in the poem . 5-] Which words rhyme in the second stanza ? 6-] Mark the stressed and unstressed syllables .

Sound Devices :

Sound devices are techniques that poets and writers use to emphasize sounds . By emphasizing certain sounds , poets can create rhythm , draw attention to particular words , add to the poem’s meaning and set a mood .

There are many types of sound devices such as rhythm , rhyme , alliteration and assonance .

Alliteration :   It is the repetition of sounds at the beginning of words . For example , in the phrase “ madly mowing the lawn midnight” , the [ m ] sound is repeated . It is used to draw attention to certain words and add a rhythmic or musical quality to their work .

Assonance :  It is the repetition of vowel sounds within words . For example , in the sentence “ moving can be soothing , the long o:[ oo]

is emphasized .

Free Verse :

Poetry without a fixed pattern of rhyme , rhythm , line length or stanza arrangement is called free verse . Some poets use the free verse to give their poems the natural realistic rhythms of conversation . Repetition and strong images are often the main poetic devices in free verse poems . The varied line lengths and line breaks are characteristics of free verse .

Example

Desmet , Idaho , March 1969 .

Janet Campbell Hale .

At my father’s wake ,

The old people

                Knew me ,

            Though I

                    Knew them not ,

And spoke to me

In our tribe’s

Ancient tongue ,

Ignoring

The fact

That I

 Don’t speak

 The language

 And so

I listened

As if I understood

What it was all about ,

And ,

Oh,

How it

Stirred me

To hear again

That strange

        Softly

       Flowing

 Native tongue ,

So

Familiar to

My childhood ear .

This poem is one long sentence , which can make the poem difficult to understand .

Epics .

Epic poetry began long before people invented writing . With no books to preserve their myths and legends , people relied upon storytellers to excite these tales from memory , often with musical accompaniment . Some of the most famous epics come from ancient Greece , dating from the period before 700 B.C .

We read epic poems for some of the same reasons that ancient audiences listened to them . They are exciting stories that fill us with wonder and show us examples of strength , intelligence and moral courage . But modern readers get something extra – a glimpse of what people found admirable in times long past . Epics give us clues about what the world was like before people created writing . The Odyssey by Homer is an example of the epic .

The Common Elements Of The Epics :

1-] Epics are long stories with many episodes and written epics often begin with a list of characters .

2-] A heroic central figure undergoes trials and adventures .

3-] The setting is often on a grand scale , spanning a continent or the whole world .

4-] Gods and monsters often play a role and the action is frequently violent .

5-] Epics often begin with an invocation , a plea for inspiration from a guiding spirit . The invocation serves a second purpose : to capture the audience’s attention with highlights of heroic adventures that the poet will later describe in detail .

6-] The action usually begins “ in the middle of things” after important events have already happened .

7-] Epics aim to inspire the listener with examples of human courage shown by someone facing great odds .

8-] In many versions , side notes keyed to line numbers explain difficult words or passages to the reader .

9-] Because epics deal with serious important subjects , they use a formal tone and style .

10-] The quest or pursuit of a goal is a common theme in epic poetry . Odysseus was on a quest to return home .

11-]An epic often includes a list of characters .

An epic simile   It is a simile that is longer than a single line of verse and includes many descriptive details .