DETAILED LITERARY DEVICE ASSOCIATED WITH POETRY

DETAILED LITERARY DEVICES ASSOCIATED WITH POETRY

RHYTHM / METRE

Rhythm is the measurable pattern of a poem. (Or verse) It is the metrical movement, order in the stanza form, or overall structure of the poem. It is the beat, or order and measure of the poem. This is why rhythm and metre are classified as one; but there is a distinction between them.

Rhythm depends upon the arrangement of stresses. Stress is the syllable to which we give force, breath or emphasis in spoken language, speech or what is called emphatic stress. It is therefore, better and easier to pick up rhythm by ear than just looking at the words to determine which is the stressed or unstressed. Nevertheless, rhythm in poetry is not a matter of counting syllables alone.

Metre is the basic pattern of a poem. These basic patterns are iambic, trochaic, anapestic, and dactylic. Feet are used in the composition of patterns. In verse, a foot is the stressed syllable together with the unstressed syllable in a line. For example, a short line has fewer feet than a long one. The purpose of metre is to give beat to a poem. Thus poetry is written in metre.

Metre can be said to be rhythm when the beat of a poem is structured into a recurrence of regular and equal units. Metre is known by the structure of stronger (stressed) and weaker (light, slack, unstressed) Stresses in the syllables make up the line, i.e. accents.

PATTERNS OF METRE

(i)                Iambic: This is a regular rhythm and is the most common in poetry. It is made up of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Here is an example of an iambic:

The people got their money back.

                  We find the iambic metre in all Shakespeare’s play all heroic couplet and all sonnets. We also find it in Milton’s Paradise Lost and Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. The iambic is known as a rising metre since there is a strong stress at the end of the rhythm; it is also called a duple metre because it consists of two syllables.

(ii)              Anapest: This metre consists of unstressed followed by a stressed syllable. It is a fast rhythm used for speed in poetry. Below is a good example of an anapest.

To begin with a bigger problem is the best.

The anapest is also a rising metre because of the strong stress it has at the end. In addition to this, it can be called a triple metre since has three syllables.

(iii)            Trochaic: This is a metre of a stressed syllable. It is usually very light, and is found in poems of bright moods. An example is:

My orange dropped into the gutter.

The trochaic is a falling metre because it has a strong stress at the beginning and a weak one at the end. It is also called a duple metre as a result of its two syllables.

(iv)            Dactyl: This is one stressed syllable alternating with two unstressed syllables with the stressed one coming first. It is common in narratives. Here is an example of a dactylic line:

There are nine days of holiday in last month.

The dactyl is a falling metre because the weak stress is at the end. It is also called a triple metre because of the syllables it has.

A metric line is called by the number of feet it is made up of. Below is an analysis of this.

One feet is a monometer

Two feet is a diameter

Three feet is a trimester

Four feet is a tetrameter or a quadruped

Five feet is a pentameter (this is the most common)

Six feet is hexameter (this is common in classical poetry) or an Alexandrine

Seven feet is septenarius or a heptameter. (This iambic feet is very rare, though. It is also known as the fourteener, i.e. a line of seven iambic feet. It often breaks into a unit of four feet followed by a unit of three feet)

Eight feet is an octometer.

RHYME

Rhyme is phonetic form or metrical device in poetry, based on the sound identities of words.  It reveals the placing of similarity in dissimilarity and dissimilarity in similarity. It is not an ordinary duplication of sounds but a compliment and approximation of sounds.

Rhyme organizes and is sometimes used to embellish a poem; it ends lines and links stanza and couplets. Rhyming words can be identified by the last stressed vowel, and of all speech sounds following it e.g. seat, beast, bow, and cow.

Rhyme found at the end of the verse line are called end rhymes; while those found within the verse line are called internal rhymes. When the correspondence of a rhymed sound is exact, we have a perfect rhyme which is also known as a full or true rhyme. On the other hand, a partial rhyme (i.e. a near true rhyme) is found when rhyme vowels are similar.

Patterns of rhymes are known as rhyme schemes, and are denoted by letters of the alphabet. The rhyme scheme of a poem plays a part in its rhyme and emotional effect. We shall now discuss the different types of rhyme available to us.

(a)  Couplet: This is the rhyming pattern of the two end lines of the stanza

which is denoted by ab ab throughout the poem. Couplet may be long or short. Heroic couplet, which is a type of couplet, is a part of iambic pentameter lines rhyming. It is often without enjambment, i.e. closed. Examples of this couplet are Pope’s An Essay on Criticism, Goeffrey Chaucer’s Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, George Crabbe’s The Village, and Veld Edogues’ The Pioneers.

(b) Triplet: This is a group of three iambic pentameter lines rhyming in any meter. It is shown by aba, bcb, cac, ded, efe, etc.  Thus ending a quatrain or couplet, so that one word would not be left unrhymed. Examples of this are found in P. B. Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind, and Byron’s The Prophecy of Dante.

(c)   Quatrain: This is a verse of four rhyming lines having a rhyme scheme of abab, abbc, aaaa, aaab aaba. It is found in most Christian hymns, Tennyson’s in Memoriam, and T. Gray’s Elegy in a Country Churchyard.

(d) Sonnet: This is a poem of fourteen iambic pentameter lines, with any of the following rhyme schemes:

·        Shakespearian- popularly used by Shakespeare. It consist of abab, cdcd, efef, gg;

·        Petrarchan popularized by Petrarch an Italian poet, it comprised of abba, abba, cde, cde or abba, abba, ccd, eed;

·        Spenserian it was used by Spenser, it consist of abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee;

Sonnet usually has a pause or a break between the octave (first eight lines) and the sestet (the last six lines). In the Shakespearian sonnet, the break is only before the final couplet (just two lines)

(e)  Spenserian stanza: This is a verse of eight iambic pentameter lines followed by one iambic hexameter, known as the Alexandrine. The scheme which is ababcbcc, may be found for example in Spenser’s The Faerie Queene and Keat’s The Evil of St. Agnes. This kind of poem usually suggests something formal, serious or ceremonial.

(f)   Rhyme Royal: this is another type of rhyme called Troilus Stanza or Chaucerian stanza. It is made up of seven iambic pentameter lines rhyming, with a pattern of ababbcc. Examples are in Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, The Clerk’s Tale and Shakespears’s The Rape of Lucrece. From the above discussion, we understand that a rhyme is formed when end line meet with similar sounds meet in the same stanza or poem. A perfect example is Dennis Osadebay’s ‘To the Women of New Africa’. This is a poem of three stanza, with each stanza having a quatrain of aabb rhyme scheme. Let us examine the first and last stanza of the poem.

Proud mothers of the coming age,  a

‘Tis good to end you now engage,  a

Your minds and time your lives to raise  b

Above the level of bye-gone days  b

God bless you, Mothers of our race  a

God cause to shine on you His face    a

And give you strength and all you crave  b

To bring forth sons and daughters brave  b

ANTITHESIS

This is a contrast or opposition in meaning. Ideas are contrasted in such a way that words of opposite or clearly different meanings are brought side by side. It is used to draw attention by such a sharp contrast of opposite ideas. Antithesis is a sharper contrast than irony because the contrast in the former is fully stated, while in the later, the opposite meaning is revealed more by the tone and manner than by the ordinary meaning of the word used. Antithesis imparts ideas and embellishes poetry, prose or drama.

This literary device is used to display satirical wit, and we come across it in humorous poems. Here is an example of antithesis.

                                    Since thou hast view’d some Gorgon,

                                    and art grown a solid stone

                                    To bring again to softness thy

                                    hard heart is past my art.

REPETITION

Repetition is a unifying device that gives poetry some pattern. Words sound syllables phrases, lines, or stanza can be repeated in verse. This device reinforces and supplements any poem in which it occurs.

A refrain is the frequent repetition of words in the same pattern at regular intervals. Repetition is used to separate narratives into segments, for in ballads and hymns; it is also to indicate shifts, movements or a development of emotion.

Repetition can be used to comment on something, or employed in such a way that the remaining part of a poem rest on or develops from the first repeated parts. It can be found at the end of a verse, to link lines together (end rhymes) or to create relationships within the same line (internal rhyme)

The device is sometimes used to create attraction for or interest in a poem, as well as to establish its mood. When it is for emphasis, repetition has an increased emotional and/ or intellectual effect.

A good example of repetition is the pun, where the difference and not the similarity is emphasized. An example of repetition can be found in George Herbert’s ‘Discipline’. Let us examine the first and last stanza.

                                                Throw away thy rod;

                                                Throw away thy wrath,

                                                O my God,

                                                Take the gentle path.

                                                Throw away thy rod,

                                                Though man frailties hath.

                                                Thou art God

                                                Throw away thy wrath.

The two stanzas above reflect the repetition of ‘throw away’, ‘thy rod’, and ‘thy wrath’. The repeated lines are for emphasis to show an action the poet wants carried out. Another poem that shows repetition is Lenrie Peters’. ‘We Have Come Home’. In five out of six stanza of the poem, the phrase ‘We Have Come Home’ begins each of them. The repetition gives the poem a musical rhythm and embellishes it. However, some repetitions make poems dull, drab and trivial.

ASSONANCE

In order to understand this device of poetry used for the creation of sound effects, it is necessary to distinguish it from alliteration and consonance.

Alliteration also called initial rhyme) is the sound element in which two or more words in the same line of a poem begin with the same consonant sound. However, students should note that this word was used in the past to cover its present limited meaning, as well as consonance and assonance.

Below is an example of alliteration in its present and original meaning of repeated initial sounds.

                                                ‘Lost in your legend’

The ‘l’ is sound alliterated here.

Consonance, on the hand is the repeated use of similar consonant sounds in a line where the sounds appear not at the beginning as in alliter ation, but at the middle or at the end of the line. An example is the position the ‘l’ sound occupies in the lines below.

                                                a wagtail to tell

                                                the tangle-wood-tale.

Assonance, our chief concern is also called vocalic rhyme. It denotes solidarity of vowel sounds in two or more words whose consonants differ, in a line or line groups of poetry. The ‘a’ and ‘o’ sounds in the pairs of words are assonantal.

                                                grave / fate

                                                glory / holy

To be noticed at all, the first two assonances in a sequence must be very close or they must be in the first and last words of the line.

ALLUSION

An allusion is a tacit or indirect reference to literary work, work of art, historical fact, or contemporary and past persons, figures, and so on. We can distinguish allusion from mere references by the fact it is never a full, clear reference, but a tacit one. Moreover, an allusion must fuse with the new context. There are five main types of allusion which shall be discussed below.

(a)  Topical: This type of allusion is a reference to recent events and things commonly known. An example of this is Matthew Arnold’s reference to the European crisis of 1848 in the last stanza of his poem, ‘Dover Beach’.

(b)  Personal: This makes references to facts concerning the writer himself. The fact must generally familiar to the reader or they must be made easy to group. Modern poetry uses personal allusion a lot, unlike Romantic poetry which depends more on topical allusion. An example is Okigbo’s reference to his mother, Anna, in the third sequence of his poem, ‘The Passage’.

(c)  Metaphorical: This is quite different from the first two in that it is rather complex in function and richer in meaning. It uses the fact or person referred to as metaphor for what the poet wants to talk about in the context. Neo-classical (also called Augustan) poetry of eighteenth century is fond of metaphorical allusion. An example is Eliot’s reference to the crucifixion of Christ with the phrase ’three trees on the low sky’ in his poem, ‘Journey of the Magi’.

(d) Imitative: This allusion is often very specific to a particular trait or form linking the one alludes to with that of the new context. Usually, this kind has to do with forms or types of literature, with the new context or type intending to imitate the older one. Tennyson’s treatment of his hero in the poem, ‘Ulysses’, is imitative of Homer Dante in ‘The Odyssey’ and ‘Inferno’ respectively.

(e)  Structural: In this type, the structure of an older work of literature is suggested by a new one. Hemingway’s ‘A Farewell to Arms’ is a structural allusion to the poem.

Allusion functions in several ways:

·        They are used to display knowledge

·        They appeal to common experience which the writer shares with the reader and

·        They enrich a literary work by merging the old element with the new one.

For allusion to be effective, one must be familiar with the original fact or figure.

SYMBOLISM

The work ‘symbol’ comes from the Greek verb symballein meaning ‘to put together’, and the Greek noun symbolon meaning a ‘mark’, ‘token’ or ‘sign’. In literature, symbolism refers specifically to a manner of representing something more or something else (usually immaterial idea) because of certain association.

Thus, a literary symbol unites an image (analogy) with an idea or conception (subject) which that image evokes or suggests. In this sense, symbols resemble figures of speech like metaphors and similes; however their basic difference is similes and metaphors, which what is said (analogy) is quite distinct from what is meant (idea or subject). The relationship between symbols and similes/metaphors is based on a stated or implied resemblance which does not however, cancel the difference.

In symbols, the analogy is put in place of the subject i.e. we read what said (analogy) is as if it were what is really meant (subject). It is, therefore like an expanded figure of speech. This is why recurring metaphors are sometimes spoken of as symbols. We are, however, made to realize that by virtue of the association provoked and the manner in which it is said, the speaker or writer means something more or something else  (additional or  true meaning)

For an image to be symbolic, the connection between the analogy and the subject may be made explicit in the work, as in ‘sea of faith’ for example, in Arnold’s ‘Dover Beach’. Secondly, the image must be presented in such a way as to discourage a literal interpretation, or to encourage further interpretation. Thirdly, the pressure of implicit association must be great because of the long literary tradition of the analogy, as in Tennyson’s Ulysses.

Therefore, a figure of speech or imagery is not symbolic unless a literal interpretation is insufficient to explain the full import of the image. Symbols may be conventional; that is, a human experience in nature, a human body or man –made objects. There may also be symbols arising from internal relationship of the work. It is always important to investigate the status of such symbols whether they are presented literally in the work or they are presented in a dream state or visionary context.

 Symbols may be private, but the way an image leading to such symbolism has acquired associative power. Whether by virtue of universal human experience, a particular historical convention or the internal relationship of the work must be carefully examined.

ALLEGORY

An allegory is a term denoting technique fiction writing. Allegorical words therefore, constitute the various forms of fiction. In an allegory, the events of a narrative continuously refer to another order of events or ideas simultaneously. Myths and fables are forms closely related to allegory and often used allegorically. What distinguished allegory from allusion is that in the former, the similarity of events or ideas must be continuous throughout the narrative.

There are usually two broad types of allegory.  The first i.e. the historical or political type refers to characters and beyond those described in the fiction. A popular example is George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

The second type of allegory is moral, philosophical, religious or scientific. This type refers to an additional set of ideas besides those in the fiction. An example is John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. However, when an allegorical sentence is not really continuous, but intermittently, we may say that the work has an allegorical tendency.

Allegories can be simple or complex. They are simple if the functional narrative is completely subordinate to the idea or message. An example of these abounds in the Bible. Complete allegories develop an ironic tone as a result the fact the writer pretends to be talking about one set of incidents while actually speaking of a very different thing; Animal Farm is a complete allegory.

We note that historical or political allegories are often satirical. Moral allegories on the other hand, are often very serious in tones. The fictional element in them provides entertainment, while the moral element provides instruction. Allegory also uses a great deal of personification, making characters to represent abstract, moral ideals or principles.

By:

Eguriase S. M. Okaka