The Element of Poetry

Consist of :

Line

Rhythm

Foot

Rhyme Scheme

Stanza

2.1 Line      

A poem has some sort of form. we often notice that it also consists of LINES. These are the vehicle of the author’s thoughts and ideas. These are the building blocks with which to create a poem. The WORDS of each line proceed as usual from left to right, but they curiously end where the poet wants them to stop. Therefore, you may have some lines that are of equal length and others which are not.

Besides the length and margining of the first word in each line, the PUNCTUATION at the end of each is also a major tool for the poet. At times he will want us to make a full stop, other times a gentle or slight pause; and even others perhaps a sudden break, and so on. Ultimately, then, poetry creates sensations, moods, and images in the reader's mind.

 Definition “Line” is a single line of word in a poem.

2.2 Rhythm

Rhythm in poetry refers to the pattern of repeated sound. Rhythm is one of the contributors to the pattern created in reading or writing a poem:

Example:

Far winter’s rains and ruin are over

And all day the season of snows and sins

The day dividing lover and lower

The light and loses

2.3 Foot

Foot is the metrical unit by which a line of poetry is measured; it usually consists of one stressed or accented ( ' ) and one or two unstressed or unaccented syllables ( - ).

 For example: I sit on the floor

2.4 Rhyme Scheme

Rhyme Scheme: As a continuation of rhyme, the rhyme scheme is also one of the basic elements of poetry. In simple words, it is defined as the pattern of rhyme. Either the last words of the first and second lines rhyme with each other, or the first and the third, second and the fourth and so on. It is denoted by alphabets like aabb (1st line rhyming with 2nd, 3rd with 4th); abab (1st with 3rd, 2nd with 4th); abba (1st with 4th, 2nd with 3rd), etc.

E.g.             wind is a cat

                   That prowl a at night

       Now in a valley

       Now on a height

2.5 Stanza                 

Stanza: Stanza in poetry is defined as a smaller unit or group of lines or a paragraph in a poem. A particular stanza has a specific meter, rhyme scheme, etc.

Based on the number of lines,stanzas are named as :

v  couplet (2 lines)

v  Tercet (3 lines)

v  Quatrain (4 lines)

v  Cinquain (5 lines)

v  Sestet (6 lines)

v   Septet (7 lines)

v  Octave (8 lines)