The Language of Poetry: Sound
For many poems, the sound of the words is a key component. In the past, it was even more important because people could not read the poems; they needed to keep their ears wide open and let the language carry them along. Now we read more poems than we listen to, but the sounds that words make are vital to the success of most poems.
Sound Devices:
The music or rhythm of each line depends on the choice and placing of words. Rhythm, working alongside the meaning of words, helps to shape the whole poem. A fast rhythm can make words exciting or angry. A slow rhythm may emphasize thoughtfulness or peace. But not always.
Poems need the best words you can think of. Words are made up of sounds, and sound matters when you're writing poetry. Though the meanings may be the same (a rock or a stone? Small or little?), the sounds are different. Some words are long and slow, some snappy and quick. Some are light, some heavy. You are after great sound effects, so pick your words for sound as well as meaning.
Onomatopoeia: (pronounced: ona mata pe a): A type of figurative language where the writer uses words whose pronunciation imitates the sound the word describes; the sound reinforces or even imitates their meaning (thud, bang, hiss). The word "spit" sounds rather like the act of spitting. The use of onomatopoeia can add more effect to the poem and create more vivid images.
Alliteration: Refers to the repetition of identical consonant sounds at the beginning of words in close proximity "Peter Piper picked a peck..."; “Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed…”
Consonance: The repetition of consonant sound at the end or in the middle of words: "struts and frets."
Assonance: Refers to the repetition of identical vowel sounds in different, closely associated words, usually in the middle of words: "...he clattered and clashed," "Xanadu did Kubla Khan"
Cacophony: The use of harsh, discordant, and dissonant (jarring, unmusical) sounds for poetic effect. For example, Breakers crashed onto jagged rocks and clawed the sands with brutal strikes, pummeling the beach.
Dissonance: Refers to a harsh rhythm, or lack of harmony between sounds. Dissonance is similar to cacophony, and opposite to euphony.
Euphony: The pleasant, musical quality produced by agreeable sounds and images in a line of poetry
Repetition: Repeating a key word, phrase, line of a poem, sound or idea can emphasize its importance to the reader. It can add force and clarity, act as a unifying device, and help create the rhythm of a poem.
Punctuation: Punctuation plays a useful role in poetry as it tells you what the phrasing (location of pauses) should be. If you see punctuation at the end of a line of poetry (end-stopped line), pause before continuing. If there is no end punctuation (enjambment), read the next line right away as the two lines are part of one thought. We'll talk more about lineation in the next section.
Internal Rhyme: Rhyming within a line, for example: “dandled and sandelled”
Note the word choice in this next poem, particularly the use of cacophony, alliteration and onomatopoeia.
For many poems, the sound of the words is a key component. In the past, it was even more important because people could not read the poems; they needed to keep their ears wide open and let the language carry them along. Now we read more poems than we listen to, but the sounds that words make are vital to the success of most poems.
Sound Devices:
The music or rhythm of each line depends on the choice and placing of words. Rhythm, working alongside the meaning of words, helps to shape the whole poem. A fast rhythm can make words exciting or angry. A slow rhythm may emphasize thoughtfulness or peace. But not always.
Poems need the best words you can think of. Words are made up of sounds, and sound matters when you're writing poetry. Though the meanings may be the same (a rock or a stone? Small or little?), the sounds are different. Some words are long and slow, some snappy and quick. Some are light, some heavy. You are after great sound effects, so pick your words for sound as well as meaning.
Onomatopoeia: (pronounced: ona mata pe a): A type of figurative language where the writer uses words whose pronunciation imitates the sound the word describes; the sound reinforces or even imitates their meaning (thud, bang, hiss). The word "spit" sounds rather like the act of spitting. The use of onomatopoeia can add more effect to the poem and create more vivid images.
Alliteration: Refers to the repetition of identical consonant sounds at the beginning of words in close proximity "Peter Piper picked a peck..."; “Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed…”
Consonance: The repetition of consonant sound at the end or in the middle of words: "struts and frets."
Assonance: Refers to the repetition of identical vowel sounds in different, closely associated words, usually in the middle of words: "...he clattered and clashed," "Xanadu did Kubla Khan"
Cacophony: The use of harsh, discordant, and dissonant (jarring, unmusical) sounds for poetic effect. For example, Breakers crashed onto jagged rocks and clawed the sands with brutal strikes, pummeling the beach.
Dissonance: Refers to a harsh rhythm, or lack of harmony between sounds. Dissonance is similar to cacophony, and opposite to euphony.
Euphony: The pleasant, musical quality produced by agreeable sounds and images in a line of poetry
Repetition: Repeating a key word, phrase, line of a poem, sound or idea can emphasize its importance to the reader. It can add force and clarity, act as a unifying device, and help create the rhythm of a poem.
Punctuation: Punctuation plays a useful role in poetry as it tells you what the phrasing (location of pauses) should be. If you see punctuation at the end of a line of poetry (end-stopped line), pause before continuing. If there is no end punctuation (enjambment), read the next line right away as the two lines are part of one thought. We'll talk more about lineation in the next section.
Internal Rhyme: Rhyming within a line, for example: “dandled and sandelled”
Note the word choice in this next poem, particularly the use of cacophony, alliteration and onomatopoeia.
In the MRI Machine
The sounds of battle: a scrape,
a crunch, the clang of swords
on shields and roar of aircraft
engines. The close quarters
of a cylinder: embalmed in a missile,
I’m shot into the clutch of armies--
The particulates of matter
and one man on a plastic slab,
lying so still that a black bear,
ambling through the hospital,
would nudge him with its nose
and leave him for dead--
As the MRI works, I pray it can’t
detect failures. On cue the machine
catches, slows to the rhythmic thrum
of a hammer striking a coffin.
It knows the brain’s a tangled knot
of blighted thought, a gnarled whorl
of the soul’s dark root. Then it moves
to the lush pastures of the body,
a harvest of grains and tubers
in the long magnetic season.
By Shane Neilson
The sounds of battle: a scrape,
a crunch, the clang of swords
on shields and roar of aircraft
engines. The close quarters
of a cylinder: embalmed in a missile,
I’m shot into the clutch of armies--
The particulates of matter
and one man on a plastic slab,
lying so still that a black bear,
ambling through the hospital,
would nudge him with its nose
and leave him for dead--
As the MRI works, I pray it can’t
detect failures. On cue the machine
catches, slows to the rhythmic thrum
of a hammer striking a coffin.
It knows the brain’s a tangled knot
of blighted thought, a gnarled whorl
of the soul’s dark root. Then it moves
to the lush pastures of the body,
a harvest of grains and tubers
in the long magnetic season.
By Shane Neilson
Sounds can help us when we're writing--they provide a sort of cocoon for us. If you haven't written before in a coffee shop, why not try that this week? Being among people in a public place can often be a good place in which to create. For some reason, many people find this to be true; it also takes you away from your desk, your chores at home, interruptions, distractions, etc.
If you can't get out to a coffee shop, maybe you'd like to try this link. It's an app, simulating the experience: Coffitivity
Play this and write for fifteen minutes. You can try using it with free writing.
Image Source: http://lindseyemery.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/coffee-shop-1.jpg
If you can't get out to a coffee shop, maybe you'd like to try this link. It's an app, simulating the experience: Coffitivity
Play this and write for fifteen minutes. You can try using it with free writing.
Image Source: http://lindseyemery.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/coffee-shop-1.jpg
Poetry Writing #13: A Sound List
o Wherever you are right now, listen carefully for a minute or two. Write down what you hear.
o Does anything trigger a memory, or an urge to write a poem? If so, go for it.
o If you need a little help, try employing a list, just to get you thinking in more poetic terms. For example, the motorcycle sounds like a ____. The bees in the lilacs _____ the air. Using simile and metaphor can greatly strengthen your writing.
Here's another poem that uses sound images to full effect. It's also a Praise Poem (A poem in which the theme or intention is to speak positively about its subject; in other words, to praise it.) A List of Praises
o Wherever you are right now, listen carefully for a minute or two. Write down what you hear.
o Does anything trigger a memory, or an urge to write a poem? If so, go for it.
o If you need a little help, try employing a list, just to get you thinking in more poetic terms. For example, the motorcycle sounds like a ____. The bees in the lilacs _____ the air. Using simile and metaphor can greatly strengthen your writing.
Here's another poem that uses sound images to full effect. It's also a Praise Poem (A poem in which the theme or intention is to speak positively about its subject; in other words, to praise it.) A List of Praises
Swallowing Poetry #7: "Binsey Poplars" & "Selvages"
Activity 1: Read the next poem--describe how the following poet made words work for him?
Binsey Poplars
felled 1879
My aspens dear, whose airy cages quelled,
Quelled or quenched in leaves the leaping sun,
All felled, felled, are all felled;
Of a fresh and following folded rank
Not spared, not one
That dandled a sandalled
Shadow that swam or sank
On meadow & river & wind-wandering weed-winding bank.
O if we but knew what we do
When we delve or hew --
Hack and rack the growing green!
Since country is so tender
To touch, her being só slender,
That, like this sleek and seeing ball
But a prick will make no eye at all,
Where we, even where we mean
To mend her we end her,
When we hew or delve:
After-comers cannot guess the beauty been.
Ten or twelve, only ten or twelve
Strokes of havoc unselve
The sweet especial scene,
Rural scene, a rural scene,
Sweet especial rural scene.
BY GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
Source: Gerard Manley Hopkins: Poems and Prose (Penguin Classics, 1985)
Activity 2: In a paragraph, describe how the “language “contributes to the overall feeling of the following poem?
Selvages
Clouds sweep, blocking
fresh heat, a low flung
autumn sun. The trail’s
full brown seed pods, their locust-
shapes popping silver hairs
like silk. They feather our necks.
I don’t say I know why
you brought me here. I’m gathering
leaves now to selectively, my feet
splitting silence like axe blows.
We hold tight. Look up instead.
Spotted leaves hang precarious, thin
selvages clinging to white limbs.
Like us, they know it can’t last.
By Carla Hartsfield
Activity 1: Read the next poem--describe how the following poet made words work for him?
Binsey Poplars
felled 1879
My aspens dear, whose airy cages quelled,
Quelled or quenched in leaves the leaping sun,
All felled, felled, are all felled;
Of a fresh and following folded rank
Not spared, not one
That dandled a sandalled
Shadow that swam or sank
On meadow & river & wind-wandering weed-winding bank.
O if we but knew what we do
When we delve or hew --
Hack and rack the growing green!
Since country is so tender
To touch, her being só slender,
That, like this sleek and seeing ball
But a prick will make no eye at all,
Where we, even where we mean
To mend her we end her,
When we hew or delve:
After-comers cannot guess the beauty been.
Ten or twelve, only ten or twelve
Strokes of havoc unselve
The sweet especial scene,
Rural scene, a rural scene,
Sweet especial rural scene.
BY GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
Source: Gerard Manley Hopkins: Poems and Prose (Penguin Classics, 1985)
Activity 2: In a paragraph, describe how the “language “contributes to the overall feeling of the following poem?
Selvages
Clouds sweep, blocking
fresh heat, a low flung
autumn sun. The trail’s
full brown seed pods, their locust-
shapes popping silver hairs
like silk. They feather our necks.
I don’t say I know why
you brought me here. I’m gathering
leaves now to selectively, my feet
splitting silence like axe blows.
We hold tight. Look up instead.
Spotted leaves hang precarious, thin
selvages clinging to white limbs.
Like us, they know it can’t last.
By Carla Hartsfield
Lineation
Let's talk about line breaks now. Line breaks are just that: where one line ends on the page before continuing on the following line. Unlike other forms of writing, poems are not always built with typical sentences, having subjects, predicates, complete thoughts. A line of poetry can be one word long. It can have no punctuation. It can be put onto the page in different ways, for different effects in the reader. The line is a building block for a poem. The basic building-block of prose (writing that isn't poetry) is the sentence. But poetry has something else -- the poetic line. Poets decide how long each line is going to be and where it will break off. That's why poetry often has a shape like this:
Enjambment refers to a way a line can end on the page but continue on the line below it. It wraps around to the next line down. This builds curiosity in the reader, keeps them moving along, and can help you play with multiple meanings. It can serve to shake up a poem and keep the momentum going.
For example:
I took the dog blanket out of the car
Or,
I took the dog
blanket out of the car
The enjambment takes the reader to a different place than they were expecting.
Sometimes, in addition to building drama and surprise in the reader, poem lines are broken to allow for breath, a natural place to pause as they’re read aloud. If a line is not a complete thought or sentence, then these fragments on their own can have more meaning.
For example:
The sky was cluttered with clouds
White space is also very important in a poem, on the page. It's space. It's air. It supports the writing that's there by not holding any words. Like the seeds inside a pomegranate, held safely by the white spongy material around them, the white space on the page supports and encases the words.
Line breaks can often make a poem have a rhythm that matches the meaning of the words. What follows is an excellent example of enjambment being used to full effect.
Line Length: Long lines tend to make the reader read quickly, therefore it can be used well for poems that have quick movement, or that you can sink into and be awash in rich language. Short lines tend to make a reader slow down as a poem is read.
Take a look at, and have a listen to, the poem "We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks, from her 1960 collection The Bean Eaters. In the link to her poem (poets.org) the audio is from a 1983 recording, where Brooks introduces her reading with a bit of background about how she came up with the poem. Below I've included the audio from an earlier recording (SoundCloud) as well as an adaptation of the poem by Players Still Playing (also from SoundCloud).
If these sentences were written as sentences, on separate lines, how would the poem change?
We Real Cool
THE POOL PLAYERS.
SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.
We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
By Gwendolyn Brooks, 1917 - 2000
Let's talk about line breaks now. Line breaks are just that: where one line ends on the page before continuing on the following line. Unlike other forms of writing, poems are not always built with typical sentences, having subjects, predicates, complete thoughts. A line of poetry can be one word long. It can have no punctuation. It can be put onto the page in different ways, for different effects in the reader. The line is a building block for a poem. The basic building-block of prose (writing that isn't poetry) is the sentence. But poetry has something else -- the poetic line. Poets decide how long each line is going to be and where it will break off. That's why poetry often has a shape like this:
Enjambment refers to a way a line can end on the page but continue on the line below it. It wraps around to the next line down. This builds curiosity in the reader, keeps them moving along, and can help you play with multiple meanings. It can serve to shake up a poem and keep the momentum going.
For example:
I took the dog blanket out of the car
Or,
I took the dog
blanket out of the car
The enjambment takes the reader to a different place than they were expecting.
Sometimes, in addition to building drama and surprise in the reader, poem lines are broken to allow for breath, a natural place to pause as they’re read aloud. If a line is not a complete thought or sentence, then these fragments on their own can have more meaning.
For example:
The sky was cluttered with clouds
White space is also very important in a poem, on the page. It's space. It's air. It supports the writing that's there by not holding any words. Like the seeds inside a pomegranate, held safely by the white spongy material around them, the white space on the page supports and encases the words.
Line breaks can often make a poem have a rhythm that matches the meaning of the words. What follows is an excellent example of enjambment being used to full effect.
Line Length: Long lines tend to make the reader read quickly, therefore it can be used well for poems that have quick movement, or that you can sink into and be awash in rich language. Short lines tend to make a reader slow down as a poem is read.
Take a look at, and have a listen to, the poem "We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks, from her 1960 collection The Bean Eaters. In the link to her poem (poets.org) the audio is from a 1983 recording, where Brooks introduces her reading with a bit of background about how she came up with the poem. Below I've included the audio from an earlier recording (SoundCloud) as well as an adaptation of the poem by Players Still Playing (also from SoundCloud).
If these sentences were written as sentences, on separate lines, how would the poem change?
We Real Cool
THE POOL PLAYERS.
SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.
We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
By Gwendolyn Brooks, 1917 - 2000
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Swallowing Poetry #8: "Touch Me"-- A Lineation Exercise
Lineation Part 1:
In this activity, you will read a well-known poem by a famous writer, Stanley Kunitz. If you already know the poem, that's okay. It's been put into paragraph form in your activity, which is not its original format. Here, you're going to break it up into shorter lines on the page, as you see fit. Where do you want the accent to go? What enjambment will bring the strength that you want for these words? Don't read ahead, you'll ruin the surprise!
Download the poem from file below, and make your changes. When you have finished, move ahead to the original version of this poem in Lineation #2
Lineation Part 1:
In this activity, you will read a well-known poem by a famous writer, Stanley Kunitz. If you already know the poem, that's okay. It's been put into paragraph form in your activity, which is not its original format. Here, you're going to break it up into shorter lines on the page, as you see fit. Where do you want the accent to go? What enjambment will bring the strength that you want for these words? Don't read ahead, you'll ruin the surprise!
Download the poem from file below, and make your changes. When you have finished, move ahead to the original version of this poem in Lineation #2
lineation_part_1.doc | |
File Size: | 28 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Lineation Part 2:
Now that you've made your own choices about the lines of the poem, take a gander at the Stanley Kunitz's poem: "Touch Me"
Where did you make similar choices? Where did you make different ones? How did your different choices affect the meaning, rhythm, or overall effect of the poem?
Now that you've made your own choices about the lines of the poem, take a gander at the Stanley Kunitz's poem: "Touch Me"
Where did you make similar choices? Where did you make different ones? How did your different choices affect the meaning, rhythm, or overall effect of the poem?
Poetry Writing #14: A Found Poem--An Exercise in Lineation
A found poem uses language from non-poetic contexts and turns it into poetry. Think of a collage -- visual artists take scraps of newspaper, cloth, feathers, bottle caps, and create magic. You can do the same with language and poems.
Writing this type of poetry is a kind of treasure hunt. Search for interesting scraps of language, then put them together in different ways and see what comes out. Putting seemingly unrelated things together can create a kind of chemical spark, leading to surprising results.
You might end up rewriting the poem in the end and taking all the found language out, or you might keep the found scraps of language almost in their original form. Either way, found language is a great way to jolt your imagination.
There are no rules for found poetry, just remember to create a poem that takes into consideration line length and other devices that make a poem appealing to the reader. Remember to give it an appropriate title. Found poems are fun and risk-free as you are not required to use your own words.
Here are some potential sources of "treasure":
Here are some ideas you can use to write your own found poetry:
1) Take parts of instructions for some appliance such as a microwave. Replace some of the words that refer to the appliance, using that words that talk about something else. For example: "Lift the memory carefully. Caution: edges may be sharp..." (metaphor in the works!)
Suggested poem topics:
2) Try writing a love poem that quotes various graffiti from a public restroom. Or one that quotes personal ads in a newspaper. This could be very sad love poem, or a funny one, depending on how you decide to write it.
3) Write a poem called "Possible Side Effects." Use phrases from the instructions for some medication in your house, and combine these with language from another source, such as newspaper headlines, advertisements, a TV guide, or a mail-order catalogue. Put these two very different elements together and see what happens.
Source: http://www.creative-writing-now.com/poem-structure.html
A found poem uses language from non-poetic contexts and turns it into poetry. Think of a collage -- visual artists take scraps of newspaper, cloth, feathers, bottle caps, and create magic. You can do the same with language and poems.
Writing this type of poetry is a kind of treasure hunt. Search for interesting scraps of language, then put them together in different ways and see what comes out. Putting seemingly unrelated things together can create a kind of chemical spark, leading to surprising results.
You might end up rewriting the poem in the end and taking all the found language out, or you might keep the found scraps of language almost in their original form. Either way, found language is a great way to jolt your imagination.
There are no rules for found poetry, just remember to create a poem that takes into consideration line length and other devices that make a poem appealing to the reader. Remember to give it an appropriate title. Found poems are fun and risk-free as you are not required to use your own words.
Here are some potential sources of "treasure":
- magazine article, ad
- spam email
- instruction manuals, recipes
- fortune cookies, horoscopes,
- bulletin boards
- textbooks
- post cards, phone messages, notes you've written to yourself
- grocery lists, lists...
- graffiti
- personal ads in papers
Here are some ideas you can use to write your own found poetry:
1) Take parts of instructions for some appliance such as a microwave. Replace some of the words that refer to the appliance, using that words that talk about something else. For example: "Lift the memory carefully. Caution: edges may be sharp..." (metaphor in the works!)
Suggested poem topics:
- feminism
- love
- poverty
- school
- being a teenager
- your future
- painful events
- the joy of coffee!
2) Try writing a love poem that quotes various graffiti from a public restroom. Or one that quotes personal ads in a newspaper. This could be very sad love poem, or a funny one, depending on how you decide to write it.
3) Write a poem called "Possible Side Effects." Use phrases from the instructions for some medication in your house, and combine these with language from another source, such as newspaper headlines, advertisements, a TV guide, or a mail-order catalogue. Put these two very different elements together and see what happens.
Source: http://www.creative-writing-now.com/poem-structure.html