Understanding poetry
Performance poetry is easier to follow since you can hear and feel what the poet is trying to communicate. Most often, we follow the non-verbal cues and facial expressions to understand pretty much everything. This is the reason why we get to understand a foreign language without having no knowledge of it.
Poetry is a performance craft. For this reason, in order to grasp it well, one must see its performance to grasp in detail what the performer is trying to pass across. Nevertheless, the exam situation eradicates the need to listen and delves into your own knowledge of poetry. In order to answer poetry questions well, you ought to do the following:
a) Have a little knowledge about the poet.
b) Understand the styles the poet has used to create music in the poem
c) Identify the styles the poet has used to bring out the meaning of the poem
d) Try to interpret the poet’s choice of words.
Getting to know the poet
Poetry is like music. In music we are eager to know about our favorite artists, their lifestyles, age among other things. In order to understand a poem, we must know a little about the poet. Many examiners set poems from Europe, America and Africa. In Europe, the central focus is William Shakespeare. Whereas there are many poets in Europe, Shakespeare takes the central role because he shaped what came to be known as European poetry. Many poets that follow him would follow Shakespearean style of writing that is the use of iambic pentameter and rhyme.
Apart from the structure of poem, many European poems are modelled in the lines of European culture which is defined by religion, politics and societal stratification. Religious beliefs are centered on Christianity and paganism while politics is around the monarchy. Europe was traditionally a monarchical society with absolute powers resting on the leaders and lords. The rest of the citizenry ergo peasants had little or nothing to talk about. In fact they were regarded as illiterate. In a way, the monarchs that existed in Europe tried to create social stratification. In this regard, there was the top class made up of leaders and the bottom made of the peasants. Therefore, poets of this era would satirically poke holes in this fragmentation of society and what was perceived as the traditional order of things. European culture, therefore, shaped a lot of the arts that we consume today.
American poetry borrows heavily from its European heritage. Poets like William Wordsworth Longfellow, Robert Frost, William Wadsworth and Walt Whitman would build there poems using the Iambic Pentameter. They will also focus most of their creations on society, religion and aspects of humanity embedded in doing ‘good.’ However, there are some American and to some extent, European poets who steered clear from the traditional poetic writing. Such poets like T.S Eliot, would steer clear from rigid styles to what came to be known as ‘free verse.’ Their work redefined poetry poetry and brought in works that were richer in Imagery and symbolism but with sparsely equipped in rhyme and rhythm.
America also has a rich African heritage. Africans suffered from slavery, colonialism and racism. These ills eroded the African spirit and culture. Poets of African origin created their poems on the foundations of the black humiliation. Those tested in our system include: Laurence Dunbar and Langston Hughes. These poets speak about the ills of colonialism, slavery and racism in most of their poems. They also address the issue of growing up as an African and the triumph of rising up against all odds. We should also include Maya Angelou who brings the issue of race and being a woman in such a very harsh environment. The poets also talk about poverty and its ills.
Just like the black Americans, African poets also speak about the same issues the blacks faced in America. They also address the issues of poverty, modern day slavery and neocolonialism. Religion also features as a tool of oppression as opposed to being a tool of enlightenment.
Both black American and African poems have a different rhythm and pattern as opposed to the Shakespearean poetry. This rhythm is determined more by the feelings of the poets that is, tone and the subject matter the poet is trying to pass along.
Therefore, as a student of poetry, get to enjoy the poems by reading a little about the poet. Remember, the social, political and economic surroundings of the poet tell a lot about the topics the poet is talking about in their works.
Understand the styles the poet has used to create music in the poem
A poem is supposed to be musical, styles that build music in a poem tend to be styles that create an element of repetition. That is to mean, repetition is a core style in creating rhythm. For instance, if a poet repeats, a line in a poem, that line often because a refrain, and readers/listeners tend to predict when that line is going to be repeated. Sometimes, a poet may decide to repeat an entire stanza, this creates what is known as a chorus.
Apart from repetition, the following styles create rhythm in poems;
Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of the initial consonant/consonant at the beginning of words at the beginning of words in a line within a poem. E.g
There is nothing murderous to a poet than a spittle of lies;
The sword of truth might be blunted,
But the pangs of pain planted
Send the poet to grueling cries.
In the above poem, the third line has repetition of the letter ‘P’ which creates a certain element of music to the ear.
Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds within words that are close together in a line of a poem. Assonance is tricky to identify since vowels in English have varied pronunciation e.g ‘I’ in ‘fire’ is not similar to ‘pin,’ therefore, the two cannot be considered to be assonant.
Can’t explain how it began
Or where,
I heard it in Europe
Slowly,
The flames grew
Spreading, increasing in intensity,
Gradually
Gaining strength
In revulsion
Leaving a trail of
Destruction, death and tears.
The line in bold shows the repetition of the vowel ‘I’ in spreading, increasing in intensity- overall the entire stanza has a lot of ‘I’s in it creating musical element in it.
Parallelism
Parallelism is a style where the way several lines are written is similar in structure i.e there is a certain pattern of repetition is such lines that make the lines rhythmical and easy to memorise. Parallelism also emphasizes a point.
Why,
You my paths,
You knew my worth,
You were my wordsmith,
You sung the myth,
I believed your filth,
Did you have to go soon?
Why,
You were my strength,
You gave me wealth,
In you I saw health,
In life you gave me the breath,
In laughter you made me writhe,
Did you have to go soon?
In the above poems, the poet has used the same structure at the beginning of each line to create rhythm and also emphasize the pain of the person at their loss.
Rhyme
Rhyme is the easiest style to identify since it refers to the repetition of similar sound at the end of words e.g tower, flour, power, and hour.
Rhyme is of two types:
Internal rhyme: which is rhyme that occurs with the line of a poem e.g.
T’s a share I want to share, though share I share not you will not care,
Pain in pain I look at you smile and ignore my presence and I pain the more,
I stride in a stride I take everything, as the swift wind sweeps the tear, I tear inside,
Looking back in the mirror I mirror the best of the moment we share while I care
The memories in despair I break the mirror; will that image go?
In the above poem, line one has; Share/care; line two; ignore/more; line four; stride/inside.
End rhyme: which is rhyme that occurs at the end of the line in a line. This rhyme creates the rhyme scheme.
Open my eyes and show me where,
Hold my hand and lead me there
Hold me tight and show me care,
Carry me high near the stars to stare
Love me whole; do not spare.
Where/there; care, stare, spare
Consonance
Consonance is the repetition of the same consonant sound in words that come close to each other in a poem. E.g shout, pit, tot
Built like a tail wagging outa the city,
It meanders into the green horizons beyond
Carrying spluttering vehicles
Years of misuse and disuse upon their backs,
Aching, bellowing billowing smoke in the skies:
The marvels of the beauty of Thicker Road.
Once in a long time gone
This marvel was a thin rope
Snaking into the thin horizons beyond
Bearing several deep-running wounds a child could hide
And the rickety vehicles defied the pain
Bouncing, swerving upon the edge,
Hopping and skipping into the city.
There is a ‘carrying vehicles’ and ‘child could hide
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