I am a big fan of how homophones can provide a multiplicity of meaning to a word in a poem. It is a poetic device that I use myself and one I think worth exploring.
Category Archives: Sound of Poetry
Rhyme Within Contemporary Poetry
While poems relying heavily on patterned end rhymes have fallen out of favor in contemporary poetry I think it is still useful to understand rhymes, as they are still very often used internally where they are not on the end of the line. Remember there are no rules to poetry and everything talked about inContinue reading “Rhyme Within Contemporary Poetry”
Sound and Meaning Within Poetry
If you look for an answer as to “what is poetry” you are liable to find too many answers to be easily able to answer this question. For me though, there are a few things that define the difference between poetry and prose. One of those is a heightened attention to sound and rhythm. As in my last post we are going to explore further into how sound can contribute to meaning within poetry.
The Long and Short of Poetry
The long and short of sounds within poetry, is that they can be used to slow or speed up the time within poetry. Long vowel sounds slow down a line of poetry, which can be used to make it sound more somber.
Alliteration, Assonance, and Consonance
Alliteration, assonance, and consonance The Raven – Edgar Allen Poe “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore— While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tappingContinue reading “Alliteration, Assonance, and Consonance”
About Poetry – Part 2.b
Sounds are the basis of poetry, not the pursuit of some glorious combination of them, but sounds as just a reality. The fact that it is an inexplicable reality should make us want to learn about sounds, because not wanting to is like being a blindfolded painter. A blind painter would be more respected, than someone who has no desire to lift an ear to poetry fully conscious of its fleeting sounds.
About Poetry – Part 2.a
The first thing about sound within a line of poetry, that either is or is not being carried over to the next line of poetry via end-stopping (punctuation or some other method) or enjambment (the way the line is broken and carried over to the next line), is that its most basic building block is that of the syllable.
Another side of Poetry
Before beginning the second post on great poetry, I want to take the time to talk a little about myself. About ten years ago, slightly more, I made a conscious derision to stop writing, thinking, or doing anything to do with poetry. This was not because I did not want to write it,
About Poetry – Part 1
I want to give some background to the power a poetry, in this case a sonnet, can contain with in it. First, we will have to break down what a sonnet is. A sonnet comes in one of four primary versions. Each of these contain a different rhyming structure, which I will later post a blog about, but all sonnets traditional will have 14 lines of what is called iambic pentameter.
The Poetry Of J.P. 