Features of poetry

In a nutshell

Poetry is a complex form of creative writing. Poets have to be very deliberate when constructing a poem because every aspect of it contributes to the poem's aesthetic value. In poetry, there are certain features which most poets make use of. Understanding what these features are, and how they work, is an invaluable skill when analysing pieces of poetry.

Poetic voice

The poetic voice of a poem is the 'speaker', or the 'poetic persona'. The poetic voice of a poem is not always the same as the poet. When you read a poem you can sometimes imagine who might be delivering the lines. A poetic voice can be male or female, it can be emotive and it can come from a particular age bracket. It can also be used to give inanimate objects, animals, time periods and more, a voice within the poetry.

Tip: If a poem uses 'I', it it likely using a first-person poetic voice; if it is only using 'he', 'she', 'they' or 'it', it is most likely using a third-person poetic voice.

Stanzas

Stanzas are how poems are broken up into different sections. They are a bit like verses in songs and they can be used to move onto new ideas in a poem, change the pace of the writing, create distance between two topics or characters, or move on to a new poetic voice. The length of a stanza can also dictate what name is given to that particular stanza.

Couplet	A couplet is a stanza that has two lines. A rhyming couplet* can also refer to two lines in a row which rhyme with each other.*
Tercet	A tercet is a stanza that has three lines.
Quatrain	A quatrain is a stanza that has four lines.
Quintain	A quintain is a stanza that has five lines.
Sestet	A sestet is a stanza that has six lines.
Septet	A septet is a stanza that has seven lines.
Octave	An octave is a stanza that has eight lines.

Rhyme scheme

Rhyme schemes refer to the pattern of rhymes that occurs within a poem. Some poetry does not have a rhyme scheme, because the poet doesn't intend for the poem to rhyme. When noticing rhymes at the end of each line, you should assign them a letter, starting from A and moving through the alphabet.

For example, a poem where the first line rhymes with the third line, and the second line rhymes with the fourth, would have an ABAB rhyme scheme. A poem that has lines one and four rhyming, and lines two and three rhyming, would have an ABBA rhyme scheme.

Example

He Tells Her

A  He tells her that the earth is flat—
A  He knows the facts, and that is that.
B In altercations fierce and long
B  She tries her best to prove him wrong.
C  But he has learned to argue well.
D He calls her arguments unsound
C  And often asks her not to yell.

D She cannot win. He stands his ground.
D The planet goes on being round.

('He Tells Her', from the two-part poem 'Differences of Opinion' by Wendy Cope)

Half rhymes

Half rhymes (also sometimes called 'eye rhymes') are rhymes that don't quite match but almost do, or at least look similar on the page. They are used for many reasons including creating a conversational tone or creating a sense of dissonance within the poetry. When figuring out the rhyme scheme for half rhymes they should be treated as normal rhymes, but attention must be paid so as to not miss them because they sound slightly off.

Example

A  That is no country for old men. The young
B  In one another's arms, birds in the trees,
A  —Those dying generations—at their song,
B  The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
A  Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
B  Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
C  Caught in that sensual music all neglect
C  Monuments of unageing intellect.

(From 'Sailing to Byzantium' by William Butler Yeats)

Themes

Many poems have themes, these are the ideas and notions which are explored within the piece. If a poem is about a mother and her daughter, the themes might include family, womanhood or gender, differences between generations or growing up.