Types of Poems: English Lesson

There are following things

learning outcome to reading and viewing

it addresses the assessment standard

that requires learners to explore and

explain key features of texts and how

they contribute to meaning learners

should be able to recognize how word

choices imagery and sound devices

affect mood meaning and theme learners

should also be able to recognize that

verse and stanza forms rhyme rhythm and

punctuation effect meaning

thanks for joining me today for another

lesson in our series getting into poetry

my name is Charlotte and today we will

look at the different types or forms of

closed form poetry that you are likely

to encounter it is important to be able

to identify the different types of

poetry not only for your examinations

but also for your classwork now we are

going to start looking at the general

categories that poetry is divided into

the first of these categories is lyric

poetry let's start with the definition

lyric originally referred to a song

performed in ancient Greece to the

accompaniment of a small harp like

instrument called a liar now the term is

used to refer to any fairly short poem

in the voice of a single speaker

although the speaker may sometimes quote

others the two other broad categories

are epic poetry this is a very long

narrative poem that can extend over

hundreds of lines an example of a great

epic poem is Paradise Lost by John

Milton and dramatic poetry this is

poetic monologues or dialogues performed

by a character or characters that the

poet assumes an example of dramatic

poetry is Ulysses by Tennyson most of

the poetry that you will encounter is

lyric poetry and the types of poems that

we will discuss today fall within this

category

in this lesson we will examine the

features of ballads ODEs elegies and

haiku the first form that we will

examine is the ballad ballad tells a

story and is usually written in four

lines stanzas ballads frequently have a

chorus or refrain that is repeated

throughout the poem ballads were

originally songs sung by wandering

minstrels in the Middle Ages they

fulfilled an important function as a

form of communication during the Middle

Ages there were no newspapers phones or

sophisticated media as you can imagine

sometimes the minstrels would embellish

the stories to make them more

interesting so the ballads weren't

always strictly accurate ballads usually

dealt with history and legend love and

passion crime and battles and family

events the narrator of the Ballad played

a passive role in the story he held the

position of a storyteller and did not

comment on the content of the ballad

narrator is the voice relaying the story

to the listeners the stories related in

ballots were frequently tragic and

aroused emotion in the listeners ballads

are easy to understand and the Iridum is

obvious now let's look at a stanza from

a ballad to give you a better idea of

how it works she taken all the clothes

she had against the biting cold and in a

note to him she wrote I've taken all

your gold as you can see this is a part

of a story the rhythm and rhyme are

strong and if you read a ballad out loud

it should be clear that it could be sung

now the next type of poem that we will

learn to identify today is the ode

originally music accompanied ODEs and

they are examples of lyric poems here is

a definition of an ode on lyric poems

that have a majestic tone they are

intended as hymns of praise focusing on

a single person object or abstraction

the function of an ode is to uplift its

subjects to a higher level by praising

it at length one of the most famous ODEs

in English literature is the ode to

autumn by the Romantic poet John Keats

in this poem keeps describes the season

of autumn in an exalted way you should

be able to find a copy of this poem on

the internet or in most English

anthologies and I urge you to take a

look at it it will certainly give you a

clearer idea of the lyric nature of

these types of poems now let's look at

two lines from the ode season of mists

and Miller fruitfulness close bosom

friend of the maturing Sun you will

notice that the diction or words that

have been chosen praise autumn by

suggesting that it is a dental and

beautiful season always remember when

analyzing a poem you have to consider

the choice of the words of the poet the

punctuation the rhyme the rhythm and the

form of the poem to fully understand the

intention of the poet do not allow

yourself to become absorbed with only

one aspect of the poem now we will

examine what an elegy is and this type

of poem is easy to identify energy is an

example of a lyric poem that is

identified by its subject matter an

elegy is an expression of grief for the

death of a person or the loss of a loved

object-- or place as you can see by

definition an elegy is a sad or a

mournful poem and will never have a

light-hearted tone it usually has a slow

and subtle rhythm an elegy frequently

causes its listeners to think deeply

about his or her own life and the

importance of special people now let's

look at two lines from a well-known

elegy just to give you a better idea of

the mood of this type of poem these

lines are from the poem elegy written in

a country churchyard

by Thomas grey the ploughman homeward

plods his way and leaves the world to

darkness and to me look at the diction

chosen by grey the words plods and to

darkness and to me suggest the somber

and sad mood of the poet because the

poet has used long vowel sounds which

makes it difficult to read this poem

quickly this too suggests the sombre

subject-matter of the poem even the

title indicates sadness traditionally

churchyards were the sights of the

graves of the people in the area but

enough of the serious stuff the next

type of poem that we are going to

examine is the haiku now these poems are

fascinating because they are really

short but very descriptive they too have

a very strict structure

that is adhere to the Haiku is a

traditional Japanese form of poetry a

haiku is a deceptively simple poem and

it often requires one to read it more

than once to fully enjoy it here is a

definition of a haiku haiku is a three

lined poem the first and third lines

have five syllables and the second line

has seven syllables the haiku focuses on

images usually connected to nature it is

interesting to note that a haiku focuses

on observation so the picture presented

by the poem is extremely visual now

let's take a look at a haiku so that you

can get a better idea of this form of

poetry faceless just numbered lone pixel

in the bitmap I anonymous year the poet

use computer terms like pixel and bitmap

as a metaphor for himself now any

electronic picture that you see is made

of millions of pixels and by using the

image of one pixel out of millions the

poet captures the feeling of loneliness

and isolation that an individual can

feel in this busy rushed modern era of

ours now this is also an excellent

example of poems that we can get from

the internet this poem we got from a web

site called haiku for people now let's

take a closer look at the structure of

this haiku in line one we have faceless

just numbered which comes to five

syllables the second line has seven loan

big soul in the butt map and the third

line has five syllables I earn our No

Mas the restrictions placed on a poet by

the form of a haiku does not limit the

poet but it helps him to focus his ideas

in a neat and effective description

we have looked at four different types

of poems today and it is essential that

you try and identify poems that comply

with the features of these forms of

poems now let's recap the forms that we

have learned today The Ballad ode elegy

and haiku it would be impossible to

teach you all the different types of

poetry in one lesson but these four and

sonnets that we will discuss in our next

lesson are the ones that you are most

likely to encounter in your examinations

and tests as you can see all these forms

ballad ode elegy and haiku fall under

the category of lyric poetry when you

study poems in class or read them for

your own enjoyment try and see if any of

them can fit with the definitions that

you have learned today if you are not

sure whether you are correct

ask your English teacher

now to reinforce what we have learned

today it is time to put your creative

and poetic skills into action write a

haiku of your own as you do this

remember that in a haiku the first and

third lines have five syllables while

line two has seven syllables your haiku

should deal with something you have

observed join me for our next lesson

when we will examine sonnets as a form

of poetry see you then

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