Types and Features of Poetry

• Poetry

  • one of the oldest, if not the oldest, forms of literature that is still existing and popular today
  • In the ancient period, it was recited and sung by people to remember their history, their hero’s adventures, their laws, and their everyday experiences.
  • Since then, poetry has evolved into different forms, influenced by the changing times, philosophies, and values of people.
• persona (noun)


  the speaker in the poem
• symbolism (noun)


  an object or person that represents an abstract idea
• diction (noun)


  careful choice of words
• syntax (noun)


  the careful arrangement of words in a poem
• Elements of Poetry

  1. Persona
  2. Dramatic Situation
  3. Images
  4. Symbolism
  5. Figure of Speech
  6. Diction
  7. Syntax
  8. Tone
  9. Sound and Sense
• Persona


  Readers must consider the characteristics, traits, perspective, and values of the persona to understand why the persona expresses their thoughts and feelings that way.
• Dramatic Situation

  • The dramatic situation is the story behind the poem.
  • It is the equivalent of the features of setting (where and when the situation happens), plot (what event or experience is being described in the poem), and conflict in fiction (what conflict is happening), combined.
• Images


  These are the mental pictures in a poem that make the poet’s ideas concrete for the readers.
• Types of Images

  1. visual
  2. olfactory
  3. auditory
  4. gustatory
  5. tactile
  6. organic
  7. kinesthetic
• visual

  • what we see
  • Example: brightly-colored lights, tall skyscrapers, etc.
• olfactory

  • referring to the smell of things
  • Example: the pungent smell of the trash, the fragrant roses, etc.
• auditory

  • what we hear
  • Example: the loud racket of market-goers, the silence in the chapel, etc.
• gustatory

  • the taste of certain things
  • Example: the salty dried fish, the spicy barbecue, etc.
• tactile

  • what we can touch or feel
  • Example: the rough surface of the rock, the smooth skin of a baby, etc.
• organic

  • felt inside the body
  • Example: grumbling stomach
• kinesthetic

  • related to temperature or movement
  • Example: humid weather
• Figure of Speech


  words with meaning beyond the literal that help concretize an abstract idea and add color and meaning to the poem.
• Diction


  the careful choice of words.
• Syntax


  the careful arrangement of words in a poem.
• Tone


  the attitude of the persona (or the writer) toward the subject or the dramatic situation.
• Sound and Sense


  the use of sound devices to match the meaning of the poem.
• Types of Poetry

  1. Narrative Poetry
  2. Dramatic Poetry
  3. Lyric Poetry
• The earliest poetic forms came from the Greeks. As a civilization heavily focused on art and aesthetics, the Greeks immersed themselves in writing poetry to express their thoughts and ideas on not only the nature that surrounded them but also on issues, ideas, and principles that mattered to them most. As such, they created three kinds of poetry
• Narrative Poetry

  • tells a story
  • may be long, short, thrilling, sad, or funny
  • exists for the purpose of telling a story, and the story is its chief and only purpose
  • it contains elements of fiction such as character, setting, plot, and dialogue
  • it also contains the elements of poetry
• epic

  • example of narrative poetry
  • a long poem written in a noble, dignified style and tells of heroic exploits performed by great heroes
  • Beowulf is an epic of Old English origin that speaks of the deeds of the hero and king of the same name.
• Dramatic Poetry

  • or poetic drama
  • also tells a story. However, unlike narrative poetry, it is spoken and performed on stage.
  • Stage play, a term familiar to Shakespeare himself, exactly describes it.
  • However, within less than a hundred years after Shakespeare’s death, prose took the place of poetry in drama.
• Lyric Poetry

  • was originally meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a musical instrument such as the lyre.
  • The word lyric itself comes from the Greek word for lyre.
  • lyric poetry means ‘verse that is meant to be sung; song poetry.’
  • refers to any poem that expresses a feeling, voices a mood, and reveals a desire.
• lyre


  a kind of stringed harp on which the poets and singers of the classic age

  accompanied themselves when they sang.
• Types of Lyric Poetry

  1. Song
  2. Ode
  3. Ballad
  4. Elegy
  5. Sonnet
• A song is a poem intended to be sung.
• An ode is addressed in an exalted manner to an object or person.
• A ballad is a simple tale in simple verse. In the old times, ballads were folk songs handed down by oral tradition.
• An elegy has death and mourning for its theme, and has also developed to deliver powerful messages of grief to the reader.
• A Sonnet is a poem of 14 lines that follow the iambic pentameter measure.
• Ode on Solitude

  • by the English poet Alexander Pope
  • an example of an Ode.
• Annabel Lee

  • written by Edgar Allan Poe
  • famous ballad that tells the story of a woman he loved until her untimely death.
• An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog

  • Oliver Goldsmith, an Irish poet
  • to appeal to the emotions of mercy and compassion not only through words but also in practice
• William Shakespeare

  • an English poet and playwright
  • wrote a collection of 154 sonnets to talk about various topics such as love and the daily struggles of life
• The Lamb

  • written by William Blake
  • a type of song