Ahh…poetry! It’s like marmite…you either love it or hate it! If you want to do well, you need to know these poetic devices!
I’m firmly on the love side but I can remember the days when I struggled with it! It can seem so confusing and it can be hard to get top marks unless you know what you’re doing…and you’re poetic devices!
One of the best ways to score top marks for poetry analysis, is to look out for poetic techniques. In this post, I am going to walk you through three of them! If you need help structuring your poetry essay, check out my post here!
Poetic Device No. 1: Enjambment
Erm…what?
Ok, you have either heard of this before or you’re thinking what on earth is she talking about! This is one of the best poetic devices!
It is pronounced:
“On…jom…ber…ment“
This is an amazing technique and it is so so easy to spot!
Enjambment is where the line carries onto the next one without any punctuation. A run on line!
So…what?
Well…think about it! If you had a poem that consisted of a series of enjambments one after the other, how would it sound when you read it? Pretty fast paced?
Enjambments can often speed up a poem, creating action and urgency. They can create a sense of continuation and suggest that the line just doesn’t want to end. Perhaps they could mirror the timeless, eternality of nature: it runs on and on and never ends. Perhaps it could show a nightmare the persona is trying to escape from! Get creative and use your imagination!
Poetic Device No. 2: Caesura
Again…a strange one to pronounce:
“Cess…your…ra”
Okay, we often find this one paired with enjambment. A caesura is where we have a break (a piece of punctuation) in the middle of the line rather than flowing nicely all the way to the end.
If we have a lot of caesuras, the poem can feel broken (fragmented) and could reflect that something else is broken in the poem: nature, the persona’s sense of wellbeing.
When caesura is paired with enjambment, it can often create a very chaotic feel as if they poem lacks any kind of structure or flow. Perhaps this could show a sense of unpredictability, a sense of chaos and destruction or even a sense of rebellion.
Poetic Device No. 3: Sibilance
And…finally, we have sibilance. This refers to the repetition of ‘s’ sounds within a poem.
It is a great technique to spot and discuss because examiners LOVE it when you discuss sound imagery.
If a poem has a lot of soft ‘s’ sounds it can sometimes create a clam, quiet and gentle feel. Perhaps reflecting a beautiful scene of nature or establishing a sense of clam serenity.
A WORD OF CAUTION: All these techniques are great and you should definitely look at for them but none of this means anything unless you explain the EFFECT! Simply ‘technique spotting’ and picking out the device, won’t get you anywhere. It is important to think about it and consider what effect this technique creates for the reader and why the writer may have used it.
If you need help putting all of that together, check out my free eBook: Essay Templates here!
Also, don’t forget to add in context, check out my guide for doing that here!
And…that’s a wrap! I hope you found that interesting. Comment below with your key takeaway and keep your eyes peeled for more exciting poetry talk! If you need to brush up on your other devices, check out my free eBook on language devices here!