Poetry - Form and structure Flashcards
What is the form and structure of war photographer and what effect does it have?
- The poem is laid out in four regular six-line stanzas, with each stanza ending in a rhyming couplet.
- order contrasts with the chaotic, disturbing images described in the poem.
- This organisation mirrors the actions of the photographer, who lays out his films in ‘ordered rows’ ,as though in doing so he can in some way help to restore order to this chaotic world.
- Further, the cyclical structure implys the photographer is making no difference to society.
What does the structure in tyger represent?
- Six Quatrains: Ordered, end-stopped with AABB rhyme scheme—reflects God’s power to create order.
- Trochaic Tetrameter: Dominant rhythm; creates a driving, chant-like quality. - Occasional Iambic Tetrameter (lines 4, 10, 11, 18, 24) makes key lines stand out.
- Uneven Rhyme & Seven Syllables Per Line: Ends on an unstressed syllable—may suggest incompleteness or uncertainty.
- Refrain: Repeats opening question in the final stanza—emphasizes the tiger’s mystery.
- New Question Each Stanza: Builds a sense of wonder and awe; questions remain unanswered.
- Regular Rhyme: Could represent the tiger’s heartbeat (referenced in stanza 3).
- Rhetorical Questions: Highlight the tiger’s immense power and mystery (e.g., “Did he smile his work to see?”).
- Symbolism: Suggests anxiety over duality—does God have two sides if He made both the lamb and the tiger?
What does the form and structure of half caste show?
- Free verse - could be refusal to conform to normal poetic structure / societal racism
- Dramatic monologue, Long stanza, enjambment, no punctuation - rant like, confrontational
- No endstopped line - not the end of the story or could be how society views him (not complete)
- Phonetic spelling - unapologetic about his identity
- Lines are incomplete -reflects how he is veiwed
- Refrain of ‘explain yuself’
- lack of capitalisation on names - his desire for equality
What is the structure of prayer before birth and what does it show?
- Dramatic monologue - gives a voice to unborn child
- Irregularity- reflects how unfair world is
- Wave like stanzas - bombardment of suffering - could also be his desire to retreat into safety of womb away from the world.
- Use of pronouns like ‘I’ and ‘Me’ convey prayer like appeal.
- first person - however, speaker still has no agency as ‘O hear me’ reminds us.
- refrain - ‘i am not yet born’ adds rhythm and predictability, adds to twist at the end as child instead wishes for death.
What is the structure of half past two and what does it show?
11 tercets - time always strucutured
Irregular line length, enjambment, free verse - child’s inability to measure and how memories are non numeric
What is the structure and form of hide and seek?
Free verse, inconsistent rhyme scheme - uncertainty of situation and game
One stanza - one movement of increasing tension
Volta In the last 3 lines
What does the form and structure of my last duchess show?
- Dramatic monologue - only he gets to speak
- Iambic pentameter in rhyming couplets - shows his tight control on others
- Enjambment- hidden sense of insecurity
- Personal pronouns - ends with ‘me’ and title starts with ‘my’ - narcissistic
What does the form and stucture of sonnet 116 show?
- Rhyme Scheme: ABABCDCDEFEFBB. - Final BB couplet (not traditional GG) reinforces love’s unchanging nature.
- Ends in Rhyming Couplet: Strong conviction: “If this be error…”- Hyperbolic claim—willing to deny all his works if wrong, showing deep passion.
- Three Quatrains + Couplet: Traditional Shakespearean sonnet structure.
- Volta (shift): “Love’s not Time’s fool” - Changes love from guiding star to eternal force, resisting time and death.
- Iambic Pentameter: Regular rhythm mimics a heartbeat (love’s constancy).
- Variations in Metre: Occasional extra syllables add emphasis (“never shaken;”).
- Enjambment: “Love is not love” urges the reader to continue, emphasizing the search for love’s true meaning.
What does the structure of la belle dame sans mercy show?
Cyclical structure - he is unable to move on
Traditional ballard with traditional rhyming scheme - made to speak
Iambic tetrametre with odd 4th line - dissatisfying end or we aren’t hearing full story
What does the structure and form in remember show?
- Petrarchan sonnet-wants to be loved after death
- in the octave lots of structure and very concerned about being remembered
- however, after Volta less structure and more sacrificial -gives in to death
- Iambic pentameter- contrasts with lack of control in death
- Rhyming scheme is slightly different from normal petrachan sonnet - breaks away from expectations
What does the form and structure of piano
Show?
- Rhyme Scheme (AABB): Mimics song rhythm; creates flow, like a flood of emotions.
- Enjambment: Adds to the overwhelming nostalgia and emotional flow.
- Caesura: Disrupts flow; allows reflection; shows hesitation to accept the past.
- Lyric Poem: Expresses deep, poignant emotions; ties to musical theme.
- Three Quatrains: Sense of order, contrasting emotional chaos.
- Cyclical Structure: Starts and ends in the present; trapped in grief and memories.
- Changing structure: as his memories get clearer so does structure.
What the the form and structure of poem at 39 show?
-Free verse/ enjambment - flood of memory, one memory triggers another - reflects stream of conciousness.
-change of tone after 3rd stanza , starts regretful and ends celebratory
- As speaker’s thoughts move between past and present, the stanza’s also fluctuate in length and shape.
What does the structure and form of if show?
Dramatic monologue- lecture like (quite didactic)
Iambic pentameter - well balanced, controlled
Rhythm- conversational / hopeful
-Only one end stop at end- advice is continuous and cumulative- becoming a man is an ongoing process
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What is the form paragraph for piano?
Piano is a lyric poem, a form known for its musical rhythm and tone, which perfectly suits its message that music has power.
To create this musical style, D H Lawrence uses rhyming couplets throughout the poem, yet regularly breaks the rhyme through his frequent use of enjambment and caesura, perhaps to represent the unexpected memories that music can produce
What is the form paragraph for poem at 39?
Similarly, Poem at Thirty-Nine also uses a lot of enjambment but is in free verse form which could represent the disjointed nature of the memories and thoughts the narrator experiences. Furthermore, As the speaker’s thoughts move between the past and the present, the stanzas also fluctuate in length and shape, mirroring the shifts in her thought process.
What is the form paragraph for remember?
- pettrachan sonnet - love
- iambic pentameter- beat of a heart, therefore appropriate to a love poem.
- this meter also gives the perm a restricted field due to the tight control, which could reflect how rosssetti is possibly with holding some of her thoughts and emotions.
- s finally, the rhyming scheme is slightly different to a normal pettrachan sonnet symbolising Rosetti breaking away from societal expectations.
What is the form paragraph for DNGG?
do not go gentle is a villanelle, a form known for its highly structured composition, Thomases desire to control his father’s life in a time he feels he has no control. the repetitiveness of the iambic pentameter and the alternating refrains gives the perm a certain relentlessness that creates a sense of obsessive focus: don’t die without a fight. This is further highlighted through the numerous end stop lines listed throughout the perm indicating he is firm in his advice.
what is the form and structure of blessing?
- Free Verse: Reflects the unpredictability of the water supply, reinforcing themes of scarcity and chaos.
- Irregular Stanza Lengths:
-First stanza (short): Emphasizes dryness, deprivation, and hopelessness (“There never is enough water.”).
-Middle stanzas (longer): Mirror the flood of water and the chaotic excitement. Longer length suggests people dwelling on joy as a coping mechanism.
-Final stanza (short): Signals a return to harsh reality after brief joy.
- Enjambment: Lines flow into each other, mimicking the continuous movement of water. Creates breathlessness and urgency, reflecting chaos.
what is the form and structure for search for my tongue?
Shift to Gujarati:
- Creates personal, intimate tone.
- Highlights deep connection to mother tongue (language = identity).
- Gujarati stanza at the centre = its importance / heart of the poem.
- Transliteration forces English readers to engage with Gujarati, showing its difficulty for outsiders.
- Final stanza (translation) suggests English is now also part of the speaker’s identity.
Enjambment + Free Verse:
- Shows continuity and ongoing struggle with language/identity.
- Reflects emotional outpouring and cultural complexity.
- Suggests freedom to embrace her mother tongue, unlike fixed societal forms.
