MODULE 2: FINDING THE RIGHT WORDS & LISTENING TO THE 'SOUND' OF YOUR WORDS

The learning objectives of this module are:

• To give an overview of the different aspects of the language of poetry including rhyme and rhythm, imagery and sounds, and how the language of poetry works, and its effects on anyone engaging with it.
• To understand the importance of finding the right words, and to listen to your words within the context of your poem.
  

INTRODUCTION

In poetry - as is the case with most forms other of communication (written and verbal) - words are the primary tools of interaction. However, what sets poetry apart from the others is exactly how these words are used - it is this exact choice of words, as well as its method and structure, that precisely defines the meaning and message of a poem. The language of poetry differs significantly to written prose and the common everyday language of 'the street,' both in its composition and rhythm, but particularly in the sound of the words within a poetic context. Most importantly however, is how the poet wants his or her words to be read. Unlike standard prose - which we tend to read on one level - it is the sound of poetry that often defines its significance and meaning, and this sound is of equal importance to the actual words chosen.

Poems pack more meaning per word and per line than most other literary forms, and the way in which you choose to express yourself through your poetry is very different to normal, everyday writing and speech.

And so, in the following module, we will look closely at the different aspects of the language of poetry including rhyme and rhythm, imagery and sounds, and consider in detail how words are used to facilitate meaning. We will also look at how the language of poetry works, and its effects on anyone engaging with it. We will also examine how one poem remains with the reader forever, and another easily forgotten, and how a poem might succeed whereas another, on the same subject, might not.

CONTENT & MEANING

In poetry, meaning is derived from two things: Content and Form.

• Content is what you write about; the subject that your poem deals with, the story it tells, or the ideas it expresses.
• The Form of a poem is expressed through its structure, rhyming patterns, rhythms and line length.

And these two things - content and form - creates the effect on the reader.

The rhythm of a poem forges the beat of a poem - a slow plodding beat might make the reader mournful, sad or pensive, whereas a faster rhythm or beat might have completely the opposite effect. Also, a poem with a specific rhyming pattern or structure can emphasise particular words or ideas throughout a poem, and therefore enhance or magnify its meaning.

FINDING THE RIGHT WORDS

Finding and choosing the right words for your poem is not an easy task; the right words are not only completely dependent upon the subject being written about, and the message of the poem, but also on things such as your passion and personality, your writing style, your knowledge of vocabulary, your sense of purpose and reasons for writing, and the aesthetics of the poem and how it should be interpreted. All poems have a theme of some kind (e.g. Faith, Love, Loneliness, Betrayal, Childhood, War, etc., etc.), and so, for a poem to really stand out, the correct choice of words are imperative in the both the interpretation and understanding of that theme.

IMPORTANT: Poetry is a compressed form of writing, and the impact of your poem can be strengthened of weakened by your choice of words, and so EVERY SINGLE WORD COUNTS.

REALLY LISTEN TO THE 'SOUND' OF YOUR WORDS

When choosing your words, and structuring your words into a poem, really listen to the sounds of your words, and ask yourself; do they work within the context, meaning and mood I am trying to convey? Would another word work better? If so, what other words can be used which relate more to the subject and the emotions surrounding it. For example, if you are writing a war poem, can you choose harsher, harder words with sounds more significant to the subject? If you are writing a poem for a friend or lover, can you choose softer, flowerier words and sounds? Also, ask yourself, if using a simpler word could perhaps ignite the imagination more than a more unknown, unusual word?

IMPORTANT: When writing poetry you must constantly ask yourself how your word choice, and the sounds of these words, can effectively echo the theme. How do you do this? By reading your poem OUT LOUD. Reading your poem to yourself in your head is very different to reading it out loud. So read your poem out loud, over and over again, until you have chosen the right words, in the right places, until they fit exactly to the theme or topic.

ABSTRACTION IN POETRY

Words may represent concrete things, such as a tree or book, but they also and very often describe abstract things, for example 'love'. Love is an abstract ideal, but poets often use real things to describe it, such as a rose. Our minds and emotions work in unison, and therefore we frequently identify relationships between the two, especially if it is something profound, such as a rose representing love, or the ticking of a clock representing our mortality.

Have a look at the below poems, by two very different poets, from two very different cultures, countries and eras. Can you identify both their content, and their form? Read them out loud too. Can you understand the poet's word choices, in relation to the theme, and structure?



The marriage of heaven and hell

By William Blake (1757 – 1827)

(Lines 1 – 13)

Rintrah roars & shakes his fires in the burdend air;

Hungry clouds swag on the deep

Once meek, and in a perilous path,

The just man kept his course along 

The vale of death.

Roses are planted where thorns grow.

And on the barren heath

Sing the honey bees.

Then the perilous path was planted:

And a river, and a spring

On every cliff and tomb;

And on the bleached bones

Red clay brought forth.

Near everything

By Pablo Saborío (Born 1982)

(Lines 1 - 12)

Maybe the air is vertebra

only you walk home

bending the muscle

of time,

a drunk man leaves

on the pub’s counter

the fire of thought

nothing changes

we can amass anguish

into a dragon

and see it writhe in

its halo.



CONCLUSION

I hope you've enjoyed this second module. In this module we have looked a little at the language of poetry, content, meaning and finding the right words. We hope we have got you thinking a more about the actual 'sound' of a poem, and the effects this poetic language has on the reader.

MODULE 3

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