* Poetry - Techniques

Wilfred Owen

*The genre of poetry is often seen as complicated

by readers.
*People feel they need to know their trochees
from their iambs if the are to fully comprehend
the meanings of the poem.
*However, while it is true that our understanding
and appreciation of a poem may be enhanced by
knowledge of its parts, it does not mean that we
must have an intricate knowledge of these parts
to enjoy the poem.

*Genre

*Where you can you should talk about poetic

technique, but not in a vacuum.

*Only refer to technique if you have something to say
about its effect.
*For example. If you mention the simile coughing like
hags in Dulce Et Decorum Est you need to talk about
its effect. Perhaps it suggests the men were poorly
clothed and therefore poorly equipped by the military
contributing to our sense that this particular
institution showed little care for these young men
who were giving their lives.

*Talking about

techniques in your
essays.

* Similes like a devils sick of sin..

* Metaphor- Drunk with fatigue
* Onomatopoeia- guttering, choking
* What else- The rhythm is generally iambic (soft, hard)

but the first two words of the first two lines are
trochees. The rhythm also imitates the action at the
end of the first stanza seemingly losing energy.
* And also the men are associated with animals shod,
lame, cud.
* Lastly, (at least in terms of this short list) The explicit
irony of the title.

*Dulce Et Decorum Est

* Allusion Biblical, to purgatory.

* Irony Reason lost but memory remains.
* Oxymoron Slow panic
* Alliteration Multitudinous murders
* Internal Rhyme Batter of guns and shatter

*Mental Cases

* Alliteration ghastly suit of grey,

* Metaphor threw away his knees
* Metaphor Poured it down shell holes
* Repetition Why dont they come?

*Disabled

* The sun provides metaphorical framework.

* Metaphor fields unsown.
* Euphony gently, whispering
* Pararhyme sun/unsown, once/France

*Futilty

* A sonnet 14 line poem with regular iambic

rhythm and regular rhyme, ends in rhyming

couplet.
* Also an elegy A mournful or reflective lament
for the dead.
* Personification monstrous anger of guns

*Anthem For

Doomed Youth

* Colloquial diction.
* Irregular rhyme and rhythm.
* Use of caesura break in the middle of the
line.

*The Dead-beat

* Colloquial diction Old yer mouth

* Allusion to Lady Macbeths guilt the damned
spot
* Onomatopoeia snapped

*Inspection

* Use of parenthesis.
* Idiomatic diction.
* Simple straight forward full end rhyming
couplets wife/knife, dear/year.
* Onomatopoeia - VRACH

*The Letter

* Irony The title, Nation? Ironic conclusion.

* Rhythm mainly iambic but begins with trochee.

*Smile, Smile, Smile

* Remember that the poetic techniques

mentioned in the preceding slides are just

notations on technique. They tell us little
about the poem and on their own are of no use
in responding to a topic.
* However if you are able to explain how they
contribute to the meanings found in the poems
they can be useful in providing evidence for
your points.

*To Finish