Structure and Form of Contemporary Poetry. Analysis of four Poems (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, University of Innsbruck, language: English, abstract: This paper analyses the following poems: "(Un-)Certainties" by Regi Claire, Matthew Francis' "Ladybird Summer", Mary McCollum's "The Boy with Dark Eyes" and "Fox" by Phoebe Stuckes, which all distinguish themselves due to their non-traditional form and structure, illustrates deviation but consistency in the use of form and structure to convey meanings as intended by authors.

The form and structure of a poem affects its meaning as desired by the poet. Several elements of form and structure help poets manipulate words to ensure that their poems elicit the desired outcome. Some poems provide a narration, others express feelings, inform an audience, or tell folklore. Depending on this, poets use different elements of form and structure such as placement, lengths of lines, groupings of stanzas and lines, rhyme scheme, and rhythm to achieve the desired effects.

The shape of the poem as well as opening and closing stanzas offer insight into traditional poems. While these conventional poems follow particular rules of poetry, such as rhymes or a set amount of syllables per line, more modern poetry disregards these rules and thereby introduces new methods of deriving meaning.