Poetry can at times be unapproachable, and college English students often dread the poetry unit of their English Composition classes. This article explains some of the basic principles of poetry.

Imagery

Edgar Allen Poe called poetry, "The rhythmical creation of beauty." Emily Dickinson said, "If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold that no fire can ever warm me, then I know that it is poetry."

Poetry takes the raw material of words and creates something much greater than what is literally present.

To do so, poets rely heavily on imagery, which is typically done by jumping from the literal to the abstract. For example, a pebble on a beach is not simply a pebble on a beach, but instead an image of life's meaninglessness. A flea is not simply a biting insect, but instead an image of death.

Poets use a variety of language techniques to create these images.

Metaphor - A metaphor is an implied equation between two things. For example, "spring is a box of sweets."

Simile - A simile is a specific comparison between two things using the words "like" or "as." For example, "The virtuous soul is like a box of timber."

Metonomy - Metonomy is the substitution of a word for another with which it is associated. For example, in the phrase, "the whole world turns to coal," coal is standing in for destruction.

Personification - Personification is ascribing human characteristics to non-human entities. For example, "the dew wept."

Tone

Tone is the essence of what is being written, and is used to convey or provoke anger, hurt, joy, apprehension, etc, depending on the poet's goal. Importantly, tone should create a mood without telling the reader what to feel. Poets wanting to create a tone should show rather than tell.

For example, in the phrase, "there are things that are more important beyond this fiddle," the author has shown that the speaker does not like something without simply writing, "I don't like the fiddle."