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Language Elements and Structures within Vampire PoemsVampire poems are no different than poetry about any other subject. It uses the same language that a narrative structure must use. For ease of discussions, we have a language designed to discuss the structures and elements of poems. What follows is the down and dirty. As much as possible I am using examples from "Lenora;" It was translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, a well known poet, who embedded a wealth of poetic details within it.
Common terminology: "Feet," making it Pentameter meaning it has five of the patterns. This particular pattern of sound is called an Iambic Pentameter. When discussing feet within the poem, the following are the terms for each additional foot. Occasionally there is a pause between to segments of a section, it is called a Caesura.
Trochee has the accent on the first syllable of the word. "TAda." Dactyl places he stress on the first syllable of a three syllable word. "FIN-al-ly."
Alliteration: is the repetition of a particular sound at the beginning or end of words; it done to create an affect on the reader. An example is in stanza eight of "Lenora." Here we have a repeated "Fa" sound, "false faith failed" Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds. For instance, in "Lenora" in stanza two, "clank, clank, clank! came every rank,/ With trumpet-sound that rose and sank. Note how clank, rank, and sank all deepen the same sound structure. And the poet in this case has a "trumpet" making the repeated sound.
Refrain: is a repeated series of words. The poet stresses one particular action by the replay of the idea. At many places it is almost, or entirely, a direct repeat. He also makes it easier to recall for those who are going to tell others what they heard. It is a memory tool. "Lenora" has several entirely repeated sections, as well as the repeated words. Take a look at my
study questions to "Lenora"
for the marked repeats.
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