This Wound is a World Terms
Billy-Ray Belcourt
2016 Rhodes Scholar
UBC Assistant Prof in Indigenous Creative Writing
2 poetry and 1 essay books
“manifesto” (enraged, provocative) tone from the book
Tone: mood, feeling, atmosphere, overall effect of a poem
Elegy: a formal poem of lament usually mourning the death of an individual
Lyric: a relatively brief poem featuring a single speaker expressing thoughts/feelings
Many forms: sonnet, ode, free verse
In ancient Greece, lyric poems were sung to the accompaniment of a lyre
Dominant form since Romantic period
Ode: lyric poem celebrating and often addressed to a person, thing or abstraction
Elevated, serious tone
3 forms
o Pindaric ode: original Greek ode, rare in English
o Horatian ode: more personal tone
o Cowleyan ode: irregular
Apostrophe: an address to an absent person, thing or abstract idea
Metonymy: figure of speech in which a word stands for an object/concept its related to
EX: crown is a metonymy for the monarchy
Synecdoche: category of metonym where a part stands for the whole
EX: hand is a synecdoche for worker
Negative Capability
Introduced by Romantic poet John Keats in a letter to his brothers in 1817
State in which one is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, w/o any irritable
reaching after fact/reason
Puzzlement and pleasure together – the way to enjoy poetry
Free Verse
Majority of contemporary and modern poetry
No fixed meter or rhyme scheme
Sound & rhythm is of prime importance
Patterns appear, but they are unique/organic to the poem, not pre-determined
Prose Poem
Billy-Ray Belcourt
2016 Rhodes Scholar
UBC Assistant Prof in Indigenous Creative Writing
2 poetry and 1 essay books
“manifesto” (enraged, provocative) tone from the book
Tone: mood, feeling, atmosphere, overall effect of a poem
Elegy: a formal poem of lament usually mourning the death of an individual
Lyric: a relatively brief poem featuring a single speaker expressing thoughts/feelings
Many forms: sonnet, ode, free verse
In ancient Greece, lyric poems were sung to the accompaniment of a lyre
Dominant form since Romantic period
Ode: lyric poem celebrating and often addressed to a person, thing or abstraction
Elevated, serious tone
3 forms
o Pindaric ode: original Greek ode, rare in English
o Horatian ode: more personal tone
o Cowleyan ode: irregular
Apostrophe: an address to an absent person, thing or abstract idea
Metonymy: figure of speech in which a word stands for an object/concept its related to
EX: crown is a metonymy for the monarchy
Synecdoche: category of metonym where a part stands for the whole
EX: hand is a synecdoche for worker
Negative Capability
Introduced by Romantic poet John Keats in a letter to his brothers in 1817
State in which one is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, w/o any irritable
reaching after fact/reason
Puzzlement and pleasure together – the way to enjoy poetry
Free Verse
Majority of contemporary and modern poetry
No fixed meter or rhyme scheme
Sound & rhythm is of prime importance
Patterns appear, but they are unique/organic to the poem, not pre-determined
Prose Poem
