1. Recurrent rhythms:

Although the rhythm of a poem will vary from the mechanical beat of its meter, there is always a recurring beat that unifies the poem and makes it one. This rhythm is in harmony with the thought. Sadness and contemplation, for example, demand a slower beat.

Break, break, break,

On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!

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Happiness and swiftness of the other hand demand rapid movement.

The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,

And the highwayman came riding –

2. Imaginative use of language:

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Prose is used basically to communicate ideas and facts, Poetry stirs our feelings and imaginations, it shows us relationships that we had never dreamed existed. It puts into words that which we have often felt but have never before expressed.

I never saw a moor,

I never saw the sea;

Yet know I how the heather looks,

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And what a wave must be.

I never spoke with God,

Nor visited in Heaven;

Yet certain I am of the spot

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As if the chart was given.

3. Poetic machinery:

The poet takes full advantage of the less subtle aspects of poetry such as rhymes, figures of speech and stanzaic patterns to emphasize his imagery pinpoint the emotional reactions sought and increase the pleasure of the reader.

4. Condensed utterance:

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The poet will express his thoughts in minimum of words. He requires concentration on the part of the reader, a willingness to re-read and re-read until the full import of the words is realised.

He makes each word carry a much heavier load of meaning than can be expected of the same word in prose. He expects a word or phrase to evoke a vivid mental image or specific emotional reaction.

After the reader has read the best in poetry, he feels that he has grown mentally and emotionally.

He feels that he has met man and understood.