Poetic license | Literary Term | English Literature | Major English | Plus Two Level
Poetic
license is the license or liberty taken by a poet, prose writer, or other
artist in deviating from rule, conventional form, logic, or fact, in order to
produce a desired effect. It is the right assumed by poets to alter or invert
standard syntax or depart from common diction or
pronunciation to comply with the metrical or tonal requirements of their
writing. As a general rule, poetry has a carefully controlled verbal
structure. The metre of the poem, the pattern of stressed and
unstressed syllables, and the sounds and modulations of the words themselves
all affect the subtle meanings and feelings that the poet may be trying to
convey or evoke. Poets may distort normal prose patterns for the sake of form
and therefore assume poetic license; it is solely a matter
of aesthetic judgment and sensibility as to whether the
alterations enhance or detract from the total effect of the poem.
For
example: The infamous line from Julius Caesar: 'Friends, Romans,
Countrymen, lend me your ears' is one example as the author has omitted the use
of the word 'and' after 'Romans' in order to keep the line in iambic
pentameter.
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