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Traditional poetry also observes a regular rhythm (There is a recurrence of
sounds of stressed and unstressed syllables creating a drum-like beat). For
a traditional poem, each stanza had the same number of verses. Nowadays,
especially in modern poetry, also called free verse, rhythm is not always
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regular, but is used to draw attention to certain words. These poems may
use the repetition of words to emphasise a point or make us think about
the subject they present. Free verse may follow an equal number of verses
per stanza, may or may not have regular rhyme and can have a refrain (like
songs), which is repeated at the end of each stanza.

The language used in poetry is more figurative than in other literary genres.
This language employs a variety of figures of speech, such as simile,
metaphor, personification, hyperbole or euphemism to give extra meaning to
poems and enhance beauty. These figures of speech are very important. One
should ask oneself these questions when one reads a poem: Why does a poet
use a specific figure of speech? How does that figure of speech contribute to
the understanding of the feeling of the persona? Does the figure of speech
add aesthetic appeal? It should be remembered also that poets often use a
character who speaks in the poem.

A good poet tries to say as much as possible in as few words as possible,
with or without following grammatical rules. When poets break grammatical
rules, it is called poetic license. In the poem titled “Sunrise”, the poet, Jwani
Mwaikusa, in the first stanza, employs poetic license in these phrases: “And
with the sons of the land have risen too//Forward they go” by deviating
from conventional word order for emphasis and rhythm. A grammatically
conventional structure would be: “And the sons of the land have risen too//
They go forward”.

The poet uses all these techniques to create the tone he or she wants. Tone
is the writer’s attitude towards the subject, character, or audience. A poem’s
tone is conveyed through the poet’s choice of words and figures of speech.
In simple words, tone is how the author feels about his/her subject, character,
or audience. On the other hand, mood is the feeling that the reader has after
reading or listening to a literary work. In “Sunrise”, the mood of the poem is
uplifting or prideful. It evokes a sense of hope, courage, and patriotic duty.

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