POETRY NOTES

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POETRY NOTES
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POETRY is

• a type of literature that expresses ideas and
  feelings, or tells a story in a specific form
• (usually using lines and stanzas)

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• Poetry usually . . .
• is arranged in lines.
• uses compressed (shrunken) language to
  make a point.
• has a regular pattern of rhythm.
• uses literary devices to appeal to our emotions
  and imagination.

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Poetry sometimes . . . has a regular rhyme
scheme
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POETIC FORM

• FORM - the appearance of the words on the page
• LINE - a group of words together on one line of
  the poem
• STANZA - a group of lines arranged together

• A word is dead
• When it is said,
• Some say.
• I say it just
• Begins to live
• That day.
• - Emily Dickinson

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POETRY TERMS

• 3. Stanza the division of lines in a poem a
  poem paragraph.
• Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age
  should burn and rave at close of day Rage, rage
  against the dying of the light. Though wise men
  at their end know dark is right, Because their
  words had forked no lightning they Do not go
  gentle into that good night.

Stanza one Stanza two
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RHYTHM

• The beat created
• by the sounds of the words in a poem. Rhythm can
  be created by using, meter, rhymes, alliteration,
  and refrain.

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METER

• A pattern of stressed (strong) and unstressed
  (weak) syllables
• Each unit or part of the pattern is called a
  foot
• Types of Feet
• Iambic - unstressed, stressed
• Trochaic - stressed, unstressed
• Anapestic - unstressed, unstressed, stressed
• Dactylic - stressed, unstressed, unstressed

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• 4. Meter the pattern and number of stressed and
  unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.
• That time of year thou mayst in me behold
• Tell me not in mournful numbers
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  dedvdxSU3HYhBSs

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TONE

• Used in poetry to convey feeling and emotion, and
  set the mood for the work. This can be done
  through word choice, the grammatical arrangement
  of words (syntax), imagery, or details that are
  included or omitted.

• I met a traveler from an antique land.
• -from "Ozymandias by Shelley
• This line immediately generates a story-telling
  atmosphere, just as it is with the phrase, "Once
  upon a time."  An audience is clearly implied.

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• 5. Tone what the author projects or his
  attitude is what the author projects or the
  authors attitude.
• There's a patch of old snow in a corner,
• That I should have guessed
• Was a blow-away paper the rain
• Had brought to rest.  
• It is specked with grime as if
• Small print overspread it.
• The news of a day I've forgotten
• If I ever read it.

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• 6. Mood-how you feel after reading the poem.
  (excited, joyous, somber, sad, etc..)
• For the moon never beams without bringing me
  dreamsOf the beautiful Annabel LeeAnd the
  stars never rise but I feel the bright eyesOf
  the beautiful Annabel LeeAnd so, all the
  night-tide, I lie down by the sideOf my darling,
  my darling, my life and my bride,In the
  sepulchre there by the sea,In her tomb by the
  sounding sea.
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  dedv1tkzL8_BxOU

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• 7. Refrain the repeating of words and/or
  phrases throughout a poem.
• For the moon never beams without bringing me
  dreamsOf the beautiful Annabel LeeAnd the
  stars never rise but I feel the bright eyesOf
  the beautiful Annabel LeeAnd so, all the
  night-tide, I lie down by the sideOf my darling,
  my darling, my life and my bride,In the
  sepulcher there by the sea,In her tomb by the
  sounding sea.

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REFRAIN

• A sound, word, phrase or line repeated regularly
  in a poem, usually at the end of each stanza or
  verse, such as the chorus in a song.

• There lived a lady by the North Sea shore,
• Lay the bent to the bonny broom
• Two daughters were the babes she bore.
• Fa la la la la la la la.
• As one grew bright as is the sun,
• Lay the bent to the bonny broom
• So coal black grew the other one.
• Fa la la la la la la la.
• -The Cruel Sister by Francis J. Child

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RHYMES

• Words sound alike because they share the same
  ending vowel and consonant sounds. A word always
  rhymes with itself.

• LAMP
• STAMP
• Share the short a vowel sound
• Share the combined mp consonant sound

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RHYME SCHEME

• a pattern of rhyming words or sounds (usually end
  rhyme, but not always).
• Use the letters of the alphabet to represent
  sounds to be able to visually see the pattern.
  
• (See next slide for an example.)

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• Across the years he could recall
• His father one way best of all.
• In the stillest hour night
• The boy awakened to a light.
• Half in dreams, he saw his sire
• With his great hands full of fire.

A A
B B
C C
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SAMPLE RHYME SCHEME

• A mighty creature is the germ,
• Though smaller than the pachyderm.
• His customary dwelling place
• Is deep within the human race.
• His childish pride he often pleases
• By giving people strange diseases.
• Do you, my poppet, feel infirm?
• You probably contain a germ.
• -The Germ by Ogden Nash

A A B B C C A A
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END RHYME

• A word at the end of one line rhymes with a word
  at the end of another line
• Hector the Collector
• Collected bits of string.
• Collected dolls with broken heads
• And rusty bells that would not ring.
• -Hector the Collector by Shel Silverstein

A B C B
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INTERNAL RHYME

• A word inside a line rhymes with another word on
  the same line.
• Ah, distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak
  December
• - The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

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FREE VERSE

• Poetry that has a certain flowing rhythm, but no
  regular pattern of rhyme.
• Fruit Float
• Pineapples in the sky
• Cherries jubilee riding high
• Bananas Flambe in sunset colors
• Whipped cream mountains
• With marmalade peaks
• And a strawberry breeze . . .

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CONNOTATION vs DENOTATION

• Connotation an emotional or social association
  with a word, giving meaning beyond the literal
  definition
• Denotation the specific, literal image, idea,
  concept, or object that a word or phrase refers
  to

• Word Denotation Connotation
• a star ball of light/gas in the sky a wish
• a family group of related individuals love,
  trust, closeness
• a dog four legged mammal friend, protector,
  pet

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FIGURATIVELANGUAGE
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FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

• A figure of speech is a word or phrase that
  describes one thing in terms of another and is
  not meant to be understood as literally true.

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2. Sound devices are poetic devices that relate
to sound, includingconsonanceassonancealliter
ationonomatopoeia
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CONSONANCE

• Similar to alliteration EXCEPT
• repeated consonant sounds can be anywhere in the
  words, not just at the beginning!
• And frightful a nightfall folded rueful a day
• How a lush-kept plush-capped sloe
• Will, mouthed to flesh-burst,
• Gush!
• - From The Wreck of the Deutschland by Gerald
  Manley Hopkins

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ASSONANCE

• Repeated VOWEL sounds in a line (or lines) of a
  poem
• Often creates Near Rhyme
• A leal sailor even
• In a stormy sea
• Drinks deep Gods Name
• In ecstasy
• -Peaceful Assonance by Sri Chinmoy

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ASSONANCE cont.

• Slow the low gradual moan came in the snowing.
• - From Dauber a poem by John Masefield
• Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep.
• - From Othello by William Shakespeare

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ALLITERATION

• Consonant sounds repeated at the beginnings of
  words
• If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
• how many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

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Onomatopoeia- the use of a word whose sound
imitates its meaning.
hiss
splash
buzz
roar
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ONOMATOPOEIA

• Words that imitate the sound that they are
  naming
• Tlot-tlot tlot-tlot! Had they heard it?
• The horse-hoofs ringing clear
• Tlot-tlot, tlot-tlot, in the distance?
• Were they deaf that they did not hear?
• - from The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes

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Allusion a reference to a well-known person,
place, thing or event with which the writer
assumes the reader will be familiar 1. George
rushed in like Superman to save the man from the
burning building. 2. Were not in Kansas
anymore. 3. She pulled a Miley.
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ALLUSION

• From the verb allude which means to refer to
• A reference to someone or something famous.

• A tunnel walled and overlaid
• With dazzling crystal we had read
• Of rare Aladdins wondrous cave,
• And to our own his name we gave.
• -from Snowbound by John Greenleaf Whittier

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SIMILE

• Comparison of two unlike things using like or
  as
• Friends are like chocolate cake,
• you can never have too many.Chocolate cake is
  like heaven -always amazing you with each taste
  or feeling.Chocolate cake is like life
• with so many different pieces.Chocolate cake is
  like happiness,you can never get enough of it.
• - Chocolate Cake by Anonymous

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• Simile
• a comparison between two things using like or
  as.
• She swims like a fish.
• He's as hairy as a gorilla.
• Peter laughs like a hyena.
• Mr. John is as wise as an owl.
• Allow me, it's as easy as ABC.
• Because I was embarrassed my face was as red as a
  ripe tomato.
• My love is like a red, red rose.
• The world is like a stage.
• As dry as a bone
• As easy as shooting fish in a barrel
• They fought like cats and dogs
• Stand out like a sore thumb

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• 5. Metaphor
• a comparison between 2
• things without using like or as. These can be
  implicit or explicit!
• He was a tornado, blasting his way through the
  opposing team.
• He was a lion in the fight.
• The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy
  seas.
• Education is your passport to satisfying
  employment.
• My love is a red, red rose.

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METAPHOR

• Comparison of two unlike things where one word is
  used to designate the other (one is the other)
• A spider is a black dark midnight sky.
• Its web is a Ferris wheel.
• It has a fat moon body and legs of dangling
  string.
• Its eyes are like little match ends.
• - Spider by Anonymous

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EXTENDED METAPHOR

• Continues for several lines or possibly the
  entire length of a work
• The fog comeson little cat feet.
• It sits lookingover the harbor and cityon
  silent haunchesand then, moves on.
• - Fog by Carl Sandburg

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PERSONIFICATION

• A nonliving thing given human of life-like
  qualities

• Hey diddle, Diddle,The cat and the fiddle,The
  cow jumped over the moonThe little dog laughed
  To see such sport,And the dish ran away with
  the spoon.
• -from The Cat the Fiddle by Mother Goose

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OXYMORON

• Combines two usually contradictory terms in a
  compressed paradox, as in the word bittersweet or
  the phrase living death

• And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true
• -from Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
• I do here make humbly bold to present them with a
  short account of themselves...
• -from A Tale of a Tub by the poet and author
  Jonathan Swift
• Work entitled "She's All My Fancy Painted Him" by
  the poet and author Lewis Carroll

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Oxymoronic Poems

• A blind man looks back
• Into the future with the
• Ear-splitting whispers of
• Unconcealed ghosts
• Thundering silently.

A wealthy peasant marches Weakly across a
blazing glacier As the stars in the cloudy sky
Glisten grimly.
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IMAGERY

• Language that provides a sensory experience using
  sight, sound, smell, touch, taste

Soft upon my eyelashesTurning my cheeks to
pinkSoftly falling, fallingNot a sound in the
air Delicately designed in snowFading away at
my touchLeaving only a glistening dropAnd its
memory - Crystal Cascades by Mary Fumento
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SYMBOLISM

• The use of a word or object which represents a
  deeper meaning than the words themselves
• It can be a material object or a written sign
  used to represent something invisible.

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere
ages and ages hence Two roads diverged in a
wood, and I I took the one less traveled by, And
that has made all the difference. -from The
Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
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• Symbol
• a concrete or real object used to represent an
  idea
• A bird, because it can fly, has often been used
  as a symbol of freedom.

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Some symbol examples

• a dove for peace
• the rose for purity
• the stars and stripes for America
• the lion for strength and courage
• Red rose or red color stands for love or romance.
• Black is a symbol that represents evil or death.
• A ladder may stand as a symbol for a connection
  between the heaven and the earth.
• A broken mirror may symbolize separation

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HYPERBOLE

• An intentional exaggeration or overstatement,
  often used for emphasis
• Here once the embattled farmers stoodAnd fired
  the shot heard round the world
• -from "The Concord Hymn" by Ralph Waldo Emerson

LITOTE

• Intentional understatement, used for humor or
  irony (Example- naming a slow moving person
  Speedy)

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• Irony
• a technique that uses a word or phrase to mean
  the exact opposite of its normal meaning.
• (verbal, dramatic, situational)
• Verbal Danielle laughs all the time, so we call
  her Grumpy.
• Dramatic The audience watching the movie knows
  that the girls boyfriend is going to ask her to
  marry her, but she doesnt know.
• Situational A fire station is on fire.

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IDIOM

• the literal meaning of the words is not the
  meaning of the expression. It means something
  other than what it actually says.
• Feeling under the weather
• you could have knocked me down with a feather.
• It was like a bolt out of the blue, when I met
  you.
• an English rose, in the flower of youth
• -from My Sweet Idiom by Paul Williams

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SOME TYPES OF POETRY THAT WE WILL BE STUDYING
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NARRATIVE POEMS

• Longer and tells a story, with a beginning,
  middle, and end
• Generally longer than the lyric styles of poetry
  because the poet needs to establish characters
  and a plot

Example The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes
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LYRICAL POEMS

• Short poem (only a few lines, 1-2 stanzas)
• Usually written in first person point of view
• Expresses an emotion or an idea, or describes a
  scene
• Does not tell a story and are often musical
• Many of the poems we read will be lyrical

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CONCRETE POEMS

• Words are arranged to create a picture that
  relates to the content of the poem
• Example See Shoes by Morghan Barnes

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ACROSTIC POEMS

• The first letter of each line forms a word or
  phrase (vertically). An acrostic poem can
  describe the subject or even tell a brief story
  about it.
• After an extensive winter
• Pretty tulips
• Rise from the once
• Icy ground bringing fresh signs of
• Life.
• -April by Anonymous

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FREE VERSE POEMS

• Does NOT have any repeating patterns of stressed
  and unstressed syllables
• Does NOT have rhyme
• Very conversational - sounds like someone talking
  with you
• Example See Fog by Carl Sandburg

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BLANK VERSE POEMS

• Does have a regular meter, usually iambic
  pentameter (five sets of stressed/unstressed)
• Does NOT have rhyme
• Used by classical playwrights, like Shakespeare
• ? / ? / ? /
  ? / ? /
• To swell the gourd, and plump the ha-zel shells
• -from Ode to Autumn by John Keats

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OTHER FORMS OF POETRY
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Lyric

• Short poem in which a single speaker expresses
  personal thoughts and feelings
• Lyric poems cover many subjects, from love and
  death to everyday experiences.

• Review poems from pages 556-559 to review lyric
  poems (poems given as handouts for homework)

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HAIKU

• Japanese style poem written in three lines
• Focuses traditionally on nature
• Lines respectively are 5 syllables, 7 syllables,
  and 5 syllables

• Whitecaps on the bay
• A broken signboard banging
• In the April wind.
• -untitled haiku by Richard Wright

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LIMERICK

• A five line poem with rhymes in line 1, 2, and 5,
  and then another rhyme in lines 3 and 4

• What is a limerick, Mother?
• It's a form of verse, said Brother
• In which lines one and two
• Rhyme with five when it's through
• And three and four rhyme with each other.
• - untitled and author unknown

A A B B A
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Narrative Poem

• Written to tell a story
• Has plot, characters, and setting
• Example The Highwayman

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Appreciating Poetry

• Form is the way a poems words and lines are
  laid out on the page.
• - Lines may or may not be complete sentences and
  can vary in length
• Stanza In some poems, the lines are arraged into
  groups, called stanzas
• - Each stanza helps to convey a poems overall
  message

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Appreciating Poetry

• Traditional or Structured Forms traditional
  poems follow fixed rules
• - For instance they might follow a certain
  number of lines or a repeating pattern of rhythm
  or rhyme
• Free Verse
• - poems that do not follow set rules are called
  free verse

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POINT OF VIEW

• POET
• the author of the poem, the person who actually
  wrote it
• VS

• SPEAKER
• the narrator of the poem, the voice telling us
  the thoughts/feelings/story

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A Minor Bird by Robert Frost

• Notice poem is made up of four two line stanzas
• Look at the four pairs of rhyming words
• Read the poem aloud to hear its singsong rhythm
• Note that the speaker is the I in the poem but
  may not be the poet. We dont know if the poet
  shares the speakers attitude toward the bird.

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Under the Back Porch by Virginia Hamilton

• Describe the focus of each stanza. (What do you
  see?) Look at the boxed details for clues.
• What do you learn about the speaker of this
  poem? Cite details that help you understand his
  or her age, personality, and family life.
• Notice the last four lines of the poem. What
  effect does their short length help to create?
  (Hint Think about where the speaker is at this
  point in the poem.)