Poetry

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Poetry

• What is Poetry?

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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy EveningBy Robert
Frost

• Whose woods these are I think I know.
• His house is in the village though
• He will not see me stopping here
• To watch his woods fill up with snow.
• My little horse must think it queer
• To stop without a farmhouse near
• Between the woods and frozen lake
• The darkest evening of the year.
• He gives his harness bells a shake
• To ask if there is some mistake.
• The only other sounds the sweep
• Of easy wind and downy flake.
• The woods are lovely, dark and deep
• But I have promises to keep,
• And miles to go before I sleep
• And miles to go before I sleep.

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Elements of Poetry Rhythm

• Alliteration-repeated initial consonant sounds
  (creamy and crunchy)
• Assonance-repetition of vowel sounds
• (R.L. Stevenson) Till the shining scythes went
  far and wide
• and cut it down to dry.
• Consonance-repetition of consonant sounds
  anywhere in the word (compare to alliteration)
• The sailor sings of ropes and things
• In ships upon the sea
• End rhyme
• Internal rhyme (Jack Sprat could eat no fat)
• Repetition

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Elements of Poetry cont.

• Figurative Language
• Simile-compare (like, as)
• Metaphor
• Personification
• Imagery-words using senses

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Elements of Poetry cont.

• Antithesis-opposition or contrast (Best of time,
  worst)
• Juxtaposition
• Hyperbole-exaggeration
• Understatement
• Onomatopoeia (buzz, gunk, gushy, swish, zigzag,
  zip)

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Elements of Poetry cont.

• Foreshadowing- to indicate or suggest something
  that is going to happen
• Irony- humor based on using words to suggest the
  opposite of their literal meaning. Incongruity
  between what actually happens and what is
  expected.
• Flashback- a vivid memory of a traumatic
  experience or a scene or event form the past out
  of chronological order to explain or clarify
• Allusion- a reference that is made indirectly to
  something or somebody.
• Paradox (contrary to common sense, but may be
  true, a person with qualities that contradict)
• Sarcasm remarks that mean the opposite of what
  they seem to say-mock, or deride, a form of
  irony, cynicism,

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Improving Your Poem

• You will revise your poem many times before you
  are satisfied that it captures your subject.
• Your poem should contain strong, active words
  that show rather than tell something,

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Imagery

• Tell The cat tries to taste the milk
• Show
• And the cat slowly, hesitantly, lifts his paw
  And slowly, hesitantly, tries putting it in my
  cereal bowl for his first taste.
• The first example simply tells a reader what the
  cat is trying to do. The second example creates
  an effective image (word picture) that shows the
  cats actions

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Additional Things to Check

• Check the title of your poem. Make sure it adds
  something to your poem and catches the attention
  of the reader.
• Check your poem to make sure it is clear and
  complete.
• Check the form of your poem
• Check the way your poem ends. A poem that
  fizzles and dies wont leave much of an
  impression
• Check for grammar, capitalization, etcif you
  dont follow the rules it must be done on purpose
  for meaning and effect.
• Each word used in a poem is used for a reason.
  Make sure your words carry the impact you want to
  portray.

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Haiku

• A type of Japanese poetry which represents a
  picture of nature
• 3 lines in length
• First line has five syllables
• Second line has seven syllables
• Third line has five syllables

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Example of a Haiku

• Water
• Water tumbles down
• In a gently flowing stream
• Over rocks it trips

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Tanka

• Japanese form of poetry
• Thirty-one syllables, five lines
• Usually 5,7,5,7,7
• Themes
• Love
• Nature
• Seasons
• friendship

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Tanka 31 syllables

• Because of one seedA pine has grown even hereOn
  these barren rocksIf we really love our
  loveWhat can keep us from meeting?
• Blossoms floating down Through the tangled
  canopyTreetops wave unseen Jade green rice
  bowls, his and hers On the petal tatami.
• by H.F. Noyes

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Cinquain-five lines

• Most cinquain poems consist of a single, 22
  syllable stanza, but they can be combined into
  longer works. A cinquain consists of five lines.
  The first line has two syllables, the second line
  has four syllables, the third line has six
  syllables and the fourth line has eight
  syllables, the final line has two syllables
  2,4,6,8,2

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Cinquain Guidelines

• Write in iambs (Two syllable groupings in which
  the first syllable is unstressed and the second
  syllable stressed. For Example i DRANK she
  SMILED we TALKED i THOUGHT) For the last line of
  the cinquain, however, both syllables should be
  stressed, NICE BAR.
• Write about a noun. Cinquains generally fail if
  you try to make them about emotions, philosophies
  or other complex subjects. They should be about
  something concrete.
• Dont try to make each line complete or express a
  single thought. Each line should flow into the
  next or the poem will sound static.
• Cinquains work best if you avoid adjectives and
  adverbs. This doesnt mean you cant have any,
  but focus on the nouns and the verbs. This almost
  always works best in a cinquain.
• The poem should build toward a climax. The last
  line should serve as some sort of conclusion to
  the earlier thoughts. Often, the conclusion has
  some sort of surprise built into it.

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Cinquain Suggestion Published by John Hewitt

• One possible, but not required, format is as
  follows
• Line 1 Title Noun
• Line 2 Description
• Line 3 Action
• Line 4 Feeling or Effect
• Line 5 Synonym of the initial noun.
• If you look at my examples, I prefer to use the
  noun as a separate title, not as part of the
  cinquain. Also, only one of the three poems is
  written in iambs.

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Sample Cinquains

• Tuscan Rain
• The smell
• Everyone moves
• To the window to look
• Work stops and people start talking
• Rain came

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• Opening Game
• Game timeSeason looked goodNational
  championsWe told ourselves as we sat downNot now

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Diamante Poem (7 lines in a diamond shape)

• Line 1-one noun (subject1)
• Line 2-Two adjectives (describe subject 1)
• Line 3-three participles (ending in ing) telling
  about subject one
• Line 4-four nouns (first two relate to subject
  one second tow relate to subject 2)
• Line 5-three participles (ending in ing) telling
  about subject 2
• Line 6- two adjectives (describing subject 2)
• Line 7- second noun (opposite of the first noun)

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Example of Diamante PoemBy Ashlee Folsom

• Change
• Spring
• Colorful, Peaceful
• Chirping, Beaming, Shining
• Blooms, Plants, Sleet, Snow
• Storming, Snowing, Freezing
• Cold, White
• Winter

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Acrostic

• Formed by writing a word vertically down the page
  
• One letter per line
• All capital letters
• Each line of poetry must begin with the letter on
  that line and must pertain to the word
• May use one word or a phrase
• Does not have to rhyme
• Use adjectives and phrases that describe the
  word

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Example of Acrostic

• G iving pleasure to those who playA nyone can
  win M ore than one playerE veryone gets a
  turnS portsmanship is the key

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English a Sonnet-(little song)

• The English (or Shakespearean) Sonnet has a
  different purpose.  A problem is posed in the
  first four-line stanza, is further developed in
  another four-line stanza, then is reconsidered or
  answered tentatively in the next four-line
  stanza, and finally is answered definitively in a
  final couplet.  The rhyme scheme is as follows
• stanza 1  ababstanza 2  cdcdstanza 3 
  efefstanza 4  gg
• Some English sonnets vary from this
  scheme, and many poets have modified or otherwise
  loosened the traditional requirements for the
  sonnet.
• Structured poems of fourteen lines
• Three quatrains (or stanzas of four lines)
  followed by a couplet (2 lines)
• Rhyme scheme/ 10 syllables per line/iambic
  pentameter

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Italian Sonnet

• Italian Sonnet-same as English Sonnet
• abba, cddc, effe, gg
• There are many different types of sonnets
• Sonnets are fourteen-line poems, period. They
  exist in every line length, with every rhyme
  scheme imaginable, or with no rhyme scheme at
  all. The more or less standard sonnets, however,
  fall into two types Italian and Shakespearean.

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Quatrain and End Ryme Poetry

• Four line end rhyme verse
• Lines can rhyme in different patterns
• abab,
• aabb,
• abba,
• aaba, bbcb, ccdc, dddd -- chain rhyme

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Example of quatrain, end rhyme

• 1 I love the mountains in the fall,as
  the leaves begin to turn.Like decorations for
  the ball,it makes my heart just yearn. 2
  Fall colors seem to transcendwith yellow,
  orange, and browns.It'll soon cover all the
  townswith a warm and hearty blend.3 The cool
  crisp autumn air there's nothing that can
  compare.To this color filled wonder landwhat
  could ever be this grand.

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Free Verse Poetry

• Free verse is poetry which does not require meter
  or a rhyme scheme
• Butstill contains several elements of poetry

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Faith Mathony by Edgar Lee Masters

• AT first you will know not what they mean,
• And you may never know,
• And we may never tell you
• These sudden flashes in your soul,
• Like lambent lightning on snowy clouds
• At midnight when the moon is full.
• They come in solitude, or perhaps
• You sit with your friend, and all at once
• A silence falls on speech, and his eyes
• Without a flicker glow at you
• You two have seen the secret together,
• He sees it in you, and you in him.
• And there you sit thrilling lest the Mystery
• Stand before you and strike you dead
• With a splendor like the sun's.
• Be brave, all souls who have such visions
• As your body's alive as mine is dead,
• You're catching a little whiff of the ether,

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Limerick

• A limerick is a humorous verse of five lines.
• Lines one, two and five rhyme
• Lines three and four rhyme
• Lines one, two and five have three stressed
  syllables
• Lines three and four have two stressed syllables

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Limerick example

• There once was a lady from Nantucket
• Who lived her whole life in a bucket.
• Her pleasures unknown,
• Were completely thrown,
• When in a mudhole her bucket got stuckit

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How to Write a Limerick-simplified

• A limerick is a short form of poetry known for
  its humor. To write a limerick follow these
  simple steps.
• First, read this sample limerick which
  demonstrates the syllabic and rhyme pattern.

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Notice End Rhyme

• There was a large lady from Perth
• Who wanted to travel the earth
• But her wish was in vain
• For the door of the plane
• Was not wide enough for her girth.
• Note that the first, second and fifth lines each
  have eight syllables, and rhyme with each other,
  while the middle lines have only six syllables
  and a separate rhyme.

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Next Step in a Limerick

• Now, to write your own limerick, begin by
  choosing a character and a place name. (Note here
  that if your place name is longer than one
  syllable you may expand your lines to nine
  instead of eight syllables.)
• Think of some words which rhyme with your place
  name. Because the limerick is meant to be
  humorous, your rhymes may be silly - for example
  Sydney kidney didnt he.
• Use two of these words to end the first two lines
  of your limerick, which introduce your character.
  
• There was a young man from Sydney
• Who only would eat steak and kidney.

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Limerick

• Next, think of a problem for your character, and
  present it in your two short lines
• When the kidney ran out,
• Though he started to shout,
• Finally, finish with a resolution (ending) to
  your limerick, which should make your reader
  laugh.
• He had to go hungry, didnt he?