Poetry Terms “Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.” ~Thomas Gray “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” ~Robert Frost

Figurative Language All writing or speech that is not meant to be taken literally Idiom Onomatopoeia Simile Metaphor Personification Allusion Hyperbole

Figurative Language Simile: A comparison of two nouns using the words like or as “My love for you is like a red, red rose” Metaphor: A comparison of two nouns saying that one thing is another “All the world is a stage” Idiom: An expression that is like a saying. When it’s translated literally, it makes no sense “Easy as pie”

Figurative Language cont. Hyperbole: Extreme exaggeration The books weigh a ton. I could sleep for a year. I have a million things to do. Personification: When a non-living object has been given qualities of a person The wind whispered through the trees The moon danced on the water “Oreo: Milk’s favorite cookie.”

Sound Devices Alliteration: The repetition of a sound at the beginning of a series of words “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers…” “Rain races, ripping like wind. Its restless rage rattles like rocks ripping through the air.” A fly and a flea flew up in a flue. Said the fly to the flea, “What shall we do?” “Let’s fly,” said the flea. “Let’s flee,” said the fly. So they fluttered and flew up a flaw in the flue.

Sound Device cont. Onomatopoeia: The use of words whose sound makes one think of its meaning Wham! Bonk! Ding-dong “Cuckoo” Tick-tock “snap, crackle, pop”

Prose The ordinary form of written language or everyday writing

Rhyme End Rhyme: Rhyme that appears at the end of two or more lines of poetry “I would not, could not, in a box. I could not, would not, with a fox. I will not eat them with a mouse. I will not eat them in a house. I will not eat them here or there. I will not eat them anywhere. I do not eat green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-am. ”

Rhyme Internal Rhyme: The rhyming of words within one line of poetry “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary…” Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping...”

Rhyme Scheme A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyming lines in a rhyming poem or in lyrics for music. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme. abab rhyme scheme: Bid me to weep, and I will weep, While I have eyes to see; And having none, yet I will keep A heart to weep for thee.

Form Stanza: A group of lines in a poem that are usually similar in length and rhythm and are separated into sections. Usually named for the number of lines it contains, such as a couplet (2 lines), triplet (3 lines), quatrain (4 lines), and octave (8 lines). Like a paragraph in (prose) writing.

Form cont. This is as though the poem is broken up into “paragraphs” “Gleaming in silver are the hills! Blazing in silver is the sea! And a silvery radiance spills Where the moon drives royally!” –James Stevens, “Washed in Silver” Verse: The name for a line of traditional poetry written in meter A line of poetry

Refrain A regularly repeated line or group of lines in a poem or a song

TYPES OF POETRY

Free Verse Poetry not written in a regular, rhythmical pattern or meter Unlike metered poetry, free verse poetry does NOT have any repeating patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables. Does NOT have rhyme. Free verse poetry is very conversational - sounds like someone talking with you. A more modern type of poetry.

Narrative poem A poem that tells a story, generally longer than the lyric styles of poetry b/c the poet needs to establish characters and a plot. Examples: “The Raven” “The Highwayman” “Casey at the Bat” “The Walrus and the Carpenter”

Concrete Poem A poem that takes a shape that suggests its subject. Poetry Is like Flames, Which are Swift and elusive Dodging realization Sparks, like words on the Paper, leap and dance in the Flickering firelight. The fiery Tongues, formless and shifting Shapes, tease the imagination. Yet for those who see, Through their mind’s Eye, they burn Up the page.

Ballad A short narrative poem with stanzas of two or four lines and usually a refrain. The story can originate from a wide range of subject matter but frequently deals with folk-lore or popular legends. The Mermaid Oh the ocean waves may roll, And the story winds may blow, While we poor sailors go skipping aloft And the land lubbers lay down below, below, below

Imagery Language that appeals to (or uses concrete details) that appeal to the five senses.

Rhythm The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in spoken or written language

Types of Poetry Haiku: A three-line poem that originated from Japan, often about nature, with a syllable pattern of 5, 7, 5 “An old silent pond... A frog jumps into the pond. Splash! Silence again.”

Limerick A limerick is a kind of a witty, humorous, or nonsense poem with a strict rhyme scheme (aabba), and 5 lines There was an Old Man in a tree, Who was horribly bored by a Bee; When they said, 'Does it buzz?’ He replied, 'Yes, it does!'’ It's a regular brute of a Bee!'

Rhythm continued Repetition: The repeating of a word or phrase to add rhythm or to emphasize an idea “And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.” –Robert Frost, “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” “The road was a ribbon of moonlight, over the purple moor, And the highwayman came riding- Riding-riding- The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.” –Alfred Noyes, “The Highwayman”

Rhythm THIS THING CALLED “METER” In music, we refer to the beat of a song as its rhythm. In a poem, however, the rhythm created by stressed and unstressed syllables is called its “meter.” The dictionary defines meter as “arrangement of words in regularly measured, patterned, or rhythmic lines or verses.”

Meter A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. Meter occurs when the stressed and unstressed syllables of the words in a poem are arranged in a repeating pattern. When poets write in meter, they count out the number of stressed (strong) syllables and unstressed (weak) syllables for each line. They repeat the pattern throughout the poem.

Rhythm In other words, “meter” is just another word for “rhythm in poetry.” In these lessons, I will use the words “meter” and “rhythm” to mean basically the same thing. In general, though, I will use “meter” to refer to the actual patterns of the stressed and unstressed syllables, but I will use “rhythm” to refer to the feeling created by the meter.

IMAGERY CONTINUED I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each/ I do not think that they will sing to me/ I have seen them riding seaward on the waves/ Combing the white hair of the waves blown back/ When the wind blows the water white and black/ We have lingered in the chambers of the sea/ By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown/ Till human voices wake us, and we drown.” ~T.S. Eliot, “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

Figurative Language cont. A Symbol: a person, place, thing, or event that stands for itself and for something beyond itself as well. A Symbol: a person, place, thing, or event that stands for itself and for something beyond itself as well. Examples: the American flag symbolizes freedom, liberty, and love for America. Examples: the American flag symbolizes freedom, liberty, and love for America. A wedding band symbolizes_______. A wedding band symbolizes_______. A white flag symbolizes__________. A white flag symbolizes__________.

Figurative Language cont. Prominent Symbols in Literature The Four Seasons: Spring: birth, rebirth, new beginnings, new life, etc. Summer: the prime of life, youthful, energetic, growing Fall: the decline, the approach of death, getting old Winter: death, the end of life, something comes to an end Day: life, goodness, knowledge, honesty, happiness, energy, purity, positive, light, understanding, clarity Night: death, evil, darkness, mystery, bad, the end, scary, uninformed, unknown

Figurative Language cont. Prominent Symbols in Literature cont. The Cycle of Life: Dawn: new beginning, birth, rebirth Dusk: approach of the end, unknown Paths/Roads: journey, life’s journey, choices, obstacles Bridges: movement form one place to another symbolically Water: gives and takes life, thought to be the source of first life, rebirth Earth: mother, life giving, fertility Gardens: fertility, life giving Rocks/Doors/Weather: obstacles, problems (could be good or bad)

Mood The overall atmosphere or prevailing emotional feeling of a work. Explain the mood of these poems:

Mood continued “Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there, I do not sleep. I am in a thousand winds that blow, I am the softly falling snow.” ~Mary Elizabeth Frye “Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep” “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.” ~Robert Barrett Browning, “Sonnets from the Portuguese, 43”

Theme What is the theme in this poem?: “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.” ~Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”