Why Learn How to Read a Poem? Tips for Reading Poetry Use the Strategy Feature Menu What Is Reading Poetry? Why Learn How to Read a Poem? Tips for Reading Poetry Use the Strategy Practice the Strategy

What is reading poetry? Reading poetry is different from reading novels or notes from your friends. Many poems are puzzles. You have to figure out what the poet wants you to see or understand.

What is reading poetry? Reading poetry requires close attention to every word—and sometimes every punctuation mark. [End of Section]

Why learn how to read a poem? When you learn how to read a poem, you can understand how word choice affects meaning realize how important rhythm is in language and literature see how punctuation affects rhythm and meaning learn to recognize all kinds of rhymes

Why learn how to read a poem? Imagery, figurative language, and symbol are especially important in poetry. When you learn how to read a poem, you learn reading skills that will help you recognize images, figures of speech, and symbols in prose, too. [End of Section]

Imagery is language that appeals to the senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Juicy, tart plums Choking, thick black smoke Scratchy, hot wool sweater Sparkling drops of dew What senses do these images appeal to?

Figurative language is language that describes one thing in terms of something else and is not literally true. My heart is like a singing bird. The road was a ribbon of moonlight. The leaves were whispering to the night. What two things are being compared in each of these figures of speech?

A symbol is a person, a place, a thing, or an event that has its own meaning and stands for something beyond itself as well. What do the images above symbolize?

Tips for Reading Poetry Look at the title. Think about the image or images it creates.     The Bells HEAR the sledges with the bells,           Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells!     How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,         In the icy air of night!     While the stars, that oversprinkle     All the heavens, seem to twinkle         With a crystalline delight;       Keeping time, time, time,       In a sort of Runic rhyme, . . . Edgar Allan Poe

Tips for Reading Poetry Read the poem silently. Pay attention to punctuation. HEAR the sledges with the bells,           Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells!     How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,         In the icy air of night!     While the stars, that oversprinkle     All the heavens, seem to twinkle         With a crystalline delight;       Keeping time, time, time,       In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells     From the bells, bells, bells, bells, . . . Pause briefly at commas and semicolons. Pause longer at periods or other end marks.

Tips for Reading Poetry If there’s no punctuation at the end of a line, don’t pause. HEAR the sledges with the bells,           Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells!     How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,         In the icy air of night!     While the stars, that oversprinkle     All the heavens, seem to twinkle         With a crystalline delight;       Keeping time, time, time,       In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells     From the bells, bells, bells, bells, . . .

Tips for Reading Poetry Read the poem aloud. Feel the rhythm of the poem. HEAR the sledges with the bells,           Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells!     How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,         In the icy air of night!     While the stars, that oversprinkle     All the heavens, seem to twinkle         With a crystalline delight;       Keeping time, time, time,       In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells     From the bells, bells, bells, bells, . . . It’s often easier to make sense of a poem when you hear how it sounds.

Tips for Reading Poetry Read the poem a third time. Think about images that come to mind as you read. HEAR the sledges with the bells,           Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells!     How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,         In the icy air of night!     While the stars, that oversprinkle     All the heavens, seem to twinkle         With a crystalline delight;       Keeping time, time, time,       In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells     From the bells, bells, bells, bells, . . .

Tips for Reading Poetry Look for vivid verbs that help you see the action. HEAR the sledges with the bells,           Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells!     How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,         In the icy air of night!     While the stars, that oversprinkle     All the heavens, seem to twinkle         With a crystalline delight;       Keeping time, time, time,       In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells     From the bells, bells, bells, bells, . . . Look for comparisons that help you see something in a new way.

Tips for Reading Poetry Poets pay special attention to word choice. What unusual words does the poet use? HEAR the sledges with the bells,           Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells!     How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,         In the icy air of night!     While the stars, that oversprinkle     All the heavens, seem to twinkle         With a crystalline delight;       Keeping time, time, time,       In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells     From the bells, bells, bells, bells, . . .

Tips for Reading Poetry Think about the poem’s meaning. What does it say to you? Does it relate to your life in any way? HEAR the sledges with the bells,           Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells!     How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,         In the icy air of night!     While the stars, that oversprinkle     All the heavens, seem to twinkle         With a crystalline delight;       Keeping time, time, time,       In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells     From the bells, bells, bells, bells, . . . [End of Section]

Use the Strategy As you read “The Sea,” stop at each open-book sign and think about what you have just read. Stop and think. Answer the question. These questions will help you learn how to use reading poetry as a reading strategy. Example [End of Section]

What comparison does the poet make in line 1? Who is “he” in line 3? Use the Strategy The sea is a hungry dog, Giant and gray. He rolls on the beach all day. With his clashing teeth and shaggy jaws Hour upon hour he gnaws The rumbling, tumbling stones, And “Bones, bones, bones!” The giant sea dog moans, Licking his greasy paws. James Reeves What comparison does the poet make in line 1? Who is “he” in line 3? The poet compares the sea to a hungry dog. “He” in line 3 refers to the sea.

Read “The Sea” aloud. Pay close attention to the punctuation. Practice the Strategy The sea is a hungry dog, Giant and gray. He rolls on the beach all day. With his clashing teeth and shaggy jaws Hour upon hour he gnaws The rumbling, tumbling stones, And “Bones, bones, bones!” The giant sea dog moans, Licking his greasy paws. Read “The Sea” aloud. Pay close attention to the punctuation.

How does this comma affect the way you read the first two lines? Practice the Strategy The sea is a hungry dog, Giant and gray. He rolls on the beach all day. With his clashing teeth and shaggy jaws Hour upon hour he gnaws The rumbling, tumbling stones, And “Bones, bones, bones!” The giant sea dog moans, Licking his greasy paws. How does this comma affect the way you read the first two lines? Why do you think there’s no punctuation at the end of this line?

How does this comma affect the way you read the first two lines? Practice the Strategy The sea is a hungry dog, Giant and gray. He rolls on the beach all day. With his clashing teeth and shaggy jaws Hour upon hour he gnaws The rumbling, tumbling stones, And “Bones, bones, bones!” The giant sea dog moans, Licking his greasy paws. How does this comma affect the way you read the first two lines? The comma tells the reader to pause briefly instead of taking a longer pause for a period.

Why do you think there’s no punctuation at the end of this line? Practice the Strategy The sea is a hungry dog, Giant and gray. He rolls on the beach all day. With his clashing teeth and shaggy jaws Hour upon hour he gnaws The rumbling, tumbling stones, And “Bones, bones, bones!” The giant sea dog moans, Licking his greasy paws. Why do you think there’s no punctuation at the end of this line? There’s no end punctuation because the poet does not want the reader to stop at the end of this line.

Practice the Strategy 1. Continue reading the poem. Notice where there is and is not end punctuation. Now, read the poem again, pausing at the end of each line instead of where there is end punctuation. What happens to the meaning of the poem?

2. Poets often use vivid verbs to help create an image 2. Poets often use vivid verbs to help create an image. List the verbs in lines 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of “The Sea.” How do these verbs help sustain the image of the dog and help you visualize the sea? 3. This poet wants you to see the sea as a hungry dog. How might a hungry dog behave? Why didn’t the poet compare the sea to a well-fed dog? What image of the sea would that create?

4. Look through the poem at all the ways the sea is compared to a dog 4. Look through the poem at all the ways the sea is compared to a dog. See if you can answer the following questions. How would the sea “roll” on the beach? b. What would its “clashing teeth and shaggy jaws” be? c. When the sea dog is “licking his greasy paws,” what is the sea doing?

d. In line 13, what does the poet imagine the sea spray is? When the sea dog “howls and hollos,” what is the sea really doing? What sound of the sea is compared to the dog’s quiet snore?

5. Poets use onomatopoeia to create sound effects that echo the meaning of the poem. Three words in “The Sea” that sound like the actions they represent are clashing, roars, and rumbling. Find three more examples of onomatopoeia in “The Sea.” [End of Section]

Reading Poetry The End