POeTRY

What is Poetry? Poetry is the art and craft of putting feelings into special combinations of words.

The Importance of WOrds Poetry is a form of expression, just like music, painting, sculpture, etc… Poets must give careful attention to words. Poetry demands skill. While we can admire the feelings in a poem, we must remember that the words make the poem. The best poets are those who find the best words and put them into the best order.

How do you read a poem? Read poems several times and aloud at least once. They are meant to appeal to our ears as well as our minds. Be aware of punctuation, especially commas and periods. If a line of poetry does not end with punctuation, do not stop! Read the poem in a normal voice; the poem’s music will emerge naturally. Check meanings of unfamiliar words.

Poetry terms defined Poetry – rhythmic, compressed language that uses figures of speech and allusion Rhyme - repetition of accented vowel sounds and all sounds following Rhythm - musical quality by repetition of stressed/unstressed sounds Rhyme scheme – pattern of rhyme formed by the end rhyme of each line Example Roses are red (A) Violets are blue, (B) You bake good bread (A) And I love you. (B)

Meter - pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables

Example of iambic pentameter Her vestal livery is but sick and green And none but fools do wear it; cast it off. (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet) And I do love thee: therefore, go with me;  I'll give thee fairies to attend on thee,  And they shall fetch thee jewels from the deep,  And sing while thou on pressed flowers dost sleep; (Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream)

stanza - group of lines in a poem that form a single unit We were both young, when I first saw you. I close my eyes and the flashback starts- I'm standing there, on a balcony in summer air. I see the lights; see the party, the ball gowns. I see you make your way through the crowd- You say hello, little did I know... That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles- And my daddy said "stay away from Juliet"- And I was crying on the staircase- begging you, "Please don't go..." And I said... Romeo take me somewhere, we can be alone. I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run. You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess, It's a love story, baby, just say yes. By Taylor Swift

couplet – two lines of rhyming poetry Decorator Hermit Crab There was a little hermit crab (A) Who thought his tank was rather drab (A) At first he didn't know what to do (B) Then decorated with pink and blue. (B) Now he is no longer crabby (C) With his new home, he's rather happy! (C) ©2001 Vanessa Pike-Russell

quatrain – four lines of poetry Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? -From William Blake's "The Tyger"

alliteration - repeated consonant sounds Betty Botter by Mother Goose Betty Botter bought some butter, But, she said, the butter’s bitter; If I put it in my batter It will make my batter bitter, But a bit of better butter Will make my batter better. So she bought a bit of butter Better than her bitter butter, And she put it in her batter And the batter was not bitter. So ’twas better Betty Botter Bought a bit of better butter.

assonance - repeated vowel sounds Hear the mellow wedding bells, Golden bells! What a world of happiness their harmony foretells! Through the balmy air of night How they ring out their delight! From the molten-golden notes, And an in tune, What a liquid ditty floats To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats Excerpt from “Bells” by Edgar A. Poe

free verse - poetry without regular meter or rhyme scheme Example Running through a field of clover, Stop to pick a daffodil I play he loves me, loves me not, The daffy lies, it says he does not love me! Well, what use a daffy When Jimmy gives me roses? -- Flora Launa

narrative poem - poem that tells a story Examples: “Annabel Lee” and “The Highwayman”

epic - long narrative of hero’s deeds Examples: “The Iliad”, “The Odyssey”, “Beowulf”

ballad- songlike poem that tells a story Examples: “The Highwayman” was made into a song.

lyric poem - expresses feelings/thoughts without telling a story

limerick – humorous poem with five lines; 1st, 2nd, 5th rhyme; 3rd & 4th couplet Example: I’m going to write a limerick, To see if I still know the trick. And I think that I do, Guess it’s stuck in like glue. Who’d’ve thought that one’d pop up so quick?

haiku - three-line, 17 syllables: five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables 5-7-5 Examples: I am first with five Then seven in the middle -- Five again to end. Green and speckled legs, Hop on logs and lily pads Splash in cool water. In a pouch I grow, On a southern continent -- Strange creatures I know.

sonnet - fourteen line poem about single idea, feeling, sentiment