1. Types of Poetry By Mrs. Lisa Orf Middle School English Teacher
St. Joseph Catholic School, Westphalia MO

2. Poetic Techniques
Alliteration: A poem is using alliteration when several words that start with the same consonant are placed close together. For example: “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."
Onomatopoeia: A word that sounds like what it represents. Words for animal sounds, such as “meow" and “oink," are onomatopoeias, as are words like “pop" and “click" that sound like the noise they are naming.
Consonance: Consonance is similar to alliteration, because it involves the same consonant being repeated several times close together. However, this time the consonant doesn’t have to always be at the beginning of the word. For example: “She sells seashells by the seashore."   
Imagery: Descriptive language that creates pictures in the reader’s mind is known as imagery. Certain words and comparisons are used to help the reader ‘see’ what’s going on and evoke a certain mood or emotion.
Personification: This is when an object or animal is given human qualities. The poem may describe an object as though it can think and feel, or describe an animal that can talk or think logically. In William Blake’s poem “Two Sunflowers," he personifies the flowers when he writes: “‘Ah, William, we're weary of weather,’ said the sunflowers, shining with dew."

3. Free verse: This type of poetry is free-form, and doesn’t stick to a particular structure or rhythm. It does not have regular rhymes, and the lines may be of different lengths and have different patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables.
The Red Wheelbarrow
William Carlos Williams,
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
William Carlos Williams reads The Red Wheelbarrow:

4. Blank verse: Blank verse is a form of poetry that does not rhyme, but has a regular meter. Each line has the same (or close to the same) rhythm of stressed and unstressed syllables and words. A popular meter used in blank verse is iambic pentameter.

5. Narrative poem: This kind of poem tells a story, much like a novel does. Their structures vary greatly, but every narrative poem has to have some form of plot and characters. Often these poems are long, and the many possible varieties include epics and ballads.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular, A name that's peculiar, and more dignified, Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular, Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride? Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum, Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat, Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum- Names that never belong to more than one cat. But above and beyond there's still one name left over, And that is the name that you never will guess; The name that no human research can discover-- But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess. When you notice a cat in profound meditation, The reason, I tell you, is always the same: His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name: His ineffable effable Effanineffable Deep and inscrutable singular Name. The Naming of the Cats performed by the Cats ensemble:
The Naming of Cats
By T. S. Eliot
The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter, It isn't just one of your holiday games; You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES. First of all, there's the name that the family use daily, Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James, Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey-- All of them sensible everyday names. There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter, Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames: Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter-- But all of them sensible everyday names.

6. Sonnet: A type of poem commonly written by Shakespeare and other English writers in the sixteenth century. It has a very strict 14-line structure. Each line must contain exactly ten syllables and be written in iambic pentameter. In a typical Shakespearian sonnet, the last couplet (two lines) of the poem rhymes.
SONNET 18
By William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?  Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date:  Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;  And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;  So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. 
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 performed by 8 year old child actress Alexis Rosinsky:

7. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
By Dylan Thomas
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.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Sir Anthony Hopkins Reads Dylan Thomas:
Elegy: A poem with a very sad, melancholy mood. Often an elegy is written for someone who has recently died.

8. Hamlet, Act III, Scene I [To be, or not to be]
Repetition: Often in poetry a word or phrase is repeated in order to emphasize a certain idea or image. Repetition may also help give structure to the poem, the same way the repeated chorus in a song gives it a predictable structure. “To be or not to be" repeats the phrase “to be" twice, giving it greater emphasis.
Hamlet, Act III, Scene I [To be, or not to be]
William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, ‘tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes, . . .
Hamlet - Act III, Scene 1 "To be or not to be...”
So God Made a "Farmer“ by Paul Harvey

9. The Raven This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
Internal rhyme: When two or more words in the same line of a poem rhyme, that line is said to have internal rhyme. For example, the first line of “The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe reads, “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary." Dreary and weary rhyme, meaning this line of poetry has internal rhyme.
The Raven read by James Earl Jones w/ Moonlight Sonata:
The Raven
By Edgar Allen Poe
This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,
But whose velvet-violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!
Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
“Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore;
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—
On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—
Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!”
“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”
“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting—
“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!
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,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Nameless here for evermore.
And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
“’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door—
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;—
This it is and nothing more.”
Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door;—
Darkness there and nothing more.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!”—
Merely this and nothing more.
Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
“Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore—
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—
’Tis the wind and nothing more!”
Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door—
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door—
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.
Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door—
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as “Nevermore.”
But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing farther then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered—
Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before—
On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”
Then the bird said “Nevermore.”
Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
“Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its only stock and store
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore—
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of ‘Never—nevermore’.”
But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore—
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking “Nevermore.”
The Raven read by James Earl Jones w/ Moonlight Sonata:

10. End rhyme: This term can refer to two things: rhyming lines of poetry and rhyming words. When two or more lines of poetry end with a rhyming word, that is considered an end rhyme. Also, two words that rhyme on their last syllable, such as “showers" and “flowers," are said to have end rhyme.
What happens to a dream deferred?
By Langston Hughes
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
"Dream Deferred (Harlem)" Langston Hughes poem EXAMPLE of Harlem Renaissance literature:

11. Catholic Poetry: Catholic poetry follows the same styles as secular poetry only uses themes relating to the Catholic faith. These poems are written to honor God, call attention to Saints, and to celebrate creation, goodness, mercy, and life (just to name a few). A lot of Catholic poetry becomes prayers or songs or both – not because they’re required to, but because the reading of a Catholic poem is lyrical and metered in a way that naturally flows toward our faith, which rises anew with each recitation. Your assignment is to write a Catholic poem about Lent and/or Easter.
A Child My Choice
By St. Robert Southwell
Let folly praise what fancy loves, I praise and loves that Child
Whose heart no thought, whose tongue no word, whose hand
no deed defiled.
I praise him most, I love him best, all praise and love is his,
While him I love, in him I live, and cannot live amiss.
Love’s sweetest mark, laud’s highest theme, man’s most desired light,
To love him life, to leave him death, to live in him delight.
He mine by gift, I his by debt, thus each to other due,
First friend he was, best friend he is, all times will try him true.
Though young, yet wise; though small, yet strong; though man,
yet God he is:
As wise he knows; as strong he can; as God he loves to bliss.
His knowledge rules; his strength defends; his love doth cherish all;
His birth our Joy; his life out light; his death our end of thrall.
Alas, he weeps, he sighs, he pants, yet do his Angels sing;
Out of his tears, his sighs and throbs, doth bud a joyful spring.
Almighty babe, whose tender arms can force all foes to fly,
Correct my faults, protect my life, direct me when I die.
"A Child My Choice" Sung by the Apex High Advanced Mixed Chorus:
The Peace Prayer of Saint Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is error, truth; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek To be consoled as to console; To be understood as to understand; To be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; It is in self-forgetting that we find; And it is in dying to ourselves that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
Prayer of St. Francis, (Make Me A Channel of Your Peace) sung by Angelina, EWTN:

12. Eighth-grade Seventh-grade
Assignment: Write a poem using the theme of Lent, Easter, or Lent and Easter for a contest sponsored by The America Library of Poetry.
Due Date: Wednesday, April 5th.
Theme: Lent and/or Easter (not secular, not about the Easter Bunny).
Style: You may chose any poetry style discussed in this PowerPoint.
Length: Negotiable Special Note: The work you turn in must be your own creative writing product.
Eighth-grade
Read Chapters 26 and 33 thoroughly.
We’ll go over Chapter 26: Poem on pages , in class.
We’ll also be going over Chapter 33: Developing Your Vocabulary on pages in class.
Use the information in these chapters and the following references that can be found in your English textbook in in completing your poem assignment:
Capitalization of first words on pages 233 and 246.
Capitalization of titles on page 234.
Imagery on pages
Italics for titles on page 268.
Punctuation on page 482.
Quotation marks for titles on page 268.
Seventh-grade
Read Chapters 22 and 33 thoroughly.
We’ve already been over Chapter 22: Poem on pages , but we will review it again in class to refresh.
We’ll also be going over Chapter 33: Developing Your Vocabulary on pages in class.
Use the information in these chapters and the following references that can be found in your English textbook in in completing your poem assignment:
Capitalization of first words on pages 233 and
Capitalization of titles on page 234.
Italics for titles of epics on page 268.
Punctuation on page 470.
Quotation marks for titles on page 268.