1. Poetic Devices in Music
9 February 2011

2. Poetic Devices
Rhyming
Metaphor
Alliteration
Imagery
Personification

3. Rhyming Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish!
Definition: a pattern of words that contains similar sounds at the end of the line
Ex: One Fish
Two Fish
Red Fish
Blue Fish!
-Dr.Seuss

4. Metaphor
Definition: Comparison of unlike things (made without using like or as)
Ex: "It is the east, and Juliet is the sun" - William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 2.2

5. Alliteration Definition: Repetition of the initial consonant sounds
Ex: “Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore.”

6. Imagery Definition: Language that evokes sensory images. EX:
drip of ruby teardrops (aural/sound)
to wake up where the green grass grows (visual/sight)
lips like cool sweet tea (oral/taste)
streaming through a velvet sky (tactile/touch)
the stench of the underworld (olfactory/smell)

7. Personification
Definition: giving human qualities or characteristics to animals or objects
Ex: "Ah, William, we're weary of weather," said the sunflowers, shining with dew.
Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow Room.
By: William Blake

8. Examples in Music
Northern Lights –Anberlin
Song

9. Your Turn! Go to a computer
Find the lyrics to your favorite song (school appropriate)
Copy & paste to a word document and print out the lyrics (with name & date)
Share with group why you picked that song and what it means to you
Find at least 3 examples of poetic devices in your song lyrics
Share with class?

10. Homework
Prepare a short presentation to give to the class in which you will first read your lyrics, then describe one poetic element in your song and choose one passage or verse and describe its meaning.