1. Sound Effects and Meaning
Reading Poetry – Part I

2. Rhyme
Rhyme – the repetition of the sound of a stressed vowel and any sounds that follow it within a word (nail and whale, material and cereal, icicle and bicycle)
We looked! Then we saw him
Step in on the mat!
We looked! And we saw him!
The Cat in the Hat!

3. Rhyme Scheme A regular pattern of rhyme in a poem (usually end rhyme)
Letters of the alphabet are used to represent new sounds
The Germ A mighty creature is the germ, A Though smaller than the pachyderm. A His customary dwelling place B Is deep within the human race. B His childish pride he often pleases C By giving people strange diseases. C Do you, my poppet, feel infirm? A You probably contain a germ. A Ogden Nash

4. from Annabel Lee
It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me. -Edgar Allan Poe A B C

5. Approximate Rhyme
Also called half rhymes, off rhymes, slant rhymes, near rhymes, imperfect rhymes
Some sounds are repeated, but the words are not exact echoes.
hollow and mellow
moon and morn

6. End Rhyme
A word at the end of one line rhymes with a word at the end of another line
Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village, though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow.

7. Internal Rhyme
A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line
The Boa Constrictor Song I'm being swallered by a Boa Constrictor a Boa Constrictor, a Boa Constrictor I'm being swallered by a Boa Constrictor and I don't - like snakes - one bit! Oh no, he swallered my toe. Oh gee, he swallered my knee. Oh fiddle, he swallered my middle. Oh what a pest, he swallered my chest. Oh heck, he swallered my neck. Oh, dread, he swallered my - (BURP)

8. Repetition
The repeated use of a word, phrase, stanza form, or effect in any form of literature.
Repetition may bring comfort, suggest order, or add special meaning or emphasis to a piece of literature.

9. Other Sound Effects in Poetry
Onomatopoeia – the use of words to mimic sounds
Alliteration – the repetition of the initial consonant sound
Consonance – the repetition of consonant sounds in neighboring words. (Not just at the beginning.)
Assonance – the repetition of vowel sounds
Pop, bang, crash, buzz, oink, moo
“The silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain” (The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe)
“Slow the low gradual moan came in the snowing.”
John Masefield

10. Metaphors
When you read poetry, you will find some metaphors that are direct and some that are implied.
Direct metaphors – compare two things by directly stating that one thing is another
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.”
- William Shakespeare
Implied Metaphors – do not give the comparison directly. They use words that suggest the nature of the comparison.
“’Hope’ is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –”
-Emily Dickinson

11. Extended Metaphors
An extended metaphor is a comparison developed over several lines of a poem.
The Road Not Taken Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth. Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same. And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. 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