POETRY
POETRY
A type of literature
that expresses
ideas, feelings, or
tells a story in a
specific form
(usually using lines
and stanzas)
POINT OF VIEW IN POETRY
POET SPEAKER
The poet is the author The speaker of the
of the poem. poem is the “narrator”
of the poem.
POETRY FORM
FORM - the A word is dead
appearance of the When it is said,
words on the page Some say.
LINE - a group of
words together on one
I say it just
line of the poem
Begins to live
STANZA - a group of That day.
lines arranged together
KINDS OF STANZAS
Couplet = a two line stanza
Triplet (Tercet) = a three line stanza
Quatrain = a four line stanza
Quintet = a five line stanza
Sestet (Sextet) = a six line stanza
Septet = a seven line stanza
Octave = an eight line stanza
SOUND EFFECTS
RHYTHM
The beat created by
the sounds of the
words in a poem
Rhythm can be created
by meter, rhyme,
alliteration and refrain.
METER
A pattern of stressed and unstressed
syllables.
Meter occurs when the stressed and unstressed
syllables of the words in a poem are arranged in a
repeating pattern.
When poets write in meter, they count out the
number of stressed (strong) syllables and
unstressed (weak) syllables for each line. They
they repeat the pattern throughout the poem.
METER cont.
FOOT - unit of meter. TYPES OF FEET
A foot can have two or The types of feet are
three syllables. determined by the
Usually consists of arrangement of
one stressed and one stressed and
or more unstressed unstressed syllables.
syllables. (cont.)
METER cont.
TYPES OF FEET (cont.)
Iambic - unstressed, stressed
Trochaic - stressed, unstressed
Anapestic - unstressed, unstressed, stressed
Dactylic - stressed, unstressed, unstressed
METER cont.
Kinds of Metrical Lines
monometer = one foot on a line
dimeter = two feet on a line
trimeter = three feet on a line
tetrameter = four feet on a line
pentameter = five feet on a line
hexameter = six feet on a line
heptameter = seven feet on a line
octometer = eight feet on a line
FREE VERSE POETRY
Unlike metered Free verse poetry is
poetry, free verse very conversational -
poetry does NOT have sounds like someone
any repeating patterns talking with you.
of stressed and
unstressed syllables. A more modern type
Does NOT have of poetry.
rhyme.
BLANK VERSE POETRY
from Julius Ceasar
Cowards die many times before
Written in lines of their deaths;
iambic pentameter, but The valiant never taste of death but
once.
does NOT use end Of all the wonders that I yet have
rhyme. heard,
It seems to me most strange that
men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.
RHYME
Words sound alike LAMP
because they share the STAMP
same ending vowel
and consonant sounds.
Share the short “a”
vowel sound
Share the combined
(A word always “mp” consonant sound
rhymes with itself.)
END RHYME
A word at the end of one line rhymes with a
word at the end of another line
Hector the Collector
Collected bits of string.
Collected dolls with broken heads
And rusty bells that would not ring.
INTERNAL RHYME
A word inside a line rhymes with another
word on the same line.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I
pondered weak and weary.
From “The Raven”
by Edgar Allan Poe
NEAR RHYME
a.k.a imperfect ROSE
rhyme, close rhyme LOSE
The words share Different vowel
EITHER the same sounds (long “o” and
vowel or consonant “oo” sound)
sound BUT NOT Share the same
BOTH
consonant sound
RHYME SCHEME
A rhyme scheme is a pattern of rhyme (usually
end rhyme, but not always).
Use the letters of the alphabet to represent sounds
to be able to visually “see” the pattern. (See next
slide for an example.)
SAMPLE RHYME SCHEME
The Germ by Ogden Nash
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
ONOMATOPOEIA
Words that imitate the sound they are
naming
BUZZ
OR sounds that imitate another sound
“The silken, sad, uncertain, rustling of
each purple curtain . . .”
ALLITERATION
Consonant sounds repeated at the
beginnings of words
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
peppers, how many pickled peppers did
Peter Piper pick?
CONSONANCE
Similar to alliteration EXCEPT . . .
The repeated consonant sounds can be
anywhere in the words
“silken, sad, uncertain, rustling . . “
ASSONANCE
Repeated VOWEL sounds in a line or lines
of poetry.
(Often creates near rhyme.)
Lake Fate Base Fade
(All share the long “a” sound.)
ASSONANCE cont.
Examples of ASSONANCE:
“Slow the low gradual moan came in the
snowing.”
- John Masefield
“Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep.”
- William Shakespeare
REFRAIN
A sound, word, phrase “Quoth the raven,
or line repeated ‘Nevermore.’”
regularly in a poem.
