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.
Howl –Allen Ginsberg
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by
madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn
looking for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly
connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of
night,
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 . . .”
ONOMATOPOEIA (continued)
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?
SIBILANCE
The hissing ‘s’ sounds repeated at the
beginnings of words
She sells seashells by the seashore. The
shells she sells are surely seashells. So if
she sells shells on the seashore, I’m sure
she sells seashore shells.
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.
SOME TYPES OF POETRY
WE WILL BE STUDYING
LYRIC
A short poem
Usually written in first person point of view
Expresses an emotion or an idea or
describes a scene
Do not tell a story and are often musical
HAIKU
A Japanese poem
written in three lines An old silent pond . . .
A frog jumps into the pond.
Five Syllables Splash! Silence again.
Seven Syllables
Five Syllables
CINQUAIN
A five line poem How frail
containing 22 syllables
Above the bulk
Two Syllables Of crashing water hangs
Four Syllables Autumnal, evanescent, wan
Six Syllables The moon.
Eight Syllables
Two Syllables
PETRARCHAN SONNET
A fourteen line poem with When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
a specific rhyme And that one talent which is death to hide
scheme. Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest He returning chide;
"Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?"
The poem is written in an I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need
octave and a sestet. Either man's work or His own gifts. Who best
Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at His bidding speed,
And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
The rhyme scheme is They also serve who only stand and wait."
abba abba cde cde
SHAKESPEAREAN SONNET
A fourteen line poem with Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
a specific rhyme Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
scheme. And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometimes declines,
The poem is written in By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed.
three quatrains and ends But thy eternal summer shall not fade
with a couplet. Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
The rhyme scheme is So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
abab cdcd efef gg
NARRATIVE POEMS
A poem that tells a Examples of Narrative
story. Poems
Generally longer than
the lyric styles of “The Raven”
poetry b/c the poet “The Highwayman”
needs to establish
characters and a plot. “Casey at the Bat”
“The Walrus and the
Carpenter”
CONCRETE POEMS
In concrete poems, the Poetry
Is like
words are arranged to Flames,
Which are
create a picture that Swift and elusive
relates to the content Dodging realization
Sparks, like words on the
of the poem. Paper, leap and dance in the
Flickering firelight. The fiery
Tongues, formless and shifting
Shapes, tease the imiagination.
Yet for those who see,
Through their mind’s
Eye, they burn
Up the page.
FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE
SIMILE
A comparison of two things using “like, as
than,” or “resembles.”
“She is as beautiful as a sunrise.”
METAPHOR
A direct comparison of two unlike things
“All the world’s a stage, and we are merely
players.”
- William Shakespeare
EXTENDED METAPHOR
A metaphor that goes several lines or
possible the entire length of a work.
IMPLIED METAPHOR
The comparison is hinted at but not clearly
stated.
“The poison sacs of the town began to
manufacture venom, and the town swelled
and puffed with the pressure of it.”
- from The Pearl
- by John Steinbeck
HYPERBOLE
Exaggeration,
often used for
emphasis.
Not meant to
be taken
literally
LITOTES
Understatement - basically the opposite of
hyperbole. Often it is ironic.
Ex. Calling an incredibly fast person “Pretty
quick”
IDIOM
An expression where the literal meaning of
the words is not the meaning of the
expression. It means something other than
what it actually says.
Ex. It’s raining cats and dogs.
PERSONIFICATION
An inanimate When a quality or idea
object given is represented in a real
life-like person or a concrete
qualities. thing.
A thing or To be the embodiment
abstraction in of something
the form of a
person.
ANTHROPOMORPHISM
Ascribing from “Ninki”
human form or by Shirley Jackson
attributes to a
being or thing Ninki was by this time irritated
that is not beyond belief by the general air of
human, such as incompetence exhibited in the
an animal or a kitchen, and she went into the living
deity. room and got Shax, who is
extraordinarily lazy and never catches
his own chipmunks, but who is, at
least, a cat, and preferable, Ninki saw
clearly, to a man with a gun.
OTHER
POETIC DEVICES
SYMBOLISM
When a person, place,
thing, or event that has = Innocence
meaning in itself also
represents, or stands
for, something else.
= America
= Peace
ALLUSION
Allusion comes from A tunnel walled and overlaid
the verb “allude” With dazzling crystal: we
which means “to refer had read
to” Of rare Aladdin’s wondrous
cave,
An allusion is a
And to our own his name we
reference to something gave.
famous.
From “Snowbound”
John Greenleaf Whittier
IMAGERY
Language that appeals to the senses.
Most are visual, but they can also appeal to
the senses of sound, touch, taste, or smell.
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather . . .
from “Those Winter Sundays”
PARODY
A humorous or satirical
imitation of a serious piece
of literature or writing.
My, my this here Annakin guy
Maybe Vader someday later
Now he's just a small fry
And he left his home and kissed his
mummy goodbye
Saying "Soon, I'm gonna be a Jedi"
"Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi."
