Introduction to Poetry

Speaker

The voice talking to us in a poem.

• Not always the poet

• Think of the voice as a character the poet creates

Figurative Language

Language that is not meant to be taken literally.

This room is a pig sty!

Figurative Language• Metaphor- an imaginative comparison between two

unlike things in which one thing is said to be another thing.

• She was a blurr.

• He is a rock.

• Life is a tree with many branches.

Figurative Language

• Personification- An animal or object has human thoughts, feelings, or attitudes.

The clustered spires of Frederick standfrom Barbara Frietchie

And felt the breath of the morning breezefrom Paul Revere’s Ride

Figurative Language

• Hyperbole- is an exaggeration or overstatement

…tore the cover off the ball.from Casey at the Bat

Figurative Language

• Imagery- language that appeals to the senses.

Blowing over the meadows brownfrom Paul Revere’s

Ride

Green-walled by the hills of Marylandfrom Barbara Frietchie

Figurative Language

• Symbol- a person, place, a thing, or an event that has meaning in itself and stands for something beyond itself as well

Forty Flags with their silver stars,

Forty Flags with their crimson bars

(The stars and red stripes of the flag)

Figurative Language

• Pun- a figure of speech in which there is a deliberate confusion of similar words or phrases for rhetorical effect

“Is swiss cheese good for you?” “Yes it is holesome.”

Figurative Language• Simile- a comparison of 2 unlike things,

using a word such as like, as, than, or resembles.

Peaceful as a dove.Lovely as a flower.

A line of black that bends and floatsOn the rising tide, like a bridge of boats.

from Paul Revere’s Ride

Figurative Language

• Oxymoron- puts 2 contradictory words together

Bittersweet

Sweet sorrow

Loving Hate

Brawling Love

Figurative Language

• Idiom- an expression peculiar to a particular language that means something different from the literal meaning.

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words

This term which means a story told by pictures as well as a vast amount of descriptive text comes from the quotation 'One picture is worth ten thousand words', Frederick R. Barnard in Printer's Ink, 8 Dec 1921 retelling a Chinese proverb. .

Figurative Language

• Allusion- a brief reference to a person, event, or place.

"Like the prodigal son, he returned to his home town and was welcomed by all who knew him".

In order to fully appreciate the allusion to the prodigal son, the reader must be familiar with that story in Luke 15: 11-32.

In general, the use of allusions by an author shows an expectation that the reader is familiar with the references made, otherwise the effect is lost.

Figurative Language

• Mood- the overall feeling of a piece of literature.

“On a dark dreary night, the street lights were dimmed by the thick fog. Stars were not seen nor was the moon.”

Figurative Language

• Repetition- words or certain phrases are repeated for a stronger emphasis

Because I do not hope to turn againBecause I do not hope

Because I do not hope to turn....

The repetition of a phrase in poetry may have an incantatory effect as in the opening lines of T. S.

Eliot's "Ash-Wednesday":

Sound Devices

• Rhyme- the repetition of accented vowels sounds and all sounds following them in words that are close together in a poem.

“Listen children and you will hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere”

Sound Devices

Rhyme Scheme

Pattern of rhymes at the ends of lines of poetry.

Designated by letters with matching letters signifying matching sounds.

“I was angry with my friend:I told my wrath, my wrath did end.I was angry with my foe:I told it not, my wrath did grow.”

from A Poison Tree

Sound Device

Meter

A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.

“Listen my children and you shall hear,

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere”

Sound Devices

• Alliteration- the repetition of consonant sounds in words that are close together.

•Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

The first letter, p, is a consonant. It is repeated many times.

•How the British Regulars How the British Regulars ffired and ired and ffledledfrom Paul Revere’s Ridefrom Paul Revere’s Ride

Sound Devices

• Speaker the repetition of consonant sounds.

•lady lounges lazily

•dark deep dread crept in

Sound Devices

• Onomatopoeia- words whose sound imitates or suggest its meaning

The lightning cracked and the thunder boomed in the sky.

Sound Devices

• Rhythm- a musical quality produced by the repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables.

“I confess I’d cared to mess

With a wolf pack even less.”

Stressed/unstressed syllables

Sound Devices

• Assonance- the repetition of vowels sounds.

The fat cat ran and sat on my

father’s brand new hat!

Poetic Structure

Stanza

A group of consecutive lines in a poem that form a single unit.

“I AM”

Types of Poems

• Narratives- tells a story

Types of Poetry

Ballad

A song or songlike poem that tells a story.

Types of Poems

Lyric

A poem that expresses feelings or thoughts of a speaker rather than telling a story.

Types of Poems

• Haiku- a 3- lined poem with 17 syllables with 5 in the 1st, 7 in the 2nd, and 5 in the 3rd.

The Rose 

The red blossom bends 

and drips its dew to the ground. 

Like a tear it falls

By Donna Brock

Types of Poems

• Diamante- a seven line poem shaped like a diamond.

line 1 - noun/subject/title

line 2 - 2 adjectives (descriptive words)

line 3 - 3 words ending in ‘ing'

line 4 - 4 words about the subject

line 5 - 3 words ending in ‘ing'

line 6 - 2 adjectives

line 7 – antonym for the subject

squaresymmetrical, conventional

shaping, measuring, balancingboxes, rooms, clocks, halos

encircling, circumnavigating, enclosinground, continuous

circle

Types of Poems• Free Verse- has no regular meter or

rhyme scheme.

Running through a field of clover,Stop to pick a daffodilI play he loves me, loves me not,The daffy lies, it says he does not love me!Well, what use a daffy When Jimmy gives me roses?-- Flora Launa

Types of Poems

• Limerick- a popular form in children’s verse, is often comical, nonsensical, and sometimes lewd. 5 lines: 1st 2 lines rhyme, 3rd & 4th lines rhyme & 5th line rhymes w/ 1st or repeats 1st line.

A flea and a fly in a flueWere caught, so what could they do?

Said the fly, "Let us flee.""Let us fly," said the flea.

So they flew through a flaw in the flue. 

-Anonymous

Types of Poems

• Concrete- forms a picture of the topic.

Iam

a veryspecial

shape I havethree points and

three lines straight.Look through my words

and you will see, the shapethat I am meant to be. I'm just

not words caught in a tangle. Lookclose to see a small triangle. My angles

add to one hundred and eighty degrees, youlearn this at school with your abc's. Practice your

maths and you will see, some other fine examples of me.

Types of Poems

• Quatrain- any 4 line stanza w/ rhyming pattern.

Alternating Quatrain- a four line stanza rhyming "abab." From W.H. Auden's "Leap Before You Look"

The sense of danger must not disappear:The way is certainly both short and steep,

However gradual it looks from here;Look if you like, but you will have to leap.

Types of Poems

• Cinquain- also known as a quintain or quintet, composed of 5 lines usually follow rhyme scheme of ababb, abaab, or abccb. triangles

pointy edgesrevolving, rotating,

anglingThree sides if you

please.180o