Elements of Poetry

• Poetry is the most compact form of literature. A poem packs all kinds of ideas, feelings, and sounds into a few carefully chosen words. The LOOK, SOUND, and LANGUAGE of poetry all work together to create a total effect.

Form: The way a poem looks• Poetry is written in lines, which may

or may not be sentences. Sometimes the lines are separated into groups called stanzas. Remember that poets choose the arrangements of words and lines deliberately. The form of a poem can add to its meaning.

Sound: Poems are meant to be read aloud

• Poets choose and arrange words to create the sounds they want the listener to hear. There are many techniques that poets can use to achieve different sounds.

Rhyme• When words end with the same

sounds, the words rhyme. Poems often contain rhyming words at the ends of the lines.

• Shadows on the wall

Noises down the hall

Life doesn’t frighten me at all

Rhythm

• The rhythm is sometimes called the “beat” of the poem.

• It is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, or those word parts that are read with more or less emphasis

The sea/ was wet/ as wet/ could be/

The sands/ were dry/ as dry/

Repetition

• Poets often choose to repeat sounds, words, phrases, or whole lines in a poem. Repetition helps the poet emphasize an idea or create a certain feeling.

•Free Verse• Free verse are poems that do not have a

regular rhythm and sound more like a conversation.

My own ancestor

(research reveals)

was a swineherd

who tended to the pigs

in the royal pigsty

and slept in the mud

among the hogs.

Imagery: words and phrases that appeal to the five senses

• Poets use imagery to create a picture in the reader’s mind, or to remind the reader of a familiar sensation

From this side……..

of their concrete barrio

two small boys hold

fat white pigeons

trapped in their trembling hands

Figurative Language

• Poets use figurative language when they choose words and phrases that help the reader to see ordinary things in a new way. These special descriptions are called figures of speech.

Simile

• a comparison that uses the words like, as, than, or resembles

• When she comes sweet-talking in the room, she warms us like grits and gravy, and we rise up shining.

Metaphor

• A comparison that does not use the words like, as, than, or resembles is called a metaphor.

• The title “Mama is a sunrise” is a metaphor. The poem compares Mama’s warmth and sparkle to a sunrise.

Personification

• When a poet describes an animal or an object as if it were human or had human qualities, he or she is using personification.

• In “Southbound on the Freeway” cars are described as if they were live creatures.

They have four eyes.The two in back are red.

Theme

• All the poetic elements we have just covered help the poet establish the theme.

• Just as in fiction, the message about life that the poem conveys is the poem’s theme.

Elements of Poetry

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