Poetry

Definition:“Poetry is an imaginative awarness of experience expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic language choice so as to evoke an emotional response. Is an ancient form that has gone through numerous and drastic reinvention over time. The very nature of poetry as an authentic and individual mode of expression makes it nearly impossible to define.”

Taken from: contemporarylit.about.com

Emily Dickinson said: “If I read a book and it makes my body so cold no fire ever can warm me, I know that is poetry.”

Wordsworth defined poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”

Dylan Thomas said: “Poetry is what makes me laugh or cry or yawn, whatt makes me want to do this or that or nothing.”

Characteristics of poetry

Rhym

e

Some poems use rhyming words to create a certain effect.

Not all poems are rhyming. Poetry that does not rhyme is called “free verse poestry”

Rhyth

m

Sometimes poets use repetitions of sounds or patterns to create a musical effect in their poems.

Rhythm can be created by using the same number of words or syllables in each line of a poem.

Rhythm can be described as the beat of the poem.

Figura

tive

lang

uag

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Figurative language is often found in poetry. The following types of figurative language are often seen in poems:

SIMILE: compares two things using “like” or “as”. Example: “The girl is like a tornado in the basketball court”

METAPHOR: compares two thing by saying one thing actually is another thing. Example: “The girl is a tornado on the basketball court.”

PERSONIFICATION: gives human characteristics to a non-living thing. Example: “The autumn leaves danced across the street.”

Shap

e

You can tell you are reading a poem based on the way it looks. A book of poems look different from a regular one.

Poems are written in stanzas. Stanzas are groups of lines within a poem that are similar in rhyme, rhythm or style. Often, there is a break between stanzas.

Mood

The mood of a poem is the feeling that it has. A poem can be gloomy, humorous, happy, etc.