POETIC MOMENTS…A guide to writing poetry

Poetic Terminology

Read the examples on each of the following slides. As each slide appears write down on a sheet of looseleaf what poetic term you think the example is representing.

Answers will be reviewed and discussed after all students have written their answers.

Definition: Comparison using ‘like’ or ‘as’.

Ex. Your hair is as golden as the sun.

Answer: Simile

The personality of a speaker coming through the piece of work/poem.

Answer: Voice

The character in poetry who speaks to the audience /also called the speaker.

Answer: Persona

The most common metre in English poetry. Consists of five feet. Each of which consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

da Da/ da Da/ da Da/ da Da/ da Da Ex. Two houses both alike in dignity

In fair Verona where we lay our scene…

Answer: Iambic Pentameter

Effective word choice

Ex. Cry vs. Weep Ex. Yell vs. Shriek Ex. Burp vs. Belch

Answer: Diction

A recurring phrase or set of lines, typically at the end of stanzas

Answer: Refrain

Comparison without using ‘like’ or ‘as’

Ex. She has a heart of gold.

Answer: Metaphor

Any form of poetic rhythm determined by the number and length of feet in a line. A foot is a group of syllables that make up a

unit into a metre.

Answer: Meter

The repetition of the same letter or sound at the beginning of nearby or closely connected words.

Ex. Bob the busy beaver bravely betrothed beautiful Bertha.

Ex. Frank the fish was found phishing the internet for friends.

Answer: Alliteration

A pair of lines (one after another) which have the same metre, and typically rhyme (rhyming_______________).

Ex. Chorus1 Two households, both alike in dignity,2 In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,3 From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,4 Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.5 From forth the fatal loins of these two foes6 A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;7 Whose misadventured piteous overthrows8 Do with their death bury their parents' strife.9 The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,10 And the continuance of their parents' rage,11 Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,12 Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;13 The which if you with patient ears attend,14 What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Answer: Couplet

A reference to a person, place, or event (usually from history, mythology, or another work of literature) that is meant to help the audience who is familiar with that reference to understand the actual text better.

Ex. Wake up tired, Monday mornings suck,It's way too early to catch a bus,Why conform without a fuss,Daddy Daddy, no, I don't wanna go to school, woo!

I don't need to read Billy Shakespeare,Meet Juliet or Benvolio,Feel for once what it's like to rebel now,I wanna break out, let's go!

Teachers treat us all like clones,Sit up straight, take off your headphones,I don't blame them, they get paid,Money money, woo, lot's of money money, woo!

I don't need to read Billy Shakespeare,Meet Juliet or Benvolio,Feel for once what it's like to rebel now,I wanna break out, let's go!

Answer: Allusion

The repetition of the same or similar consonants in neighbouring words (not at the beginning of the word).

Ex. Coming home Ex. Middle/Muddle Ex. Hot/ foot Ex. Cold food

The way a poem is organized on the page in terms of stanzas, line length, etc.

Answer: Consonance

Answer: Form

Conscious exaggeration (aware that you are exaggerating) to create a dramatic effect.

Ex. I’m so mad I could kill you! Ex. I’ve gone to that mall a million times.

Answer: Hyperbole

Sound words that reflect the meaning of the word

Ex. Gurgle Ex. Crack Ex. Boing

Answer: Onomatopoeia

The repetition of similar or identical vowel sounds in the stressed syllables of neighbouring words.

Ex. Pale Faces Ex. Clean Teen

Answer: Assonance

A pattern of sounds that seem to have the same number of beats in each line or from stanza to stanza.

Ex. He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon; And out o' the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon, When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor, A red-coat troop came marching— Marching—marching— King George's men came matching, up to the old inn-door.

II They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead,

But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed; Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side! There was death at every window; And hell at one dark window; For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he would ride.

III They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;

They had bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast! "Now, keep good watch!" and they kissed her. She heard the dead man say— Look for me by moonlight; Watch for me by moonlight; I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!

Answer: Rhythm

Words that sound the same

Ex. Ran/Can/ Ban Ex. Slip/Trip/ Drip

Answer: Rhyme

A play on words; humor is created by using one word to replace another word that sounds the same but has a different meaning.

Ex. The sun of Rome has set. Ex. Police were called to a daycare where

a 3-year-old was resisting a rest.

Answer: Pun

A group of lines forming a section of a poem, sharing the same structure as all or some of the other sections of the same poem (line length, rhyme scheme, etc.)

Answer: Stanza

An object, person, or color that is meant to represent another key idea.

Ex. Heart = Love Ex. Joined hands = friendship Ex. Black rose = death

Answer: Symbol

The author’s attitude/feelings towards the subject that he or she is writing about.

Answer: Tone

The feeling that the audience gets when they read a piece of literature.

Answer: Mood

A type of irony that develops when the audience expects one thing to happen, and then the opposite happens.

Answer: Situational Irony

A figure of speech in which animals, objects, or abstract ideas are given human form, actions, or qualities.

Ex. The stars danced across the night sky. Ex. The wind sang a haunting lullaby. Ex. The rain drummed rhythmically on the

roof.

Answer: Personification

A type of irony that is created when the audience knows something that the persona (character speaking in the poem) does not.

Answer: Dramatic Irony

A literary device in which the entire literary work acts as a symbol for something else.

Ex. Animal Farm = Russian Revolution Ex. The island in Lord of the Flies = Global

society as a whole

Answer: extended metaphor

Irony that is created when there is a difference between what is said, and what is meant. One form is sarcasm

Answer: Verbal Irony

A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms are combined for dramatic effect.

Ex. Deafening silence Ex. Definite maybe Ex. Freezer burn Ex. Pretty ugly

Answer: Oxymoron

Meanings that go beyond the literal meaning of a word.

Answer: Figurative Language

A figure of speech in which someone who has died is referenced directly (spoken to), or an abstract or inanimate object is directly referenced.

Ex. Referencing a family member or friend who is deceased.

Answer: Apostrophe

Literal meaning of a word.

Ex. Tree = a leafy plant that grows tall. Ex. Heart = body organ that pumps blood

through your veins and is therefore vital to your survival.

Answer: Denotation

A group of 6 lines forming the second part of an Italian sonnet.

Answer: Sestet

A group of 8 lines forming the first part of an Italian sonnet.

Answer:Octave

A verse or stanza composed of 4 lines that can be rhymed or unrhymed.

Answer: Quatrain

The way in which the argument of a poem is revealed. The poet may structure his/her poem through comparison, contrast, question/answer, showing how good comes from bad, etc.

Answer: Structure

A self-contradictory statement where both pieces of the idea seem to contradict each other, but in reality they bring about some kind of truth.

Ex. Nobody goes to that restaurant, it’s too crowded.

Answer: Paradox

An expression that moves past the literal meaning of a word/idea. The most common types are metaphors, similes, onomatopoeias, hyperboles, and personification.

Answer: Figure of Speech

The overall feeling of a piece of literature that is created through the environment, setting, and circumstances.

Answer: Atmosphere

Language that depicts something that is tangible/can be sensed in the real world. The opposite of abstract.

Answer: Concrete Language

QUIZ ONE WEEK FROM TOMORROW!!! January. 13th Friday

Just on literary terms Matching Fill in the blanks

Analyzing Poetry

Step 1: TitleLook to the title, does it suggest what the topic of the poem might be? Step 2: ParaphraseWho is the speaker? What is the situation? Step 3: ConnotationThe ‘associations’ we make to a particular word or phrase that goes beyond the dictionary meaning. Step 4: Attitude or ToneAsk yourself: Is this a positive or negative tone?Once you have decided, find an appropriate adjective to describe the tone.i.e. joyful, whimsical, scared, etc.

Step 5: Look for a SHIFT in tone, content, style, etc. This shift can change the entire meaning of the poem.

Step 6: The main idea that the poem tries to express.

Step 7: Go back to the title and look for any hidden meaning you might have missed in your first literal reading of it.

Practice Poetry Analysis

Using the poetry handout, analyze the poems. Look for their deeper meaning and then look for any poetic devices that might be implemented in the poems.

We are Seven

Types of Poems1. Found Poetry

Poetry created from non-poetic sources. These sources can be such this as newspapers, short

stories, novels, etc. When creating found poetry choose words that are

interesting, moving, emotional. As you choose your words or phrases try to focus them

in on a particular emotion or topic. Make a list of these words on a sheet of paper OR cut

them out. Arrange the words in a meaningful way. Eliminate words

that don’t seem to fit. Feel free to change verb tenses, add or take away

plurals, or add punctuation.

Found Poetry Example: Derive from the first 9 chapters of Lord of the Flies (Written by Ms. Rose)

The Beast Within“We will have to look after ourselves,” they agreed in an effort to attain clarity, Unaware of the hidden darkness within, threatening their possibility of rescue. Hidden passion, vibrating with an intensity, Challenging their authority with a secrecy unknown to themselves.Almost invisible, to all but Simon, Growing with an inner frustration, ravenously ready to explode, The beast waits, a grotesque, envious, resentful creature,bloodthirsty for the kill.  Intimidated, broken, naked among the oppressive jungle, Pierced by eyes that seemed bolting and mad, The boys found themselves eager to take their place in this demented island society. Each boy, silent and wordless with the uncommunicated realization that they are The hunted. Barbs on spears, knives penetrating flesh, Black, hot, blood thickening on their hands, Boys dancing and shrieking with intensity, mere shadows of the children they once were. KILL THE BEAST! CUT HIS THROAT! SPILL HIS BLOOD! DO HIM IN… Fallen, wordless, trembling,Panting like dogs in the oppressive silence, Truth descending on them as their terror rose within. “I’m part of you…” The Lord of the Flies laughed…The unbearable shame hid beneath the black cloak of fear, As their humanity moved out towards the open sea.

2. Concrete Poetry Shape poetry A type of poem which takes the shape of

the object it is describing.

3. Haiku Short poem composed of 3 lines

Line 1: 5 syllables Line 2: 7 syllables Line 3: 5 syllables

In Japanese (a tradition not adhered to in the English language), haiku’s are based upon a seasonal word. The poem in other word is meant to represent a season, an activity we associate with that season, or an aspect of nature.

Word choice must appeal to the 5 senses.

Original Haiku by Ms. Rose

Ex. The snow falls gentlyCaressing my eyelashesWinter is here again

Ex. Raging winds howl Frightening all who hear Night comes quickly

4. Limerick A poem that consists of 5 lines. The rhyme scheme is aabba. Often meant to be humorous. The typical rhythm is as follows da-Dum da-da-Dum da-da-Dum da-Dum da-da-Dum da-da-Dum da-Dum da-da-Dum da-Dum da-da-Dum da-Dum da-da-Dum da-da-DumThere was an old man with a beard

Who said, "it’s just how I feared! Two owls and a hen Four larks and a wren Have all built their nests in my beard. - Anonymous

There was a Young Lady whose eyes,Were unique as to colour and size;When she opened them wide,People all turned aside,And started away in surprise.

5. Cinquain A type of poetry which has three specific patterns Focuses on a single topic (actions and/or feelings) Form 1

Line 1 = 1 word Education Line 2 = two words Unappreciated gift Line 3 = three words Given to all Line 4 = four words Passport to future success Line 5 = one word Disappointing

Form 2 Line 1 = 1 noun Christmas Line 2 = Two adjectives Beautiful and warm Line 3 = Three –ing words Laughing, sharing, enjoying Line 4 = A phrase A moment to remember Line 5 = A synonym for the noun Holiday

Form 3 Line 1 = 2 syllables Texting Line 2 = 4 syllables Always chatting Line 3 = 6 syllables When will it ever end? Line 4 = 8 syllables Technology has ruined us. Line 5 = 2 syllables Spoiled.

6. Lyric Poem Short poem that expresses the personal

mood, feeling, or reflection of a single speaker Has a song like quality – in ancient times

would have been sung by a chorus Can be composed in almost any metre Can be on any subject Poem types that fall under the category of

lyric are: odes, sonnets, elegies, haikus

Thomas Hardy – The Man He Killed

Had he and I but metBy some old ancient inn,We should have set us down to wetRight many a nipperkin!

But ranged as infantry,And staring face to face,I shot at him as he at me,And killed him in his place.

I shot him dead because—Because he was my foe,Just so: my foe of course he was;That's clear enough; although

He thought he'd 'list, perhaps,Off-hand like—just as I—Was out of work—had sold his traps—No other reason why.

Yes; quaint and curious war is!You shoot a fellow downYou'd treat, if met where any bar is,Or help to half a crown.

7. Sonnet There are 2 types of sonnet structures. The first, and most commonly known, is the

Shakespearean sonnet. Shakespearean sonnet

Composed of 14 lines (making 3 quatrains and 1 rhyming couplet

Rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg Typically deals with some form of tormented love In the rhyming couplet, represented by gg, there is

a ‘turn’ in the mood or the argument of the poem (it shifts/changes).

Shakespearean Sonnet

73

That time of year thou mayst in me behold,When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hangUpon those boughs which shake against the cold,Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.In me thou seest the twilight of such day,As after sunset fadeth in the west,Which by and by black night doth take away,Death's second self that seals up all in rest.In me thou seest the glowing of such fire,That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,As the death-bed, whereon it must expire,Consumed with that which it was nourished by.This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,To love that well, which thou must leave ere long.

147

My love is as a fever longing still,For that which longer nurseth the disease,Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,Th' uncertain sickly appetite to please:My reason the physician to my love,Angry that his prescriptions are not keptHath left me, and I desperate now approve,Desire is death, which physic did except.Past cure I am, now reason is past care,And frantic-mad with evermore unrest,My thoughts and my discourse as mad men's are,At random from the truth vainly expressed.For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright,Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.

Petrarchan Sonnet Also known as an Italian sonnet Composed of an octave (made up of two quatrains)

and a sestet. Typical Italian sonnet rhyme scheme is as follows:

Abbaabba cdecde OR

Abbaabba cdcdcd Italian sonnets also have a shift of mood or

argument in their structure. This is between the octave and sestet.

How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,Stolen on his wing my three and twentieth year!My hasting days fly on with full career,But my late spring no bud or blossom showeth.Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth, 5 That I to manhood am arrived so near,And inward ripeness doth much less appear,That some more timely-happy spirits endueth.Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow,It shall be still in strictest measure even, 10To that same lot, however mean or high,Toward which time leads me, and the will of heaven; All is, if I have grace to use it so,As ever in my great task master's eye.

Milton

William Wordsworth

8. Ballad Orally transmitted poem (traditionally) Often has vivid dialogue Normally composed in quatrains, but can

be found as six-line stanzas. Normally the second line and fourth line

rhymes

The Rime of the Ancient MarinerWilliam Coleridge

9. Free Verse No regular meter Line length is irregular Does not need to have rhyme, but it can have irregular rhyme (rhyme

scattered throughout)

WHEN I HEARD THE LEARN'D ASTRONOMERby: Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

WHEN I heard the learn'd astronomer, When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them, When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself, In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.

10. Blank Verse Unrhymed lines Each line must be written in iambic

pentameter

North of Boston Robert Frost poetry anthologyMending Wall

Something there is that doesn't love a wall, That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, And spills the upper boulders in the sun, And makes gaps even two can pass abreast. The work of hunters is another thing: I have come after them and made repair Where they have left not one stone on a stone, But they would have the rabbit out of hiding, To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean, No one has seen them made or heard them made, But at spring mending-time we find them there. I let my neighbor know beyond the hill; And on a day we meet to walk the line And set the wall between us once again. We keep the wall between us as we go. To each the boulders that have fallen to each. And some are loaves and some so nearly balls We have to use a spell to make them balance: 'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!' We wear our fingers rough with handling them. Oh, just another kind of out-door game, One on a side. It comes to little more: There where it is we do not need the wall: He is all pine and I am apple orchard. My apple trees will never get across And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him. He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'. Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder If I could put a notion in his head: 'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it Where there are cows? But here there are no cows. Before I built a wall I'd ask to know What I was walling in or walling out, And to whom I was like to give offence. Something there is that doesn't love a wall, That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him, But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather He said it for himself. I see him there Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed. He moves in darkness as it seems to me~ Not of woods only and the shade of trees. He will not go behind his father's saying, And he likes having thought of it so well He says again, "Good fences make good neighbors."

11. Villanelle French style of poetry created in the 16th century Composed of an odd number of tercets (groups

of 3 lines) (typically 5) that have the rhyme scheme of aba, with a final quatrain rhyming The first and third line of the opening tercet are repeated alternately as the third liens of the succeeding tercets, and together as the final couplet of the quatrain.

Rhyme Scheme (repeated lines are in capitals, with the second of them given in italics AbA abA abA abA abA abAA

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan ThomasDo not go gentle into that good night,Old age should burn and rave at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,Because their words had forked no lightning theyDo not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how brightTheir frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sightBlind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.Do not go gentle into that good night.Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

12. Ode (a variety of types, we are studying the Horatian ode type) a type of lyric poem A ceremonious (formal) address to a

person or abstract entity Tone is very serious Same form of stanza is repeated regularlyJohn Keats – Ode to a Grecian Urn (1819)

Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness, Thou foster-child of silence and slow time, Sylvan historian, who canst thus express A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme: What leaf-fring'd legend haunt about thy shape Of deities or mortals, or of both, In Tempe or the dales of Arcady? What men or gods are these? What maidens loth? What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard Are sweeter: therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd, Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone: Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare; Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss, Though winning near the goal - yet, do not grieve; She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu; And, happy melodist, unwearied, For ever piping songs for ever new; More happy love! more happy, happy love! For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd, For ever panting, and for ever young; All breathing human passion far above, That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd, A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.

Who are these coming to the sacrifice? To what green altar, O mysterious priest, Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies, And all her silken flanks with garlands drest? What little town by river or sea shore, Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel, Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn? And, little town, thy streets for evermore Will silent be; and not a soul to tell Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.

O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede Of marble men and maidens overwrought, With forest branches and the trodden weed; Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral! When old age shall this generation waste, Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty," - that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

14. Narrative A type of poetry that tells stories Includes the subtypes of ballads, epics, etc. See: The Walrus and the Carpenter

15. Epic a long narrative poem dealing with the

actions of legendary men and women or the history of

nations, often presented in a grand ceremonious style. The here is usually protected by or

descended from the gods Hero has superhuman talents Participates in marvellous voyages

Poetic Inspirations… Judgment Peace Love/Romance War Loss of Relationship Family Religious Controversy Seasons (fall, winter,

spring, summer) Grief Imagination

Betrayal The Future The Past Nature/Environment Stress Favorite Memory Hate Dreams Another World Childhood Reflections