POETRY 101 Poetry is when an emotion has

POETRY 101 “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words. ” - Robert Frost BEGI N

NEXT What will you learn? EG VI LL A N EL LE O DE A N ER I K U T C N V K I S I N A R E K O E S H N S M A I L L B ET EL E S Y • Major types of poetry and how they differ from each other B M JA EN SI M IL M E EN T • Key Poetic Elements and how to identify them within a selected poem R A A O N R Y EI N O H U R E OPO ATI P O E S I T M R A T G E A E Y T M T A C I A I O L H E N M C D I R O AL M

Why study poetry? NEXT Poetry is a language. It has been written, spoken, and read for thousands upon thousands of years. Poetry can evoke emotion, memories, and bring light to new and old ideas. All poetry has been written by real people with real feelings and thoughts. Everybody can read poetry, and everyone can write it. There are messages within poetry about life, love, struggle, happiness, sadness, fear, and fearlessness. Poetry can represent something important, or it can mean absolutely nothing at the same time. Poetry is what you make of it. However, until you have a small background of information on the different types of poetry and the different key poetic elements, reading through and understanding poetry can prove to be quite difficult.

Poetry 101 Let’s get started, shall we? Types of Poetry Key Poetic Elements Quiz

Types of Poetry Click on the type of poetry and explore its meaning and other cool stuff. HAIKU SESTINA SONNET VILLANELLE LIMERICK BLANK VERSE ELEGY menu ODE

Types of Poetry Sonnet “The sonnet is one of several forms of poetry originating in Europe, mainly Great Britain and Italy and commonly have 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound. ” menu Example

Types of Poetry EXAMPLE SONNET Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed; But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest, Nor shall death brag thou wanderest in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest. menu So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. 14 Lines 10 Syllables per Line BACK

Types of Poetry Haiku “A Japanese lyric verse form having three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables, traditionally invoking an aspect of nature or the seasons. ” menu Example Haiku

Types of Poetry EXAMPLE HAIKU The Rose Donna Brock The red blossom bends and drips its dew to the ground. Like a tear it falls menu No Rhyme Lines of 5, 7, 5 syllables each Traditionally about Nature BACK

Types of Poetry Sestina “A poem with six stanzas of six lines and a final triplet, all stanzas having the same six words at the line-ends in six different sequences that follow a fixed pattern, and with all six words appearing in the closing three-line envoi. ” Example Sestina menu

EXAMPLE SESTINA Types of Poetry "Sestina d'Inverno" by Anthony Hecht Here in this bleak city of Rochester, Where there are twenty-seven words for "snow, " Not all of them polite, the wayward mind Basks in some Yucatan of its own making, Some coppery, sleek lagoon, or cinnamon island Alive with lemon tints and burnished natives, And O that we were there. But here the natives Of this grey, sunless city of Rochester Have sown whole mines of salt about their land (Bare ruined Carthage that it is) while snow Comes down as if The Flood were in the making. Yet on that ocean Marvell called the mind An ark sets forth which is itself the mind, Bound for some pungent green, some shore whose natives Blend coriander, cayenne, mint in making Roasts that would gladden the Earl of Rochester With sinfulness, and melt a polar snow. It might be well to remember that an island menu Was blessed heaven once, more than an island, The grand, utopian dream of a noble mind. In that kind climate the mere thought of snow Was but a wedding cake; the youthful natives, Unable to conceive of Rochester, Made love, and were acrobatic in the making. Dream as we may, there is far more to making Do than some wistful reverie of an island, Especially now when hope lies with the Rochester Gas and Electric Co. , which doesn't mind Such profitable weather, while the natives Sink, like Pompeians, under a world of snow. The one thing indisputable here is snow, The single verity of heaven's making, Deeply indifferent to the dreams of the natives, And the torn hoarding-posters of some island. Under our igloo skies the frozen mind Holds to one truth: it is grey, and called Rochester. No island fantasy survives Rochester, Where to the natives destiny is snow That is neither to our mind nor of our making. BAC K

Types of Poetry Blank Verse menu “Blank Verse is poetry that is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter, meaning each line is written in five beats and the accents alternate. Blank verse is often unobtrusive and the iambic pentameter form often resembles the rhythms of ordinary speech. William Shakespeare wrote most of his plays in blank verse. “ Example of Blank Verse

Types of Poetry EXAMPLE BLANK VERSE Excerpt from Macbeth by William Shakespeare Tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. menu No Rhyme Iambic Pentameter BACK

Types of Poetry Limerick “A kind of humorous verse of five lines, in which the first, second, and fifth lines rhyme with each other, and the third and fourth lines, which are shorter, form a rhymed couplet. ” Example Limerick menu

Types of Poetry EXAMPLE LIMERICK Limerick by Mark Twain A man hired by John Smith and Co. Loudly declared that he’d tho. Men that he saw Dumping dirt near his door The drivers, therefore, didn’t do. menu 5 lines 1 st, 2 nd, and 5 th line rhyme with each other 3 rd and 4 th line form couplet BACK

Types of Poetry Elegy “A poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead. ” Example Elegy menu

Types of Poetry EXAMPLE ELEGY Chidioch Tichborne (1558 -1586) by Francis Duggan On September the nineteenth 1586 in London Tower When the bloom of his young life was decaying like a flower Dying in the cool winds of the early Fall In words his tragic life he did recall. Chidioch Tichborne to something beautiful to gave life In his farewell elegy to Agnes his wife An elegy still read and popular today True greatness can be slow for to meet decay. Accused as being in a failed plot to murder Elizabeth England's Queen His best days as a poet he had not seen Hung drawn and quartered a brutal way to die Such a death to justice surely gives the lie. Executed in his twenty eight year even in those times that was young But he did not remain as one unsung His gift of life may have been snatched from him in his prime But his life story and his elegy have withstood the test of time. Sad or depressing A memory BACK menu

Types of Poetry Ode “In modern use, a lyric poem, rhymed or unrhymed, typically addressed to some person or thing and usually characterized by lofty feeling, elaborate form, and dignified style. ” menu Example Ode

Types of Poetry EXAMPLE ODE Ode to Sir Lucius Gray and Sir H. Morison by Ben Jonson It is not growing like a tree In bulk, doth make man better be; Or standing long an Oak, three hundred year, To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sear. A Lily of a day Is fairer far, in May Although it fall and die that night; It was the plant and flower of light. In small proportions we just beauties see; And in short measure, life may perfect be. menu Can rhyme if wanted Normally dedictation to someone or something BACK

Types of Poetry Villanelle “A 19 -line poem of fixed form consisting of five tercets and a final quatrain on two rhymes, with the first and third lines of the first tercet repeated alternately as a refrain closing the succeeding stanzas and joined as the final couplet of the quatrain. ” menu Example Villanelle

Types of Poetry EXAMPLE VILLANELLE Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas Do 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 they Do not go gentle into that good night, Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Six stanzas Each stanza is three lines each 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 sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on the 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. BACK menu

Key Poetic Elements Click on the term to learn what it means and to see examples. SIMILE IMAGERY RHYME ALLITERATION ONOMATOPOEIA DICTION CAESURA METAPHOR menu ENJAMBMENT

Key Poetic Elements Imagery “The use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas. ” Example of Imagery menu

Key Poetic Elements From the family tree of old school hip hop Kick off your shoes and relax your socks The rhymes will spread just like a pox Cause the music is live like an electric shock --Beastie Boys "Intergalactic" From Hello Nasty menu Words which evoke emotion or any of the senses of the reader Let’s the reader see the image BACK

Key Poetic Elements Rhyme “Correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words, esp. when these are used at the ends of lines of poetry. ” Example Rhyme menu

Key Poetic Elements Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the King's horses, And all the King's men Couldn't put Humpty together again! menu BACK

Key Poetic Elements Onomatopoeia “The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named, such as ‘pop’, ‘fizzle’, ‘oozes’. It sounds like it is read. ” Example of Onomatopoeia menu

Key Poetic Elements Crack an Egg by Denise Rodgers menu Crack an egg. Stir the butter. Break the yolk. Make it flutter. Stoke the heat. Hear it sizzle. Shake the salt, just a drizzle. Flip it over, just like that. Press it down. Squeeze it flat. Pop the toast. Spread jam thin. Say the word. Breakfast's in. Words that sound, in real life, just as they are read BACK

Key Poetic Elements Alliteration “The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. ” menu Example of Alliteration

Key Poetic Elements Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick? menu BACK

Key Poetic Elements Simile “A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind. ” menu Example of Simile

Key Poetic Elements A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns O My Luve's like a red, red rose, That's newly sprung in June; O My Luve's like the melodie That's sweetly played in tune. As fair art thou, my bonnie lass, So deep in luve am I; And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear While the sands o' life shall run. And fare thee weel, my only luve, And fare thee weel, awhile! And I will come again, my luve Tho' it ware ten thousand mile! Uses the word “like” or “as” as comparison words BACK menu

Key Poetic Elements Caesura “A pause near the middle of a line. ” menu Example of Caesura

Key Poetic Elements An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope Notice the pauses right in the middle of the lines Know then thyself II, presume not God to scan; The proper study of Mankind II is Man. Plac'd on this isthmus of a middle state, A being darkly wise, and rudely great: menu BACK

Key Poetic Elements Enjambment “The continuation of a syntactic unit from one line of verse into the next line without a pause. ” Example of Enjambment menu

Key Poetic Elements Trees by Joyce Kilmer I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. Notice how the yellow words begin on one line and continue on to the next line without any pause or punctuation A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the sweet earth's flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree. BACK menu

Key Poetic Elements Diction “The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing. ” menu Example of Diction

Key Poetic Elements The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost Diction is simply the word choice that the writer decides to use Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth. And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. menu BACK

Key Poetic Elements Metaphor “A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. ” menu Example of Metaphor

Key Poetic Elements “All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players They have their exits and their entrances. ” Notice how Shakespeare compares the world to a stage William Shakespeare menu BACK

Quiz Time Now Let’s see what you have learned. The goal is to answer four out of five questions correctly. menu

#1 A ______ is a term used to compare two things using the words “like” or “as”. A. B. C. D. Metaphor Caesura Diction Simile menu

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#1 THAT IS CORRECT! GREAT JOB! menu NEXT QUESTION

#2 Which type of poetry is this an example of? Without flowing wine How to enjoy lovely Cherry blossoms? menu A. Limerick B. Sonnet C. Haiku D. Ode

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#2 THAT IS CORRECT! GREAT JOB! menu NEXT QUESTION

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#3 Click on the enjambment in the following poem. Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore-And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over-like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. menu Or does it explode?

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#3 THAT IS CORRECT! GREAT JOB! menu NEXT QUESTION

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#4 A caesura is _______? A. B. C. D. A comparison of two things that are not alike. A poem that has no rhyme. When the poet uses iambic pentameter in the first line. A pause or break in the middle of a line of poetry. menu

#4 Wrong, try again menu TRY AGAIN

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#4 THAT IS CORRECT! GREAT JOB! menu NEXT QUESTION

#5 What type of poetry is the following poem? There is another sky by Emily Dickinson There is another sky, Ever serene and fair, And there is another sunshine, Though it be darkness there; Never mind faded forests, Austin, Never mind silent fields Here is a little forest, Whose leaf is ever green; Here is a brighter garden, Where not a frost has been; In its unfading flowers I hear the bright bee hum: Prithee, my brother, Into my garden come! menu A. Limerick B. Sonnet C. Blank Verse D. None of the above

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#5 THAT IS CORRECT! GREAT JOB! menu FINISH

EXCELLENT JOB! You now have a pretty solid knowledge base on the types of different poetry and some of the key poetic elements. menu