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Poetry
It’s not so scary
What is poetry?
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Wordsworth defined poetry as "the
spontaneous overflow of powerful
feelings.”
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."
Dylan Thomas defined poetry this
way: "Poetry is what makes me laugh
or cry or yawn, what makes my
toenails twinkle, what makes me want
to do this or that or nothing."
What is poetry?
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Poets use language differently than
prose writers.
Poets choose a limited number of
words for their poems – words that say
exactly what the poet intends.
Poets do not waste words – they only
use the most powerful, precise words.
Poets’ choice of words enhance the
intended feeling or emotional content
of the poem.
Some types of poetry
Haiku
Haiku Poetry Type is a Japanese
poem composed of:
three unrhymed lines of five, seven,
and five syllables.
Haiku
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In the following haiku, the poet
describes the sky as he sees it:
Blue sky up above
I see floating images
Cartoons in the clouds
What do you notice?
Haiku
None is traveling
By Basho
None is traveling
here along this way but I,
this autumn evening.
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Poetry is sometimes written in verse.
Groups of lines in a poem are called
stanzas. Lines often have a definite
rhythm, or beat. Sometimes poets
create lines that rhyme:
Winter is so very nice
Ski, sled, and skate on ice.
I like it when the snow comes down
They close the schools all over town.
My friends and I go out to play
We hope for snow another day!
Sonnet
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14 line poem
Rhythm = iambic pentameter
Rhyme = abab cdcd efef gg
Ends with rhyming couplet
Sonnet
My Mistress’ Eyes
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun,
Coral is far more red than her lips red,
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask’d, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground;
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare,
As any she belied with false compare.
Lyric Poetry
Lyric Poetry expresses the thoughts
and feelings of the poet.
The lyric poet addresses the reader
directly, portraying his or her own
feeling, state of mind, and
perceptions.
Lyric Poetry
Dying by Emily Dickinson
I heard a fly buzz when I died;
The stillness round my form
Was like the stillness in the air
Between the heaves of storm.
The eyes beside had wrung them dry,
And breaths were gathering sure
For that last onset, when the king
By witnessed in his power.
I willed my keepsakes, signed away
What portion of my I
Could make assignable, - and then
There interposed a fly,
With blue, uncertain, stumbling buzz,
Between the light and me;
And then the windows failed, and then
I could not see to see.
Narrative Poetry
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Narrative Poems are poems that tell
stories.
There is a beginning, which introduces
the background to the story.
A middle, which tells the action of the
event.
And an end, which concludes and
summarizes the story.
Narrative Poetry
Edgar Allen Poe’s
“The Raven”
Free Verse
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Poetry doesn’t always rhyme:
There he was
Alive, strong, and looking well.
I saw the happiness in his eyes,
In his laughter,
In his smile.
It looked like it would never fade.
As I stepped out of his door and said
goodbye,
I didn’t mean forever.
Free Verse
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Each word the poet
uses, each writing
technique the poet
employs, each
placement of a word
on a line is done
purposefully to
achieve the desired
effect on the reader
Autumn Snow
Leaves
Fall
To the
Ground
And
Blanket
The
Earth
With
Snow
On
A
Mid
Winter’s
Day.
Figurative Language
Figurative Language is not meant
to be interpreted literally; it is to be
interpreted imaginatively.
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It is used to create vivid pictures in
the reader’s mind in order to make
writing emotionally intense.
It is used to state ideas in new and
unusual ways to satisfy the reader’s
imagination
What do you notice?
Shot in the head, they
jump only once, lie still
Like dead beer cans.
Simile
A
simile is a
comparison using like
or as. It usually
compares two dissimilar
objects.
What do you notice?
 The
giant’s steps were
thunder as he ran
toward Jack.
Metaphor
A
metaphor states that
one thing is something
else. It is a comparison,
but it does NOT use like
or as to make the
comparison.
Put Simply:
 Similes
and Metaphors
are used to understand
one thing by comparing
it to another
Hyperbole
 Hyperbole
is a type of
figurative language that is
used in poetry.
 Comedians also use it to
make jokes.
 It is using exaggerations to
make writing more
interesting.
Hyperbole
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An exaggeration or overstatement
intended to produce an effect
without being taken literally.
Example:
I've told you a million times not to
exaggerate.
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Hyperbole
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I Swear I Only Napped a Minute
Eyes fluttered shut
Drool formed a pool
The nap was only to last a minute
The sun set
Winters came and went
The nap was only to last a minute
Wrinkles formed
Young men grew white beards
The nap may have lasted more than a minute
Personification
Personification
 Personification
is giving
human qualities, feelings,
action, or characteristics
to inanimate (non-living)
objects.
Personification
The sky is low
By Emily Dickinson
The sky is low, the clouds are mean,
A travelling flake of snow
Across a barn or through a rut
Debates if it will go.
A narrow wind complains all day
How some one treated him;
Nature, like us, is sometimes caught
Without her diadem.
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Sound Devices
Onomatopoeia
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on-uh-mat-uh-pee-uh
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Listen quietly…… What do you hear?
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Onomatopoeias are words that
illustrate sound such as bang,
boom, click, swish, clap, creak
and beep.
Onomatopoeia
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Noises
By Danielle Caryl
The click of the clock, the creak of the stair,
The squeak of a mouse and the swoosh of the air.
The groan of the house as it settles below,
And outside the window, the patter of snow.
The scruff of the dog's paws below where I rest,
The rattle of the window that seems to face West.
The jingle of bells from a wind chime next door
The unearthly sounds of a truly loud snore.
The crunching of snow under an animal's feet,
The honk of a horn from right down the street.
So many noises I just want to weep,
Is it too much to ask for some sleep?
Alliteration
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Repetition of a consonant at the
beginning of words in poetry or in
any writing
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Example: The tiny tomatoes from
Tom's garden were tasty.
Example: Alliteration is the same
sound starting several words in the
same sentence.
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Alliteration
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Time
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By Roger Waters
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Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way
Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
And you are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death
Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say
Assonance
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The repetition of vowel sounds in
stressed syllables to achieve partial
rhyme
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Example: brave ladies live not in
vain
Assonance
Ah! Sun-flower
by William Blake
Ah Sun-flower! weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the Sun:
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller's journey is done;
Where the Youth pined away with desire,
And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow
Arise from their graves and aspire
Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.
Consonance
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The repetition of consonant sounds,
but not vowels
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Example: all mammals named Sam
are clammy
Narrative Poetry
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In order to analyze a narrative poem,
first read through it with the following
questions in mind:
Who are the characters in the poem?
What are the characters doing, or what is
happening?
Why are these events happening?
How are the characters affected by the
action or events?
What can be learned from the poem?
Repetition in Poetry
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Here's what repetition does in
poetry:
It sets up expectations which are
either fulfilled for the reader or
frustrated (and often both fulfilled
and frustrated).
Repetition in Poetry
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For example:
When the first line of a poem has a
certain rhythm, we expect this rhythm to
continue.
As the poet introduces changes, we
experience a mixture of tension and
pleasure in the variety.
Thus repetition (and the lack of it) gives
a poem texture and interest.
Repetition in Poetry
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Repetition also amplifies and intersects with sense.
We Real Cool
by Gwendoyln Brooks
The Pool Players.
Seven at the Golden Shovel.
We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
Repetition in Poetry
 The
repetition of the word "We"
is originally planted at the start
of both the title and the first line.
 This repetition is intensified with
"We" causing a breathy kind of
suspense at each line break.
 We have the fulfillment of
expectation, right?
Repetition in Poetry
Then the "We" repetition is
suddenly cut off - the frustration of
expectation.
 The missing "We" at the end of the
poem dramatizes through sound
(or, more precisely, the lack of
sound) the bitter loss of these
young men who, the poem implies,
have wasted their all-too-brief lives.
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Repetition in Poetry
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Repetition can be a tricky business in
poems.
My former poetry teacher, Randy
Watson, used to tell us never to
repeat a word in a poem.
He said that the second presence of
the word reduces the energy at that
point as well as at the first
appearance of the word.
This is good advice, I think.
Repetition in Poetry
 At
the same time,
however, repetition
can accumulate the
music and the feeling.
Using Precise
Words
Connotation in Poetry
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A reminder:
Denotation is when you mean what you
say, literally.
Connotation is created when you mean
something else, something that might be
initially hidden.
The connotative meaning of a word is
based on implication, or shared
emotional association with a word.
Connotation in Poetry
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Greasy is a completely innocent word:
Some things, like car engines, need
to be greasy.
But greasy contains negative
associations for most people, whether
they are talking about food or about
people.
Connotations are important in poetry
because poets use them to further
develop or complicate a poem's
meaning.
To Become a Poet
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Choose a subject that has value,
that makes a point.
Write about a subject that you have
passion for. Pour your emotions into
the poem. Choose the precise
words to express your emotion.
Choose your words so that your
reader will remember your poem.
Remember, poetry is “memorable
speech.”