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WhatisPoetry?
"PickingWordsfortheSoundandtheMeaning"
Learnmoreaboutthistopic!Eachsectiongivesmoredetailononeofthelyricsfromthesong.Readeachsection,and
thenrespondbyansweringthequestionortakingnotesonkeyideas.
Ly ric:It'swhenyou'v ewrittenandarespittingwordsfor
theirmeaningandsound
Aslampoetinaction
Poetschoosewordsnotjustfortheir
literal(mostbasic)meaning,butforwhat
theysoundlike,too.Toreally
understandthemeaningandpowerofa
poem,youoftenneedtoreciteitorhear
italoud.Peoplehavebeenreading
poemsaloudforthousandsofyears.TheGreekepicswereverylong
poemsthatwerelikelypasseddownorallyforgenerations.Therhythm
andrhymeofthepoetrymadeiteasiertoremember.
Today,thetraditionofrecitingpoetrycontinues.Spokenwordpoet ry is
readaloudorperformedbythepoet.Youcanseespokenwordpoets
readingtheirworkatslampoetrycompetitionsacrossthecountry.
1
Notes
Ly ric:ahaiku,asonnetoralimerickforfun
Notes
Titlepagefrom1609publicationofShakespeare's
sonnets
Haikus,sonnetsandlimericksarethreedifferent
poet icforms .Apoeticformisatypeofpoem
withspecificrulesforrhyme,rhythmand/or
subjectmatter.
Ahaiku isatraditionalJapanesepoeticform.It
consistsofthreeunrhymedlineswithspecific
syllablecounts:fivesyllablesinthefirstline,seven
syllablesinthesecondandfiveinthethird.Haikus
areoftenaboutnatureandtheseasons.
Asonnet isa14-linepoemwithasetrhymeschemeandaparticular
syllablepatterncallediambicpentameter.Differenttypesofsonnetshave
differentrhymeschemes.AnEnglish,orShakespearean,sonnetusually
followstherhymeschemeof:ABABCDCDEFEFGG.Thefinaltwolines,a
couplet,summarizethemainideaofthepoem.(Wanttoheara
Shakespeareansonnet?Checkout.)
Alimerick isafive-linepoemwiththerhymeschemeofAABBA.Lines1,2
and5havethesamenumberofsyllables(usuallynine)andlines3and4
areshorter.Alimerickisfunnyandtendstohaveanunexpectedending.
Ly ric:A poemwritteninv erseyou'llfind,M osthav e
meterandmanyhav erhyme. What'sprose?It'sthe
oppositeofpoetry
PortraitofCharlesBaudelaire
Sometimesyoucantellrightawaythatyou’re
lookingatapoem.How?Becausethelineswill
breakinthemiddleofsentences,forming
v erses onthepage.Averseisasinglelineof
poetry.Ast anza islikeapoem’sparagraph;itis
agroupofversesboundtogethertoformone
sectionofapoem.
Notallpoemsarewritteninversethough.A
prosepoem iswritteninsentencesand
paragraphs,justlikefictionornonfiction.Whileprosepoemsdon’thave
linebreaks,youcanstillseetheirpoeticqualitythroughtechniqueslike
repetition,figurativelanguageandimagery.Earlyprosepoemswere
writtenbyCharlesBaudelaire,afamousFrenchpoet.
2
Notes
Ly ric:A nddropcapitalslikee.e.cummings
Notes
Cummings'signature
eecummings(1894-1962)wasan
Americanpoet,authorandplaywright.Cummingsismostfamousforhis
poetry,whichexperimentedwithform,punctuation,spellingandsyntax
andfrequentlydescribedloveandnature.Cummings,whowasinfluenced
bypoetslikeGertrudeStein,inventedwordsandusedexistingwordsin
newways.Inonepoem,hedescribesthespringas“mudluscious”and
“puddle-wonderful.”Cummingsalsoplayedwiththeappearanceofhis
poemsonthepage,breakingupwordstocreateshapesortomirrorhis
subjectmatter.Apoemaboutaleaffallingappearsvertically,sothatyour
eyetracestheleafdriftingdownthepage.
BecauseCummingsoftenbrokethestandardrulesforcapitalization,many
peopleandpublisherswritehisnamewithlowercaseletters.Thereisa
commonbeliefthatCummingslegallychangedhisnametobelowercase,
butthisisamyth.
Ly ric:TellKeatsandYeatsyou'recomingforthecanon
AtracingbyKeats
JohnKeats(1795-1821)wasanEnglishRomantic
poetwhowroteinarangeofpoeticforms,including
thesonnet,theMiltonicepicandtheode.Keats,
whodiedatage25,isstillwidelyreadand
rememberedtoday.Eachofhisodesarelyrical
reflectionsonanobjectanditsrelationshiptothe
speakerandhisworld.“OdeonaGrecianUrn”is
oneofhismostfamouspoems.
WilliamButler,orW.B.,Yeats(1865-1939)wasan
Irishpoetanddramatist.Yeats’writingoftendrewfromIrishmythology
andfolklore.In1923,YeatswasawardedtheNobelPrizeinLiterature.The
NobelCommitteenotedhis“alwaysinspiredpoetry,whichinahighly
artisticformgivesexpressiontothespiritofawholenation.”
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Notes
Ly ric:anylil'syllable
Notes
The"Chandos"portraitofWilliamShakespeare.
Asy llable isaunitofpronunciationthatusually
hasonevowelsound.Thereisonesyllableinthe
word“verse,”twosyllablesin“stanza”(stan*za)
andthreeinsyllable(syl*la*ble).
Manypoeticformsrequireaspecificnumberof
syllablesperline.Inordertomeetthisrhythmic
requirement,poetssometimesshortenwords.
InShakespeare’ssonnets,youmightfindthe
word“ever”shortenedto“e’er”and“often”
becoming“oft”tofittherhythm.Inasimilarway,forthislyricofoursong,
we’veshortened“little”to“lil.”
Ly ric:WantsomeFigurativ elanguage?Thechoiceis
yours
Themoonisnotarealperson.
Whenyouusefigurativelanguage,you
sayorwritesomethinginacreativeway
thatgoesbeyondtheliteralmeaningof
yourwords.Youmightwrite,for
example,thatthemoonwasawhite
balloon.Thiswouldn’tmeanthatthe
moonwasactuallyaninflatedsphereof
latex.Instead,themet aphor would
show,figuratively,thatthemoonwas
big,brightandround.Itmightalsoadda
childishtonetoyourpoemsinceballoonsareassociatedwithchildhood.
Youcanusefigurativelanguagetobemoreexpressiveinotherkindsof
writing,notjustinpoetry.
M et aphor andsimile aretwotypesoffigurativelanguagethatuse
comparisons.Asimilecomparestwothingsthatarealikeinsomeway
usingthewords“like”or“as.”Forexample:“Themoonwasasbrightasa
whiteballoon.”Metaphorsdonotusethewords“like”or“as”andinstead
implythatonethingistheother.
Writersusepersonificat ion whentheygiveahumantraittosomething
nonhuman.“Themoonstareddown,watchingme,”isanexampleof
personification.Again,thiswriterdoesn’tmeanthatthemoonhaseyes
andisliterallywatchingher.Sheisusingfigurativelanguage.
4
Notes
Ly ric:ItcouldbeA BA B,OrA A BB,ormanyothers,do
yousee
Notes
Poetrycantakemanydifferentforms.
Arhy mescheme isthepatternof
rhyminglinesinapoem.Wecandescribe
rhymeschemeusingletterstoindicate
differentrhymes.
Imagineafour-linepoem,orquatrain.If
everylinerhymed,we’dsaythispoem
hadarhymeschemeofAAAA.Ifeveryotherlinerhymed,therhyme
schemewouldbeABAB.ABACwouldmeanonlylines1and3rhymed.
Whichoft helineswouldrhy meineachrhy meschemebelow? ABCD
ABCB
Ly ric:Youcouldwriteinfreev erse(seewhatIdidthere
PhotographofAmericanpoet,CarlSandberg
Apoemthatdoesn’tfollowspecificrulesfor
rhythmorrhymeiswritteninfreev erse .Carl
Sandburg’spoem“Fog,”whichismentionedin
thissong,isanexampleoffreeverse.
Whatmakes“Fog”apoemifithasnorhymeor
rhythm?Forastart,itiswritteninverseinstead
ofinprose.Butbeyondthat,Sandburg’s
languageisrichwithimageryandpoetic
devices,includingpersonificationand
metaphor.
5
Notes
Ly ric:anothersounddev ice
Drawingofaslipperysnake
Asounddeviceisatoolpoetsuseto
expressmeaningthroughthesoundof
theirwords.Alliterationand
onomatopoeiaaretwosounddevices,
butthereareothers.
Allit erat ion istherepetitionofinitialsoundsofwords.“Theslippery
snakeslitheredslowly”isasentencethatusesalliteration.Notonlyis
alliterationpleasanttohear,buttherepeatedsoundscanhelpreaders
makeconnectionsbetweenwordsandimages.
Soundscanbehardtodescribeinwords.Withonomat opoeia ,thewords
don’tjustdescribesounds;theymimicthem.Onomat opoeia isaword
thatimitatesasound,like“clang”or“sizzle.”Onomatopoeialetsthe
readershearthesoundstoo,addingtotheirsensoryexperienceofthe
poem.
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Notes