what is poetry

WHAT IS POETRY

…..words arranged in a

RYTHMIC pattern with

regular ACCENTS

(like BEATS in music)

…words carefully selected for sound, accent, and meaning…to express IMAGINATIVELY ideas

. . . In one wayEVERYONE

Uses poetry whenHe speaks or writes

WithWords that create

IMAGES, such as. . .

IN CONVERSATION. . .

“I’ve come to the end of my own rope

In Songs. . . “L-O-V-E is a MANY

SPLENDORED THING”

In Speeches. . .

“A Nation Concieved in

Liberty—”

. . .BUT A POET Is a person more

EndowedWith imagination who

Tries to express an idea with words that

Give it FORM and BEAUTY--

-Looking at the same thing

What do I see?

A BIG TREE AND ITS GETTING

DARK!

I SEE ADARK

HAND ISTEARING

THEVAULT OF

NIGHT

Each poem has:

•RHYTHM•MELODY•IMAGERY•FORM

And POETRY has a “LANGUAGE” all its own…

EACH POEM has a RHYTHMCalled a “METRIC PATTERN”

(except in free verse) That is, the ACCENTS of theSyllables in the

Words fall at regularIntervals, like theBEAT of MUSIC

EACH POEM ALSO HAS“MELODY”. . . .

LIKE MUSIC, EACH POEM HAS

MELODY(I.E. SOUND DEVICES)

OF WHICH THE PRINCIPLE ONE IS. . .

Rhyme—that is- where two words haveThe SAME SOUND on their last accented vowelPreceded by DIFFERENT consonants.

EXAMPLE: dame and same

SINGLE RHYME

DOUBLERHYME

TRIPLERHYME

LOVE

Dove

Rapping

Tapping

Mournfully

Scornfully

OTHER RHYMING TERMS:

IMPERFECT RHYMEtwo words that look alike, but

don’tsound alikeExample: LOVE and JOVE

INTERNAL RHYMEthe rhyme occurs inside a single

line of poetryExample: “Let’s beat the heat.”

…besides rhyme, poets also use these

OTHER SOUND EFFECTS-

ASSONANCE- resemblance of vowel sounds in

wordsExample: “O harp and altar, of the

fury fused”

ONAMATOPOEIA- words sound like their

meanings EXAMPLES: drip, whisper, hoot, meow, murmur

ALLITERATION-words that begin with the same consonant sound

SUCH AS: In a Summer Season, where Soft was Sun

EACH POEM ALSO HAS

IMAGERY(figures of speech representing sense

experiences)

-comparisons are one way of creating imagery as in…

1) SIMILE- two unlike things are compared using “like” or “as”

Example: the man paced like a lion

2) METAPHOR- two unlike things are directly compared without the use of “like” or “as”

Example: The river is a snake which coils on itself.

3) PERSONIFICATION-giving human qualities to anything that is not human

Examples: The trees danced in the breeze

4) APOSTROPHE- addressing some abstract object

Example: “O world! Tell me thy pain!”

5) LITERARY ALLUSIONS- Referring metaphorically to person, places, and things from history or previous literature.

-and by EXAGGERATION

1) HYPERBOLE- Saying more than this is true

Example: “He wore his fingers to the bone.”

2) UNDERSTANDMENT- Saying less than is true.

Example: “Losing his job meant ht could sleep late.”

IRONY- Saying the opposite to what is true.

Example: “War is kind.”

And finally, EVERY POEM has FORM(structure)

A starIf you are

A love compassionate,You will walk with us this year.

We face a glacial distance who are hereHuddl’d

At your feet

RUN-ON LINE_NOT END SENTENCE OR THOUGHT

LONG LINESOFTER INDICATE DISTANCE OR DIRECTION

NOTE EACH LINE STARTS WITH A CAPITAL LETTER

REPETITION-of words, sounds, or ideas to enhance

rhythm or to create emphasis

Example :Because I do not hope to turn againBecause I do not hope

Because I do not hope to turn

What’s a “POETIC LICENSE?”

It means that a poet is allowed to break rules of spelling to make his or her rhyme

or meter more perfect-

AS IN: soft oftHope ope

RHYME SCHEMESARE INDICATED BY THE USE OF LETTERS

Such as in :

1. Roses are red A2. Violets are blue B3. Sugar is sweet C4. And so are you B

The rhyme scheme of this poem is ABCB.

A LONG POEMUSUALLY CONSISTS OF A

NUMBER OF LINES GROUPED INTO SETS OF

LINES CALLED

STANZAS

# OF lINES What’s it called? What it is

2 RHYMED COUPLET

2 LINES WITH THE SAME RHYME

4 QUATRAIN 4 LINES WITH ANY RHYME

6 SESTET SIX LINES

8 OCTAVE 8 LINES

14 SONNET 14 LINES OF IAMBIC PENTAMETER

SOME SPECIAL NAMES FOR STANZAS

SOME TYPES OR GROUPS POEMS FALL INTO

EPIC

BALLAD

ODEELEGY

EPITAPH

LYRICPASTORAL

NARRATIVE

SONNET

POETS AND THEIR POETRY HAVE THEIR OWN STYLES

(sometimes these are called schools or movements)

“CLASSICAL”“REALISTIC”“ABSTRACT”“ROMANTIC”

“PSYCOLOGICAL”

Try to Understand the

THEMEOf each poem Ask yourself: “What is

the message?”

DIFFERENT POETS MY HAVE QUITE DIFFERENT ATTITUDES TOWARD THE SAME SUBJECT

war

War is a dreadful waste of people and resources

War makes the mighty men and eliminates the weak

What Amazing heroism and courage war

brings our in men

As a soldier, I do not see the war, but only

my own misery

EVERY POET IS INFLUENCED BY…

1)His or her BELIEFS-usually reflected on in his/ her THEMES

2)The PERIOD-usually affects the STYLE of the poem

3)The SUBJECT-often affects the METRICAL PATTERN

4)CREATIVITY will affect his or her use of IMAGERY

THE END

KEEP POETRY ALIVE