“an introduction to poetry” billy collins (b. 1941)

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“An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941) I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a color slide or press an ear against its hive. I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out, or walk inside the poem's room and feel the walls for a light switch. I want them to waterski across the surface of a poem waving at the author's name on the shore. But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it. They begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means.

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“An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941). I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a color slide or press an ear against its hive. I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out, or walk inside the poem's room - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“An Introduction to Poetry”Billy Collins (b. 1941)

I ask them to take a poemand hold it up to the lightlike a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poemand watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's roomand feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterskiacross the surface of a poemwaving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to dois tie the poem to a chair with ropeand torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hoseto find out what it really means.

Page 2: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

POETRY TERMSLiterary devices and terms associated with poetry.

Page 3: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

The voice in the poem is not necessarily the poet’s.

Persona

Page 4: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Persona

Poet is not necessarily the narrator of the poem.

Poems are not necessarily autobiographical.

Persona: The speaker of the poem, most often NOT the author. Persona is the narrator or the character.

Page 5: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Like tone of voice, the tone of the poem communicates attitude and feeling.

Tone

Page 6: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Tone

Tone: The attitude of the poem.

The choice of words and the details that communicate the attitude.

What attitude does the poem take toward a theme or subject?

Page 7: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“For a Lady I Know”Countee Cullen (1903-1946)

She even thinks that up in heaven

Her class lies late and snores,

While poor black cherubs rise at seven

To do celestial chores.

Published in Color, 1925.

Page 8: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Dreams”Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

Hold fast to dreamsFor if dreams dieLife is a broken-winged birdThat cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreamsFor when dreams goLife is a barren fieldFrozen with snow.

Page 9: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“A Dream Deferred”Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

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.

Or does it explode?

1951

Page 10: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

The writer’s choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, and figurative language all help to create meaning.

Diction

Page 11: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Denotation and Connotation

Dictionary definition of the word.

Overtones, suggestions, implications, additional meanings.

The emotions, thoughts and ideas associated with and evoked by the word.

What the word makes you think of or feel or what you associate with the word.

DENOTATION CONNOTATION

Page 12: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Abstract and Concrete Words

Tangible persons, places, or things; who or what we can immediately perceive with our senses.

Intangible ideas, concepts, emotions, or generalities.

CONCRETE ABSTRACT

Page 13: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Allusion

Indirect historical, cultural, or literary references that enrich the meaning of a poem.

The reader brings his/her knowledge and understanding of the reference to the poem.

Page 14: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Grass”Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)

Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.Shovel them under and let me work—

I am the grass; I cover all.

And pile them high at Gettysburg.And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.Shovel them under and let me work.

Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:What place is this?Where are we now?

I am the grass.Let me work.

1918

Page 15: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Figures of speech” appeal to the imagination, create images, and describe through the use of interesting and unusual comparisons. Figurative language gives us new ways to look at the world.

Figurative Language

Page 16: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Imagery & Figurative Language Imagery: Vivid, descriptive language that

appeals to the senses.

Simile: An explicit comparison between two things by using the words “like,” “as,” “than,” “appears,” or “seems.”

Metaphor: A direct comparison between two unlike things, saying one thing is another, using the “to be” verb, not “like” or “as.”

Page 17: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Imagery & Figurative Language Personification: Giving animals, nature,

inanimate objects, or ideas human characteristics, abilities, reactions, or emotions.

Anthropomorphism: Making animals, nature, inanimate objects, or ideas into human-like figures that speak, walk upright, wear clothes, and so on.

Page 18: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Because I could not stop for Death” (712)Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Because I could not stop for Death –He kindly stopped for me –The Carriage held but just Ourselves –And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no hasteAnd I had put awayMy labor and my leisure too,For His Civility –

We passed the School, where Children strove

At Recess – in the Ring –We passed the Fields of Grazing Grain –We passed the Setting Sun –

Or rather – He passed us –The Dews drew quivering and chill –For only Gossamer, my Gown –My Tippet – only Tulle –

We paused before a house that seemed

A Swelling of the Ground –The Roof was scarcely visible –The Cornice – in the Ground

Since then –’tis Centuries – and yetFeels shorter than the Day,I first surmised the Horses’ HeadsWere toward Eternity –

1890

Page 19: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“ ”Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)

I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.Whatever I see, I swallow immediately.Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislikeI am not cruel, only truthful –The eye of a little god, four-cornered.Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so longI think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers.Faces and darkness separate us over and over.

Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me.Searching my reaches for what she really is.Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.I see her back, and reflect it faithfullyShe rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.I am important to her. She comes and goes.Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old

womanRises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.

Written 1961, Published 1963 and 1971

Page 20: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Root Cellar”Theodore Roethke (1908-1963)

Nothing would sleep in that cellar, dank as a ditch,Bulbs broke out of boxes hunting for chinks in the dark,Shoots dangled and drooped,Lolling obscenely from mildewed crates,Hung down long yellow evil necks, like tropical snakes.And what a congress of stinks!—Roots ripe as old bait,Pulpy stems, rank, silo-rich,Leaf-mold, manure, lime, piled against slippery planks.Nothing would give up life: Even the dirt kept breathing a small breath.

Page 21: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter”Robert Bly (b. 1926)

It is a cold and snowy night. The main street is deserted.

The only things moving are swirls of snow.

As I lift the mailbox door, I feel its cold iron.

There is a privacy I love in this snowy night.

Driving around, I will waste more time.

Page 22: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Sound

Onomatopoeia: A word that imitates the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to; words that sound like what they describe or name; words that sound like their meaning.

Alliteration: Repetition of the same consonant sounds in a series of words, usually at the beginning of the words.

Assonance: The repetition of the same vowel sounds in nearby words that do not end the same. "asleep under a tree" or "each evening" The same internal vowel sound and the same

ending is rhyme! “asleep in the deep”

Page 23: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Jabberwocky”Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

The frumious Bandersnatch!”

He took his vorpal sword in hand;

Long time the manxome foe he sought—

So rested he by the Tumtum tree,

And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,

The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,

And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through

The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

He left it dead, and with its head

He went galumping back.

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?

Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”

He chortled in his joy.

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

Page 24: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Recital”John Updike (1932-2009)

ROGER BOBO GIVES RECITAL ON TUBA

--Headline in the Times

Eskimos in Manitoba,Barracuda off Aruba,

Cock an ear when Roger BoboStarts to solo on the tuba.

Men of every station—Pooh-bah,Nabob, bozo, toff, and hobo—

Cry in unison, “Indubi-Tably, there is simply nobo-

Dy who oompahs on the tubo,Solo, quite like Roger Bubo!”

Page 25: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“To see the world in a grain of sand”William Blake (1757-1827)

To see the world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

And eternity in an hour.

Page 26: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

But let’s be perfectly clear on this – not all poems rhyme! And that’s a good thing!

RHYME

Page 27: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Rhyme

Rhyme: Words or phrases with an identical or similar sound.

Exact: Identical sounds.

Near: Similar sounds. (Also called “slant rhyme.”)

End Rhyme: Words at the end of the lines rhyme.

Internal Rhyme: Words within the lines rhyme.

Page 28: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“To see the world in a grain of sand”William Blake (1757-1827)

To see the world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

And eternity in an hour.

Page 29: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Rhyme Scheme

Rhyme Scheme: The pattern of end rhyme in a poem.

May mark the rhyme scheme of internal rhyme in a poem, but usually refers to the pattern of end rhyme.

Notated with lowercase letters of the alphabet, each different letter representing a different rhyme.

Page 30: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Punctuation

Line ends with some mark of punctuation; we pause at the end of the line.

Line does not end with punctuation; we continue to read on to the next line in order to complete the thought.

ENDSTOP ENJAMBMENT

Page 31: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Fire and Ice”Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Some say the world will end in fire,Some say in ice.From what I’ve tasted of desireI hold with those who favor fire.But if it had to perish twice,I think I know enough of hateTo say that for destruction iceIs also greatAnd would suffice.

Page 32: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“The Eagle”Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

He clasps the crag with crooked hands; Close to the sun in lonely lands,Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;He watches from his mountain walls,And like a thunderbolt he falls.

Page 33: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Whose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the village though;He will not see me stopping hereTo watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queerTo stop without a farmhouse nearBetween the woods and frozen lakeThe darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shakeTo ask if there is some mistake.The only other sound's the sweepOf easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.

Page 34: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

From “The Raven”Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

" 'Tis some visiter," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door

Only this, and nothing more."    

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,

And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.

Eagerly I wished the morrow; — vainly I had tried to borrow

From my books surcease of sorrow — sorrow for the lost Lenore

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore —

Nameless here for evermore.    

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

Thrilled me — filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;

So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating

" 'Tis some visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door —

Some late visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door; —

This it is, and nothing more."

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,

"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;

But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,

And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,

That I scarce was sure I heard you" — here I opened wide the door; —

Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;

But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,

And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore!“

This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!“

Merely this, and nothing more.

Then into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,

Soon I heard again a tapping somewhat louder than before.

"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice;

Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore —

Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—

'Tis the wind, and nothing more!"  

Page 35: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Fire and Ice”Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Some say the world will end in fire,Some say in ice.From what I’ve tasted of desireI hold with those who favor fire.But if it had to perish twice,I think I know enough of hateTo say that for destruction iceIs also greatAnd would suffice.

Page 36: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

RHYTHMThe recurrence of stressed and unstressed sounds in poetry create the rhythm or the flow of the poem.

Page 37: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Rhythm

Accented or emphasized syllable.

Not accented or not emphasized syllable.

STRESS UNSTRESS

Page 38: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Rhythm

A unit of two or three syllables that contains at least one stress.

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.

FOOT METER

Page 39: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Rhythm

Monometer Dimeter Trimeter Tetrameter Pentameter Hexameter Heptameter Octameter

Page 40: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Rhythm

Iambic: Unstress Stress

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?from Romeo and Juliet

Anapestic: Unstress Unstress Stress

It was many and many a year agoIn a kingdom by the sea

That a maiden there lived whom you may knowBy the name of Annabel Lee.

from “Annabel Lee” by Poe

Page 41: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Rhythm

Trochaic: Stress Unstress

Tyger, tyger, burning brightIn the forest of the night

from “The Tiger” by Blake

Dactylic: Stress Unstress Unstress

This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlock,

from “Evangeline” by Longfellow

Page 42: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“When I was one-and-twenty”A. E. Housman (1859-1936)

When I was one-and-twenty I heard a wise man say,“Give crowns and pounds and guineas But not your heart away;Give pearls away and rubies But keep your fancy free.”But I was one-and-twenty, No use to talk to me.

When I was one-and-twenty I heard him say again,“The heart out of the bosom Was never given in vain;‘Tis paid with sighs a plenty And sold for endless rue.”And I am two-and-twenty, And oh, ‘tis true, ‘tis true.

Page 43: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Counting-out Rhyme”Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)

Silver bark of beech, and sallowBark of yellow birch and yellow

Twig of willow.

Stripe of green in moosewood maple, Color seen in leaf of apple,

Bark of popple.

Wood of popple pale as moonbeam,Wood of oak for yoke and barn-beam,Wood of hornbeam.

Silver bark of beech, and hollowStem of elder, tall and yellowTwig of willow.

Page 44: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

POETRY FORMS

Open and Closed Forms of Poetry

Page 45: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Poetry Forms

Follows specific, established pattern.

Does not attempt to follow established pattern.

Also called “free

verse.”

CLOSED FORM OPEN FORM

Page 46: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Free verse” has no distinct rules or boundaries.

OPEN FORM

Page 47: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“America”Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

Center of equal daughters, equal sons,

All, all alike endear’d, grown, ungrown, young or old,

Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,

Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love,

A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother,

Chair’d in the adamant of Time.

Page 48: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

From “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

1When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom’d,And the great star early droop’d in the western sky in the night,I mourn’d, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.

Ever-returning spring, trinity sure to me you bring,Lilac blooming perennial and drooping star in the west,And though of him I love.

2O powerful western fallen star!O shades of night – O moody, tearful night!O great star disappear’d – O the black murk that hides the star!O cruel hands that hold me powerless – O helpless soul of me!O harsh sounding cloud that will not free my soul.

Page 49: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-rby e. e. cummings (1894-1962)

r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r who a)s w(e loo)k upnowgath PPEGORHRASS eringint(o- aThe):l eA !p:S a (r rIvInG .gRrEaPsPhOs) to rea(be)rran(com)gi(e)ngly ,grasshopper;

Page 50: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

l(a)e. e. cummings (1894-1962)

l(a

leaffa

ll

s)onel

iness

Page 51: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

jn Just-e. e. cummings (1894-1962)

in Just-

spring          when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lame balloonman

whistles          far          and wee

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it's

spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer

old balloonman whistles

far          and             wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

the queer

old balloonman whistles

far          and             wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's

spring

and

         the

                  goat-footed

balloonMan          whistles

far

and

wee

Page 52: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Formal patterns” establish a poem’s number of lines or stanzas, rhyme scheme, meter, syllabic pattern, and so on.

CLOSED FORM

Page 53: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Stanza

Stanza: The group of lines, like a paragraph or verse, in poetry.

Type of stanza is determined by number of lines.

Page 54: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Types of Stanzas

Couplet: 2 lines of about the same length (about the same number of syllables) that work together as a unit, whether they make up a single stanza or are part of a larger stanza.

Most rhyme, but they don’t have to. (aa, bb, cc…)

Many different specific kinds of couplets.

Tercet: 3 lines that work together as a unit, either as a stanza or as a complete poem.

Triplet: 3 lines that rhyme (aaa, bbb, ccc)

Terza rima: 3 lines with interlocking rhyme scheme (aba, bcb, cdc, ded, efe, etc.)

TWO LINES THREE LINES

Page 55: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Types of Stanzas

Quatrain: 4 lines that work together as a unit, either as a stanza or as a complete poem.

As a complete poem, rhyme scheme is usually abab

Many different kinds of quatrains.

Cinquain: 5 lines that work together as a unit, either as a stanza or as a complete poem; many different kinds of cinquains.

Sestet: 6 line stanza

Octet: 8 line stanza

FOUR LINES MORE…

Page 56: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Three Things to Remember”William Blake (1757-1827)

A Robin Redbreast in a cage, Puts all Heaven in a rage.

A skylark wounded on the wing Doth make a cherub cease to sing.

He who shall hurt the little wren Shall never be beloved by men.

Page 57: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“We Real Cool”Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000)

We real cool. WeLeft school. We

Lurk late. WeStrike straight. We

Sing sin. WeThin gin. We

Jazz June. WeDie soon.

Published in The Bean Eaters, 1960.

Page 58: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

From “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” Wallace Stevens (1879-1955)

I

Among twenty snowy mountains,

The only moving thing

Was the eye of the blackbird.

II

I was of three minds,

Like a tree

In which there are three blackbirds.

Page 59: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“I have been one acquainted with the night”Robert Frost (1874-1963)

I have been one acquainted with the night. I have walked out in rain - and back in rain. I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.I have passed by the watchman on his beatAnd dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feetWhen far away an interrupted cryCame over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye; And further still at an unearthly height, One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. I have been one acquainted with the night.

Page 60: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“This Is Just to Say”William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)

I have eatenthe plumsthat were inthe icebox

and whichyou were probablysavingfor breakfast

Forgive methey were deliciousso sweet and so cold

Page 61: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“The Road Not Taken”Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;

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 thereHad worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally layIn 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.        

I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere 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.

Page 62: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

What is the pattern?

HAIKU

Page 63: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“The falling flower”Arakida Moritake (1473-1549)

The falling flower

I saw drift back to the branch

Was a butterfly.

translated by Babette Duetsch

Page 64: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Along a mountain path”Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)

Along a mountain path

Somehow sweet and charming –

A violet in bloom.

translated by Takafumi Saito and William R. Nelson

Page 65: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Clinging to the bell”Yosa Buson (1716-1783)

Clinging to the bell

he dozes so peacefully,

this new butterfly

translated by Sam Hamill

Page 66: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Haiku

Capture the moment; capture the intensity of a specific moment, not a general time.

Focus on the concrete, real world, not the abstract realm of inner thoughts and feelings.

Traditionally involve nature and suggest a season. World view is one in which nature and the observer are one, not separate.

Page 67: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

HAIKU

What is the pattern?3 lines, 19 syllables

1st line – 5 syllables

2nd line – 7 syllables

3rd line – 5 syllables

Page 68: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

What are the patterns?

Italian – “Petrarchan”English – “Shakespearean”

THE SONNET

Page 69: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Sonnet 253 “She ruled in beauty o’er this heart of mine”Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374)

She ruled in beauty o’er this heart of mine,A noble lady in a humble home,And now her time for heavenly bliss has come,‘Tis I am mortal proved, and she divine.The soul that all its blessings must resign,And love whose light no more on earth finds room,Might rend the rocks with pity for their doom,Yet none their sorrows can in words enshrine;

They weep within my heart; and ears are deafSave mine alone, and I am crushed with care,And naught remains to me save mournful breath.Assuredly but dust and shade we are,Assuredly desire is blind and brief,Assuredly its hope but ends in death.

Page 70: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Sonnet XLIII (43) “How do I love thee?”Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and heightMy soul can reach, when feeling out of sightFor the ends of Being and ideal Grace.I love thee to the level of everyday'sMost quiet need, by sun and candle-light.I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with a passion put to useIn my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.I love thee with a love I seemed to loseWith my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,I shall but love thee better after death.

Page 71: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Italian Sonnets:

14 lines total.

1 octet (8 lines) and 1 sestet (6 lines) also characterized as 2 quatrains and 2 tercets.

Meter: Iambic Pentameter – five feet of unstress, stress (U /). Lines are about 10 syllables long.

Rhyme scheme: Octet: ABBAABBA Sestet: CDECDE, CDCCDC, CDCDCD, CDEDCE.

Varies but some combination of C, D, and E. The last twolines DO NOT rhyme.

Page 72: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part”Michael Drayton (1563-1631)Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part;Nay, I have done, you get no more of me,And I am glad, yea, glad with all my heartThat thus so cleanly I myself can be free;

Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows,And when we meet at any time again, Be it not seen in either of our browsThat we one jot of former love retain.

Now at the last gasp of Love’s latest breath,When, his pulse failing, Passion speechless lies,When Faith is kneeling by his bed of death,And Innocence is closing up his eyes,

Now if thou wouldst, when all have given him over,From death to life thou mightst him yet recover.

Page 73: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Sonnet 18 “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

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 in his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometimes declines,By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed.

But they eternal summer shall not fade,Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st.

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Page 74: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Sonnet 130 “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

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 damasked, red and white,But no such roses see I in her cheeks;And in some perfumes there is more delightThan in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak, yet well I knowThat 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 rareAs any she belied with false compare.

Page 75: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

English Sonnets

14 lines total.

3 quatrains and 1 couplet.

Meter: Iambic Pentameter – five feet of unstress, stress (U /). Lines are about 10 syllables long.

Rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

Page 76: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

Volta

Volta: the jump or change in direction of thought or emotion of poem.

In Italian sonnet, happens in sestet.

In English sonnet, happens in couplet.

For perfect example, see Michael Drayton’s sonnet “Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part” or Shakespeare’s “My mistress’s eyes are nothing like the sun.”

Page 77: “An Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins (b. 1941)

“next to of course god america i”e. e. cummings (1894-1962)

"next to of course god america i love you land of the pilgrims' and so forth oh say can you see by the dawn's early my country 'tis of centuries come and go and are no more what of it we should worryin every language even deafanddumbthy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorryby jingo by gee by gosh by gumwhy talk of beauty what could be more beaut- iful than these heroic happy dead who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter they did not stop to think they died instead then shall the voice of liberty be mute?"

He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water