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Bette Shoemaker Shoemaker@4j.lane.edu

Introduction to Poetry Billy Collins

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. from The Apple that Astonished Paris, 1996 University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, Arkansas

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A poem… begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, homesickness, a lovesickness… It finds the thought and the thought finds the words.

Robert Frost

BASIC ELEMENTS OF POETRY RHYTHM, RHYME, WORDS AND IMAGERY

RHYTHM Most poetry has rhythm. Rhythm is achieved by emphasizing or deemphasizing certain syllables in the words used in the lines of the poem. The syllables, themselves, are then grouped into two or three syllable units called "feet". Examples of different types of "feet" include: (note: all underlined syllables are emphasized)

Iambs [My love] [for you] [will al] [ways be,]. The feet in [ ] brackets are called "iambs" because they are each composed of two syllables with the second syllable of each foot emphasized.

Trochees [Slow ly] [soft ly] [and so] [gent ly] The feet in brackets are called "trochees" because they are each composed of two syllables with the first syllable of each foot emphasized.

Spondees [Sweet heart] [thou art] [al ways] [at heart] The feet in brackets are called "spondees" because they are each composed of two syllables with both syllables of each foot emphasized.

Dactyls [Self res pect] [is a-chieved] [when one leaves] [lust and greed] The feet in brackets are called "dactyls" because they are each composed of three syllables with the first syllable of each foot emphasized.

Anapests [Dis res pect] [can not be] [for a love] [to be free] The feet in brackets are called "anapests' because they are each composed of three syllables with the third syllable of each foot emphasized.

Rhythm, as you can see from the above, depends on emphasized and deemphasized syllables, which make up "feet." Taking this a step further, a "line" or "verse" of a poem is made up of one or more "feet." The foot is the metrical unit by which a line of poetry is measured; it usually consists of one stressed or accented ( ' ) and one or two unstressed or unaccented syllables ( - ). Name of Foot Name of Meter Measure Iamb Iambic - ' Trochee Trochaic ' - Anapest Anapestic - - ' Dactyl Dactylic ' - - Spondee Spondaic ' '

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The following metrical names are used to identify the lengths of lines: Length Name

One foot Monometer Two feet Dimeter Three feet Trimeter Four feet Tetrameter Five feet Pentameter Six feet Hexameter Seven feet Heptameter Eight feet Octameter SOME EXAMPLES OF VERSES Iambic Tetrameter (4-meter) [My love] [for you] [will al] [ways be,] This verse has four iambic feet. Iambic Trimeter (3-meter) [I kiss] [you in] [my dreams] This verse has three iambic feet. You can also have five iambic feet: Iambic Pentameter (5-meter) [Thus soon] [I'll need] [the warmth] [of your] [em brace] The variations are almost endless! Trochaic Trimeter, Trochaic Tetrameter, Anapestic Monometer, Anapestic Tetrameter, and on and on… RHYME Poetry does not always have to rhyme. For example, there is a type of poetry called "Free Verse." It's almost like prose, except that the words flow with imagery and become poetic in spite of the absence of rhyme. Here is an example of free verse.

To me, you are a delicate Rose Whose beauty never dies When pressed between the pages Of a good book; Or caught between the pages Of my mind. - Unknown

Throughout the ages, however, rhymed love poetry has been the prevalent form of this type of expression. Rhyme is achieved when sounds are repeated within a verse or at the end of two

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different verses. There are a number of rhyme forms used in poetry. Some examples are: • Couplet (2 lines)

I have not seen you for many days, And truly I've missed you in countless ways.

• Tercet or triplet (3 lines) a) She opened her eyes, and green b) They shone, clear, like flowers undone a) For the first time, now for the last time seen. - D. H. Lawrence

• Quatrain (4 lines) a) A ruddy drop of manly blood b) The surging sea outweighs; c) The world uncertain comes and goes, b) The lover rooted stays. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

• Quintet (5 lines)

a) Hail to thee blithe spirit, b) Bird thou never wert a) That from heaven, or near it, b) Pourest thy full heart b) In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. - Percy Bysshe Shelly

• Sestet (6 verses) a) Good-bye, proud world! I'm going home: b) Thou art not my friend, and I'm not thine: a) Long through the weary crowds I roam; b) A river-ark on the ocean brine, a) Long I've been like the driven foam; a) But now, proud world! I'm going home. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

• Limerick (5 verses with the rhyming word at the end of the first verse repeated in the

last verse) The Reverend Henry Ward Beecher Called a hen a most elegant creature. The hen pleased with that, Laid an egg in his hat - And thus did the hen reward Beecher! - Oliver Wendell Holmes

• Sonnet (14 verses - rhyming patterns are varied)

(a) Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (b) Thou art more lovely and more temperate; (a) Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, (b) And summer's lease hath all too short a date: (c) Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

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(d) And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; (c) And every fair from fair sometime declines, (d) By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; (e) But thy eternal summer shall not fade, (f) Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; (e) Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade, (f) When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st: (g) So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, (g) So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. - Sonnet XVIII William Shakespeare

IMAGERY AND WORDS Rhythm and Rhyme are a poem's technical ingredients. Words and Imagery are a poem's creative ingredients. Words Are Sound Devices What is written has sound. People hear words in their minds, and so the sounds the poet creates can draw people into the poem. Some poets see themselves as music composers, working with sound devices to create feeling. They include (among others):

Alliteration The repetition of the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words such as tongue twisters like 'She sells seashells by the seashore' Another example is from the Crosby, Stills and Nash song, “Helplessly Hoping.”

Wordlessly watching, he waits by the window And wonders at the empty place inside Heartlessly helping himself to her bad dreams He worries, did he hear a goodbye Or even hello

Assonance The repetition or a pattern of similar sounds, as in the tongue twister "Moses supposes his toeses are roses."

Cacophony Cacophony is discordant language that can be difficult to pronounce, as in John Updike's poem, "Player Piano":

My stick fingers click with a snicker And, chuckling, they knuckle the keys; Light-footed, my steel feelers flicker And pluck from these keys melodies.

Lewis Carroll makes use of cacophony in 'Jabberwocky' by using an unpleasant spoken sound created by clashing consonants.

Consonance Consonance is the repetition, at close intervals, of the final consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words.

Euphony Euphony refers to pleasant spoken sound that is created by smooth consonants such as "ripple'. Emily Dickenson's poem, "A Bird came down the walk" has this effect, as seen in the last stanza:

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Than oars divide the ocean, Too silver for a seam— Or Butterflies, off banks of noon Leap, splashless as they swim.

Onomatopoeia A figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds. Examples of onomatopoeic words can be found in numerous Nursery Rhymes e.g. clippety-clop and cock-a-doodle-do.

The skillful poetry writer has sounds in mind.

Imagery Poetry communicates experience and experience comes to us largely through the senses (seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, and touching). Imagery draws the reader into poetic experiences by touching on the images and senses which the reader already knows. Imagery may be defined as the representation through language of sense experience. The word image perhaps most often suggests a mental picture, something seen in the mind's eye - and visual imagery is the most frequently occurring kind of imagery in poetry. But an image may also represent a sound; a smell; a taste; a tactile experience; and an internal sensation. The following figures of speech can be used to create imagery in poems. Antithesis An example of antithesis is "To err is human, to forgive, divine." by

Alexander Pope is an example of antithesis with words and phrases with opposite meanings balanced against each other.

Connotation Connotation is what a word suggests beyond its basic definition. The words childlike and childish both mean 'characteristic of a child,' but childlike suggests meekness and innocence.

Dialect Dialect refers to pronunciation of a particular region of a country or region. Hyperbole Hyperbole (overstatement) is a type of figurative language that depends on

intentional overstatement. Irony Irony is a situation, or a use of language, involving some kind of discrepancy.

An example of this is ''Water, water everywhere but ne'er a drop to drink'. Jargon Jargon refers to words and phrases developed by a particular group to fit

their own needs, which other people understand. Metaphor A metaphor is a pattern equating two seemingly unlike objects. An example

of a metaphor is 'drowning in debt'. Personification Personification means giving human traits to nonhuman or abstract things. Simile A figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word "like" or

"as" to draw attention to similarities about two things that are seemingly dissimilar.

ENGLISH POETRY TERMS

Poetry terms are used when describing the content and structure of a poem. There are many different poetry terms used in the English language. The following is a listing of some important

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poetry terms.

Accent The prominence or emphasis given to a syllable or word. In the word poetry, the accent (or stress) falls on the first syllable.

Allegory Allegory is a narrative having a second meaning beneath the surface one. Alliteration The repetition of the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words such

as tongue twisters like 'She sells seashells by the seashore' Analogy Analogy is a likeness or similarity between things that are otherwise unlike. Anapest (or Anapaest)

A metrical foot of three syllables, two short (or unstressed) followed by one long (or stressed). The anapest is the opposite of the dactyl.

Antithesis An example of antithesis is "To err is human, to forgive, divine." by Alexander Pope is an example of antithesis with words and phrases with opposite meanings balanced against each other.

Apostrophe A figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and could reply.

Archetype Archetype is the original pattern from which copies are made. Assonance The repetition or a pattern of similar sounds, as in the tongue twister

"Moses supposes his toeses are roses." Ballad or literary ballad

A long singing poem that tells a story (usually of love or adventure), written in quatrains - four lines alternatively of four and three feet - the third line may have internal rhyme.

Bard The definition of a Bard is a Gaelic maker and signer of poems. Blank verse Blank verse is in unrhymed iambic pentameter, which is a type of meter in

poetry, in which there are five iambs to a line. Cacophony Lewis Carroll makes use of cacophony in 'Jabberwocky' by using an

unpleasant spoken sound created by clashing consonants. Caesura A grammatical pause or break in a line of poetry (like a question mark),

usually near the middle of the line. Classicism The principles and ideals of beauty, minimized by the use of emotional

restraint, that are characteristic of Greek and Roman art and literature used by poets such as John Dryden and Alexander Pope.

Conceit An example of a conceit can be found in Shakespeare's sonnet "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" when an image or metaphor likens one thing to something else that is seemingly very different.

Consonance Consonance is the repetition, at close intervals, of the final consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words.

Connotation Connotation is what a word suggests beyond its basic definition. The words childlike and childish both mean 'characteristic of a child,' but childlike suggests meekness and innocence.

Couplet Shakespearean sonnets usually end in a couplet and are a pair of lines that are the same length and usually rhyme and form a complete thought.

Dactyl A metrical foot of three syllables, one long (or stressed) followed by two

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short (or unstressed), as in happily. The dactyl is the reverse of the anapest.

Denotation Denotation is the basic definition or dictionary meaning of a word. Dialect Dialect refers to pronunciation of a particular region of a country or region. Doggerel Doggerels are light verse, which are humorous and comic by nature. Elegy A lyric poem written to commemorate someone who is dead. Elision Elision refers to the leaving out of an unstressed syllable or vowel, usually in

order to keep a regular meter in a line of poetry for example 'o'er' for 'over'.

Enjambment Enjambment comes from the French word for "to straddle." Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence form one line or couplet into the next and derives from the French verb 'to straddle'. An example by Joyce Kilmer is 'I think that I shall never see/A poem as lovely as a tree'.

Envoy The shorter final stanza of a poem, as in a ballade. Epigram A brief, pointed, and witty poem of no prescribed form. Epithet An epithet is a descriptive expression, a word or phrase expressing some

quality or attribute. Euphony Euphony refers to pleasant spoken sound that is created by smooth

consonants such as "ripple'. Euphemism Euphemism is the use of a soft indirect expression instead of one that is

harsh or unpleasantly direct. For example 'pass away' as opposed to 'die'. Falling Meter Trochaic and dactylic meters are called falling meters because they move

from stressed to unstressed syllables. Feminine Rhyme A rhyme that occurs in a final unstressed syllable: pleasure/leisure,

longing/yearning. Figure of speech

A verbal expression in which words or sounds are arranged in a particular way to achieve a particular effect such as alliteration, antithesis, assonance, hyperbole, metaphor, onomatopoeia and simile.

Foot Two or more syllables that together make up the smallest unit of rhythm in a poem. For example, an iamb is a foot that has two syllables, one unstressed followed by one stressed. An anapest has three syllables, two unstressed followed by one stressed.

Form Form is the generic term for the organizing principle of a literary work. In poetry, form is described in terms elements like rhyme, meter, and stanzaic pattern.

Heptameter A line of poetry that has seven metrical feet. Heroic couplet A stanza composed of two rhymed lines in iambic pentameter. Hexameter A line of poetry that has six metrical feet. Hyperbole Hyperbole (overstatement) is a type of figurative language that depends on

intentional overstatement. Iamb A metrical foot of two syllables, one short (or unstressed) and one long (or

stressed). The lamb is the reverse of the trochee.

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Iambic pentameter

Shakespeare's plays were written mostly in iambic pentameter, which is the most common type of meter in English poetry. It is a basic measure of English poetry, five iambic feet in each line.

Idiom Idiom refers to words, phrases, or patterns of expression. Idioms became standard elements in any language, differing from language to language and shifting with time. A current idiom is 'getting in a car' but 'on a plane'.

Imagery Imagery draws the reader into poetic experiences by touching on the images and senses which the reader already knows.

Irony Irony is a situation, or a use of language, involving some kind of discrepancy. An example of this is ''Water, water everywhere but ne'er a drop to drink'.

Jargon Jargon refers to words and phrases developed by a particular group to fit their own needs, which other people understand.

Lyric A poem of emotional intensity and expresses powerful feelings. Metaphor A metaphor is a pattern equating two seemingly unlike objects. An example

of a metaphor is 'drowning in debt'. Meter Meters are regularized rhythms. An arrangement of language in which the

accents occur at apparently equal intervals in time. Each repeated unit of meter is called a foot.

Metonymy A figure of speech in which one word is substituted for another with which it is closely associated. Some significant aspect or detail of an experience is used to represent the whole experience.

Narrative A form used to tell a story; it is usually made of ballad stanzas - four lines alternatively of four and three feet.

Onomatopoeia A figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds. Examples of onomatopoeic words can be found in numerous Nursery Rhymes e.g. clippety-clop and cock-a-doodle-do.

Paradox A paradox is a statement or situation containing apparently contradictory or incompatible elements.

Pentameter A line of poetry that has five metrical feet. Parody A humorous imitation of a serious poem. Persona Persona refers to the narrator or speaker of the poem, not to be confused

with the author. Personification Personification means giving human traits to nonhuman or abstract things. Quatrain A stanza or poem of four lines. Refrain A phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated throughout a poem, usually

after every stanza. Rhyme The occurrence of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or more

words. Rhythm Rhythm is significant in poetry because poetry is so emotionally charged and

intense. Rhythm can be measured in terms of heavily stressed to less stressed syllables. Rhythm is measured in feet, units usually consisting of one heavily accented syllable and one or more lightly accented syllable.

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Rising Meter Anapestic and iambic meters are called rising meters because they move from an unstressed syllable to a stressed syllable.

Scansion The analysis of a poem's meter. This is usually done by marking the stressed and unstressed syllables in each line and then, based on the pattern of the stresses, dividing the line into feet.

Sestina Consists of thirty-nine lines divided into six six-line stanzas and a three-line concluding stanza called an envoy.

Simile A figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word "like" or "as" to draw attention to similarities about two things that are seemingly dissimilar.

Slang Slang refers to highly informal and sub-standard vocabulary, which may exist for some time and then vanish. Some slang remains in usage long enough to become permanent, but slang never becomes a part of formal diction.

Spondee A metrical foot of two syllables, both of which are long (or stressed). Stanza Two or more lines of poetry that together form one of the divisions of a

poem. The stanzas of a poem are usually of the same length and follow the same pattern of meter and rhyme.

Stress Stress refers to the accent or emphasis, either strong or weak, given to each syllable in a piece of writing, as determined by conventional pronunciation.

Synecdoche Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole. Syntax Syntax refers to word order and sentence structure. Normal word order in

English sentences is firmly fixed in subject-verb-object sequence or subject-verb-complement. In poetry, word order may be shifted around to meet emphasis, to heighten the connection between two words, or to pick up on specific implications or traditions.

Tetrameter A line of poetry that has four metrical feet. Trochee A metrical foot of two syllables, one long (or stressed) and one short (or

unstressed). Trope Trope is the use of a word or phrase in a sense different from its ordinary

meaning. Understatement Understatement refers to the intentional downplaying of a situation's

significance, often for ironic or humorous effect. Verse A single metrical line of poetry, or poetry in general (as opposed to prose). Versification The system of rhyme and meter in poetry. Villanelle A fixed form consisting of nineteen lines divided into six stanzas: five

tercets and a concluding quatrain. Drawn from the website POETRY ONLINE found at: http://www.poetry-online.org/ and from PAL: Perspectives in American Literature - A Research and Reference Guide - An Ongoing Project written by Paul P. Reuben at: http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/append/AXF.HTML

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A plus poem is an easy poem to create with young students. Simply draw a line toward the bottom of the board or overhead and add a plus sign right above the line to the left as if you are creating an addition problem. Under the line record the topic of the poem (for example “summer”) and then have students list any words that come to mind the remind them of the topic. After students brainstorm a list of attributes, the teacher can then ask students to flesh out these attributes by using alliteration, by clustering, by adding vivid language, and by reordering the sentences. Plus poems can then serve as vehicles for creating additional poetry forms based on the individual attributes from the poem.

A couple is two things that go together, as in “They’re such a nice couple.” A couplet is two lines of poetry that go together, usually rhyming and usually expressing a complete thought. A couplet can stand alone, as in Ogden Nash’s many humorous examples; it can also act as a building block for other forms.

If you have a couplet and add a third line with the same end rhyme, you wind up with a tercet. Some people call this poetic form a triplet.

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The haiku originated in Japan about 800 years ago. Each poem contains three unrhymed lines and usually includes 17 syllables, arranged in lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. A haiku usually describes a scene in nature and includes a seasonal reference.

This poetic form takes its name from the Latin word quinque, meaning “five.” The traditional cinquain (sing-kane) is like the haiku in that it is composed of a set number of syllables (22) and a per-line syllable count (2, 4, 6, 8, 2). Modern cinquain follows this form: Line 1 - 1 noun a title or name of the subject Line 2 – 2 adjectives describing the title Line 3 – 3 verbs describing an action related to the title Line 4 - 4 word sentence describing a feeling about the title Line 5 - 1 word referring back to the title of the poem A good cinquain will flow from beginning to end rather than sounding like five separate lines.

The limerick is one of the most widely recognized poetic forms in the English language. It’s a five-line poem that is made up of three lines (1, 2, and 5) with three accented syllables and two shorter lines (3 and 4) with two accented syllables. Read a good limerick out loud and you’ll hear its rhythm bouncing along.

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Acrostic poems are great fun to write. They are basically descriptive poems that can be as long as the poet wants to make them. There’s a catch, however. When read downward, the first letter of each line must from a word or phrase, usually the subject of the poem.

Some people call concrete poems “shape poems,” which is a more accurate description because the words in the poem are arranged on the page to show the shape of the subject of the poem. In this way, a concrete poem is more purely visual than a traditional poem.

A diamante poem is a poem in the shape of a diamond. It does not have to rhyme but each line uses specific types of words like adjectives and –ing words. It can be about one topic or two opposite topics. Line 1: Beginning topic Line 2: 2 adjectives about the beginning topic Line 3: 3 –ing words about the topic Line 4: 4 nouns or a short phrase linking your topic/topics Line 5: 3 –ing words about the topic/opposite topic Line 6: 2 adjectives about the topic/opposite topic Line 7: Ending topic

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A letter poem is a particularly apt medium for exploring a defining characteristic of poetry—line breaks. Students write a short narrative letter (with no more than three or four key points) and then transform it into poetic format. A student first identified key words in a letter that he wants to emphasize, then moves his attention to choosing places to break the lines with the result that the breaks affect rhythm, sound, meaning, and appearance.

The sonnet is one of the most revered poetry forms. It originated in Italy (Italian sonnets) in the 13th century and started showing up in English (Shakespearean sonnets) around 1530. Both are 14 lines long and both are generally written in iambic pentameter, which means each line contains 10 syllables, with a stress falling on every other syllable. The Shakespearean sonnet has a rhyme scheme of abab, cdcd, efef, gg, which you will recognize as three quatrains and a couplet.

The quatrain, the most common stanza in English poetry, is made up of four lines. Although it can be unrhymed, poets usually follow an abab or abba rhyme scheme. You can find the quatrain in the sonnet.

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Plus Poem

Camping Baseball Hot Dogs Shorts Flip Flops Swimming Popsicles No School Sleep In SUMMER

Couplet I think that I shall never see A poem as lovely as a tree.

Joyce Kilmer

Tercet or Triplet My friend Minnie is a mouse. Minnie lives in a little house. She loves to eat that saurkrouse!

+

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Haiku The flap of a bat, drip drip of monsoon waters. Ancient image stares. Phil Wahl

Cinquain Cat fluffy, furry prance and pounce cute as a button purring

Limerick There once was a man from Nantucket Who kept all his cash in a bucket. But his daughter, named Nan, Ran away with a man And as for the bucket, Nantucket.

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Acrostic C reamy or H ot, it makes my mouth scream O n and on C hocolate, chocolate O h, yum L uscious chocolate, I can't believe I A te it all. It T ickles my throat E ach time I eat it, mmm oh I love chocolate.

Rebecca S.

Concrete Poem

Diamante

Snowfall Light, white,

Floating, drifting, freezing Crystal ice covers dirty ground, making it pristine.

Melting, oozing, dripping, Mushy, dirty,

Muck

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Letter Poem

Daddy, I have taken the duct tape that you left on the workbench in the garage and that you probably need to tape the

batteries in the tv remote. I’m sorry but my toy was broken. Love , Dorothy

Sonnet XLIII

HOW do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of everyday's Most 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 the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With 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.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

From William Blake's "The Tyger"

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1. Routinely read poetry to the class throughout the process. I like to start with Eve

Merriam’s poem above. Have students close their eyes and just listen to the sounds. 2. Encourage students to memorize particular poems (one’s that others have written as

well as one’s they have written themselves). 3. Start with the whole class writing a “plus poem.” Some folks call this a list poem.

a. Pick a topic to write about with which students are familiar. b. Record responses on the board. c. After you generate an adequate list, then introduce one or two poetry concepts

such as alliteration, rhyme, or personification. Edit the plus poem to reflect the concept/s introduced.

4. After creating a class plus poem, introduce the “couplet.” Ask students to work in partners to create couplets from one or two of the phrases in the plus poem.

5. After students have created both a couplet and plus poem, I have them put together a book of poetry. In this book they will definitely want to include all of the poems that they have personally written as well as any of their favorite published poems.

6. Follow the couplet with writing a tercet/triplet and quatrain. 7. One can introduce the other poems in the pocket guide in any order that makes sense. 8. Continue to introduce various poetry concepts and be sure to read several examples of

that concept.

HOW TO EAT A POEM

Don’t be polite. Bite in. Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that may run down your chin. It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are.

You do not need a knife or fork or spoon on plate or napkin or tablecloth.

For there is no core or stem or rind or pit or seed or skin to throw away.

Eve Merriam

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POETRY QUOTATIONS

Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful. Rita Dove

A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom. Robert Frost

Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance. Carl Sandburg

Poetry is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess about what is seen during the moment. Carl Sandburg

Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted. Percy Bysshe Shelley

Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them. Charles Simic

Wanted: a needle swift enough to sew this poem into a blanket. Charles Simic

You can tear a poem apart to see what makes it tick... You're back with the mystery of having been moved by words. The best craftsmanship always leaves holes and gaps... so that something that is not in the poem can creep, crawl, flash or thunder in. Dylan Thomas

A poet dares be just so clear and no clearer... He unzips the veil from beauty, but does not remove it. A poet utterly clear is a trifle glaring. E. B. White

To have great poets, there must be great audiences. Walt Whitman

With my poems, I finally won even my mother. The longest wooing of my life. Marge Piercy Braided Lives

Poetry: the best words in the best order. Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary. Kahlil Gibran

Imaginary gardens with real toads in them. Marianne Moore's definition of poetry, "Poetry," Collected Poems, 1951

A poem is never finished, only abandoned. Paul Valéry

Poetry is the journal of the sea animal living on land, wanting to fly in the air. Poetry is a search for syllables to shoot at the barriers of the unknown and the unknowable. Poetry is a phantom script telling how rainbows are made and why they go away. Carl Sandburg, Poetry Considered

Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history. Plato, Ion

Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric; out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry. W.B. Yeats

Poetry is a packsack of invisible keepsakes. Carl Sandburg

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To see the Summer Sky Is Poetry, though never in a Book it lie -True Poems flee. Emily Dickinson

A poem begins with a lump in the throat. Robert Frost

It is the job of poetry to clean up our word-clogged reality by creating silences around things. Stephen Mallarme

Poetry is the language in which man explores his own amazement. Christopher Fry

The poet doesn't invent. He listens. Jean Cocteau

Perhaps no person can be a poet, or can even enjoy poetry, without a certain unsoundness of mind. Thomas Babington Macaulay

You can't write poetry on the computer. Quentin Tarantino

Poets are mysterious, but a poet when all is said is not much more mysterious than a banker. Allen Tate

You will find poetry nowhere unless you bring some of it with you. Joseph Joubert

God is the perfect poet. Robert Browning

Poetry is life distilled. Gwendolyn Brooks

Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burn. Thomas Gray

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words. Robert Frost

Poetry is all that is worth remembering in life. William Hazlitt

Poetry, like the moon, does not advertise anything. William Blissett

Poetry is the art of substantiating shadows. Edmund Burke

Poets are like baseball pitchers. Both have their moments. The intervals are the tough things. Robert Frost

Like a piece of ice on a hot stove the poem must ride on its own melting. Robert Frost

If you've got a poem within you today, I can guarantee you a tomorrow. Terri Guillemets

We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. Dead Poet's Society

I don't create poetry, I create myself, for me my poems are a way to me. Edith Södergran

Breathe-in experience, breathe-out poetry. Muriel Rukeyser

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I grew up in this town, my poetry was born between the hill and the river, it took its voice from the rain, and like the timber, it steeped itself in the forests. Pablo Neruda, quoted in Wall Street Journal,, 14 November 1985

You can tear a poem apart to see what makes it tick.... You're back with the mystery of having been moved by words. The best craftsmanship always leaves holes and gaps... so that something that is not in the poem can creep, crawl, flash or thunder in. Dylan Thomas, Poetic Manifesto, 1961

Poets aren't very useful Because they aren't consumeful or very produceful. Ogden Nash

The crown of literature is poetry. It is its end and aim. It is the sublimest activity of the human mind. It is the achievement of beauty and delicacy. The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes. W. Somerset Maugham

Everything in creation has its appointed painter or poet and remains in bondage like the princess in the fairy tale 'til its appropriate liberator comes to set it free. Ralph Waldo Emerson

[A poem] begins in delight and ends in wisdom. Robert Frost, "The Figure a Poem Makes," Collected Poems of Robert Frost, 1939

Betty Shoemaker Educational Consulting

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Poetry Websites for Teachers POETRY 180 Welcome to Poetry 180 developed by Billy Collins Former Poet Laureate of the United States. Poetry 180 is designed to make it easy for students to hear or read a poem on each of the 180 days of the school year. Billy Collins selected the poems you will find here with high school students in mind; although they can be used with younger students. They are intended to be listened to, and he suggests that all members of the school community be included as readers. A great time for the readings would be following the end of daily announcements over the public address system. Listening to poetry can encourage students and other learners to become members of the circle of readers for whom poetry is a vital source of pleasure. http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/ SCHOLASTIC’S POETRY MONTH PAGE Celebrate National Poetry Month in April, or use these resources throughout the school year to practice language and literacy skills for all grades. Choose from online events with published poets, classroom activities, writing opportunities, and various other poetry resources to help you plan a unit. http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/k_2theme/poetry.htm ISLMC POETRY FOR CHILDREN Welcome to the Internet School Library Media Center (ISLMC) Poetry for Children page. The ISLMC is a meta-site designed for elementary and middle teachers, librarians, parents and students to preview selected WWW curriculum related sites. http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/poechild.htm POETRY FOR KIDS Welcome to Kenn Nesbitt's poetry playground, Poetry4kids.com, where you will find lots of funny children's poems and poetry books, games, contests, lessons, discussion forums, and journals, plus a rhyming dictionary, streaming audio, school visit information and more. http://www.poetry4kids.com/index.php KIDZPAGE Emmi Tarr, of Renaissance Design maintains this website that directs students to various poetry websites and posts poems from students on the web (by their school name). http://gardenofsong.com/kidzpage THE POETRY ZONE Writes Roger Stevens: As I traveled around the UK visiting schools to perform my poems and give poetry and writing workshops I often wished that there was some way children could publish their poems. It seemed a shame that such wonderful and beautiful poetry and verse could not reach a wider audience. Then it occurred to me that the internet was

Betty Shoemaker Educational Consulting

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the answer - and I began THE POETRY ZONE. It has now been running for eight years and is receiving around 6000 visitors a week. http://www.poetryzone.ndirect.co.uk/teacher.htm POETS.ORG FROM THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS Launched in 1996, Poets.org is the award-winning website of the Academy of American Poets. Visitors to Poets.org will find thousands of poems as well as hundreds of poet biographies, essays, interviews, and poetry recordings—with new material being added constantly. Also available are resources such as the National Poetry Map, a national events calendar, and poetry lesson plans for teachers. Poets.org receives a million visitors each month, making it the most popular site about poetry on the web. http://www.poets.org/index.php SEMANTIC RHYMING DICTIONARY A rhyming dictionary is like a regular dictionary, except that instead of looking up the definition of a word, you look up the rhymes of a word. http://www.rhymezone.com/

42 EXPLORE POETRY FOR KIDS This site was created by Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson and identifies several poetry sites on the web for use by students and teachers. http://42explore.com/poetry.htm READ•WRITE•THINK This is the website developed jointly by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English to provide teachers with the best in materials and ideas for teaching the language arts. When you go to this webpage, you can search for poetry lessons. They have some online templates for writing various poetry forms. Click on the “search” area in the top right of the page. Enter your key words and see what comes up! http://www.readwritethink.org/ POETRY ALIVE Founded in 1984, POETRY ALIVE! fields groups of two-person teams who travel to school districts worldwide. Using poetry performance techniques, Poetry Alive!® empowers educators to improve student literacy. Poetry Alive!'s high-energy assembly shows for audiences ranging from kindergarten through the university level. This website provides you with information on their touring schedule and also lists a number of resources for educators. http://www.poetryalive.com/