Poetry

What is Poetry?

• “Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.”  ~ Plato

• “Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted.”  ~ Percy Shelley

• “Poetry is the language in which man explores his own amazement.”  ~ Christopher Fry

• “Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.”  ~ Carl Sandburg

• “Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.”  ~ Thomas Gray

• “Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words.”  ~ Edgar Allan Poe

• “Poetry is plucking at the heartstrings, and making music with them.”  ~ Dennis Gabor

• Poetry is….What does poetry mean to you?

“Introduction to Poetry” by Billiy CollinsI ask them to take a poemand hold it up to the lightlike a color slideor 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.

Poetry Activity # 1

• What is happening in this poem? What is it about?

• Who is the poet addressing/writing to?

• What is the message of the poem?

• What images/feelings did the poet conjure?

Poetry• There are as many interpretations

of a poem as there are interpreters of the poem.

• A poem is like a message in a bottle.

• A poem is meant to be a conversation between poet and reader.

• Poets use certain tools and techniques to make a poem more appealing to the reader’s senses…

Poetic Terms/Tools

• Stanza – a grouping of lines, set off by a space, which usually has a set pattern of meter and rhyme.

• Rhyme Scheme – A pattern of end rhymes as indicated by letters in the alphabet in a stanza.

• Enjambment – running over from one line to another.

Let’s take a look!......

“The Road Not Taken” by Robert FrostTwo roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stood

And 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 there Had 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 sigh Somewhere 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.

Poetic Terms/Tools

• Rhythm – Musical quality of poetry

• Meter – a reoccurring pattern of stress and unstressed syllables within the lines of a poem.

• Scansion – Marking stress in rhythmic patterns based on syllables.

• Foot – How a line is measured.

Let’s give it a try…

“My Heart Leaps Up” by William Wordsworth

My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky:

So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I grow old,

Or let me die! The Child is father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural

piety.

Poetic Terms/Tools

• Tone – the speaker’s attitude towards a subject and overall mood of the poem.

• Diction – the writer’s word choice.

• Imagery – wording that appeals to the reader’s senses.

Let’s have a look at the Jabberwocky….

“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll`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 galumphing back.

"And, has 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.

Poetry Activity #2

• What is this poem about? What imagery is present?

• How did you know this with all of the nonsense words?

• Look at the diction of each stanza, replace the nonsense words with actual words.

Poetic Terms/Tools

• Alliteration – Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

• Assonance – Repetition of vowel sounds usually within words.

• Internal Rhyme – rhyme that occurs within a line of poetry.

Let’s get some help from Mr. Poe…

From “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

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 visitor,' 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 sought to borrowFrom my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -Nameless here for evermore.

Blue = Internal RhymeGreen = AssonanceRed = Alliteration

Poetic Terms/Tools

• Allusion – A reference to a person, place, or thing that is meant to invoke that image.

• Symbol – an image or group of words that stand for or represents an idea, concept, or person.

• Personification – Giving of human qualities to inanimate things.

Let’s look at the poem “The New Colossus”

“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Poetry Terms/Tools• Onomatopoeia – words that resemble or

represent their sounds:- buzz, hiccup, zoom, splash, beep, burp, bark

• Simile – A comparison between things using “like” or “as”.

• Metaphor – a direct comparison using two unlike things.

Let’s see how they work…

“Player Piano” by John UpdikeMy stick fingers click with a snickerAnd, chuckling, they knuckle the keys; Light footed, my steel feelers flicker And pluck from these keys melodies. My paper can caper; abandon Is broadcast by dint of my din, And no man or band has a hand in The tones I turn on from within. At times I'm a jumble of rumbles, At others I'm light like the moon, But never my numb plunker fumbles, Misstrums me, or tries a new tune.

“Dreams” by Langston Hughes

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.

“A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes

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?

Fun with Simile/Metaphor/Onomatopoeia/Personification!• Take the first letter of your name:What does it look like?Describe it using a simile.• Rotate the letter to the right:What does it look like?Describe it using a metaphor.• Flip the letter upside down:What does it look like?Describe it using a simile and onomatopoeia.• Rotate the letter to the left:What does it look like?Describe it using metaphor and personification.

Homework Assignment

• Compose a poem of at least three stanzas• 4 lines in each stanza; 12 lines• Must have a rhyme scheme of your choice• Contain at least 4 similes and/or metaphors• 1 use of alliteration• 1 use of internal rhyme• 1 use of onomatopoeia• 1 use of personification***It can be on any topic. Family, friends, sports,

nature, vacation, school, food, love, life, etc.***