Poetry talks less and says more.

Poetry: type of rhythmic, compressed language that uses figures of speech and imagery to appeal to the reader’s emotions and imagination.

Speaker: voice of the poem

Stanza: group of lines of verse, usually regular in pattern, forming a division of a poem or song

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Diction: a writer’s choice of words

Denotation ~ literal meaning of a word, as listed in a dictionary

Connotation ~ suggested meaning of a word ~ the meanings and

feelings that have become associated with a word

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ImageryLanguage that relates to the senses

Sight imagery: Red flows of clouds across the horizonSound imagery: Wind whistling thinly through the

crackTaste imagery: Rich chocolate slowly melted on his

tongue.Smell imagery: The scent of freshly brewed coffee

tickled my nose awake.Touch imagery: Jill’s forehead slammed against the

steering wheel as her head snapped forward.

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Imagery PoemFollowing the prompts, write an eight line poem.

Select words with strong connotations.

Begin each line with a capital letter

Lines should be words and phrases; not sentences

The title will be added when you have completed the eight lines.

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Imagery PoemFeatures of a disgusting animal without naming the animalHow you feel when you become very angry and lose your

temperDisgusting color: its name and why you hate itThe smell of garbage burningThe sights and smells after a horrible floodFeatures of the type of music you dislikeTaste and texture of repulsive foodScenes from a riot

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MeaningLiteral meaning – the meaning that is

directly stated

Figurative meaning – the deeper, symbolic meaning which must be interpreted from a literary work

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Figurative Language (Figures of Speech)

Describes one thing in terms of anotherFour types

Symbol: an object that stands for itself and represents another object

Personification: giving that which is not human, human qualities

Simile: a comparison of unlike things using words such as like or as

Metaphor: a direct comparison of unlike things

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Symbol and PersonificationSymbol ~ an object that

stands for itself and represents another object

Example

Miles to go before I sleepAnd miles to go before I

sleep.

Personification~ giving that which is not human, human qualities

Examples

The wind sang her mournful song

Great waves looked over others

Daffodils nodded their yellow heads

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Simile and MetaphorSimile ~ a

comparison using words such as like, than, or as

ExamplesI feel like a limp

dishrag.The baby was like an

octopus, grabbing everything in sight.

Metaphor ~ a direct comparison

ExamplesI am a limp dishrag.

Those girls are two peas ina pod.

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Implied Metaphordescribes the things being compared instead of

naming themThe reader must figure out the comparison.

O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done,The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won.

~ Walt Whitman

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Extended Metaphor a comparison that continues throughout an entire work

Fireworks

You hate me and I hate you, And we are so polite, we two!

But whenever I see you, I burst apartAnd scatter the sky with my blazing heart.It spits and sparkles in stars and balls,Buds into roses – and flares and falls.

Scarlet buttons, and pale green disks,Silver spirals and asterisks,Shoot and tremble in a mistPeppered with mauve and amethyst. ~ Amy Lowell

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Sound DevicesAlliteration: repetition of initial consonant sounds in

words that are close together

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

The long light shakes across the lakes.

Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close together

And a quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over

And so all the night-tide, I lie down by the side,Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride.

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Sound DevicesOnomatopoeia: use of a word whose sound

imitates or suggests its meaning

Drum on your drums, batter on your banjoesSob on the long cool winding saxophones.

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RhymeRepetition of accented vowel sounds and all

sounds following them in words that are close together

Heart / Part / startPlaster / fasterKnow / though / snow

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Types of rhymeExact rhyme: sounds ending words are

identicalpower / sour June / moon

Approximate rhyme: sounds ending words are nearly the samebegin / him blade / blood

Also known as slant, half, or imperfect rhymes

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Types of RhymeEnd Rhyme: occurs at the ends of lines

Hold fast to dreamsFor if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly.

Internal Rhyme: occurs within a lineThe splendor falls from castle walls

Couplet: a pair of successive rhyming linesSo call the field to rest, and let’s awayTo part the glories of this happy day.

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Rhyme SchemePattern of rhymed linesIndicate by giving each new end rhyme a new

letter of the alphabetSkip a space for stanza breaks

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Rhyme Scheme Once by the Pacific

Robert Frost

The shattered water made a misty din.Great waves looked over others coming in,And thought of doing something to the shoreThat water never did to land before.The clouds were low and hairy in the skies,Like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes.You could not tell, and yet it looked as ifThe shore was lucky in being backed by cliff,The cliff in being backed by continent;It looked as if a night of dark intentWas coming, and not only a night, an age.Someone had better be prepared for rage.There would be more than ocean-water brokenBefore God’s last Put out the Light was spoken.

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Rhyme Scheme

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MeterRhythm: beat; arrangement of stressed and

unstressed syllablesMeter: Pattern of rhythm

iamb: unstressed / stressed syllables

penta: five times

Iambic Pentameter: five iambs in one line

Blank Verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter

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Blank VerseWhen I see birches bend to left and rightAcross the line of straighter darker trees,I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.

from “Birches” by Robert Frost

It must be by his death; and for my part,I know no personal cause to spurn at him,But for the general. He would be crowned.

from The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

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Free VerseNo fixed line length, stanza form, rhyme scheme or meter

The Red Wheelbarrow

so much dependsupon

a red wheelbarrow

glazed with rainwater

beside the whitechickens.

William Carlos Williams

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Types of PoetryNarrative Poetry

Dramatic Poetry

Lyric Poetry

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Narrative Poetrytells a story

Epic: long poem with heroes and a stately, dignified language

• The Iliad The Odyssey Beowulf• Ballad: shorter narrative poem

originally meant to be sung• Folk / Popular Ballad: passed down orally through

generations tragic mood, sensational plots

• Literary Ballad: composed by a known poet more elaborate in language and

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Dramatic PoetryPresents a play

One or more characters speakSettingDramatic situationEmotional conflictVigorous speechNatural language rhythms

The Tragedy of Julius CaesarEvangeline

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expresses emotions or thoughts of the speaker

usually brieffrom Greek “lyrikos” meaning a poem sung to the

music of a lyreTypical Themes

personal thoughts emotions: grief to joy beauty of nature reminiscence of past

Elegy: poem mourning someone who has diedSonnets: 14 line poems with a set rhyme scheme

Lyric Poetry

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Italian Sonnet Octave = eight lines

two rhymes arranged as abbaabbaPresents a situation or a problem.

Sestet = six linestwo or three rhymes arranged as cdcdcd or

cdecdePresents an outcome or solution.

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Composed upon Westminister Bridge

Earth has not anything to show more fair:

Dull would he be of soul who could pass byA sight so touching in its majesty;This city now doth, like a garment, wearThe beauty of the morning; silent, bare,Ships, towers, domes, theaters, and temples lieOpen unto the fields, and to the sky;All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.Never did sun more beautifully steepIn his first splendor, valley, rock, or hill;Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!The river glideth at his own sweet will:Dear God! The very houses seem asleep;And all that mighty heart is lying still!

~ William Wordsworth

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English (Shakesperean) Sonnet Three Quatrains = four

lines eachrhymes arranged as abab cdcd efefThese often express related ideas or examples.

Couplet = two linesrhyme of ggThe couplet sums the poet’s conclusion or

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That Time of Year

That time of year thou mayst in me behold

When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hangUpon those boughs which shake against the cold,Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang.In me thou see’st the twilight of such dayAs after sunset fadeth in the west,Which by and by black night doth take away,Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest,In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire,That on the ashes of his youth doth lieAs the deathbed whereon it must expire,Consumed with that which it was nourished by.This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong.To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

William Shakespeare31

Various TermsAllusion: a reference to a past writing or

event from history

Refrain: a repeated line of word in a poem

Poetic License: freedom to break conventional rules in order to use language playfully and creatively

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