Why do poets split their poems into multiple stanzas if the whole poem

is focused on one overall topic?

In this lesson you will learn how a poem’s organization

influences its meaning by asking how the stanzas in a poem fit

together.

Let’s Review

STANZA:

Small section of poemMade of 1+ lines

Separated by a break

Let’s Review Sample poem:

Words words wordsThere are so many words

I cannot use them allI don’t want to use them all

Because this is a poem

And I choose my words so carefullyIn all of my poemsThat too many would just be too much

Stanza 1

Stanza 2Stanza 3

Stanza 4

A Common Mistake

Core LessonCore Lesson

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN By: Robert Frost

STANZA ONE:

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;

Stanza 1 sets up the speaker’s conflict and makes us wonder, ‘Which road will he/she choose?’

How does this stanza fit with the rest of the poem?

Core LessonCore Lesson

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN By: Robert Frost

STANZA TWO:

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,

How does this stanza fit with the rest of the poem?

Stanza 2 tells us which road the speaker chooses. It is a deciding moment, one that could be pivotal in determining the course of the poem.

Core LessonCore LessonWhy did the author choose to structure the poem this way?

Stanza 1: Which road

should be taken?

Stanza 2: Which choice

was made?

Core LessonCore Lesson

Re-read and think: “How does each stanza fit in with what I read before?”

1

2 Jot down the answer next to each stanza.

3 Ask: “Why did the author choose to structure the poem in this way?”

In this lesson you have learned how a poem’s organization influences its meaning by

asking how the stanzas in a poem fit together.

Guided Practice

In “The Road Not Taken,” study the purpose for stanza 3.

Explain how this stanza fits in with the previous stanzas. Why did the poet organize the poem this way?

And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I kept the first for another dayYet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.

Extension ActivitiesStudy the organization of “Now Close the Windows”. How does the structure of the poem compare to “The Road Not Taken”?

Quick QuizQuick Quiz

In “The Road Not Taken,” study the purposes for stanza 4.

Explain how this stanza fits in with the previous stanzas and why the poet organized the poem this way.

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.