Welcome to the World of Poetry!

1. Welcome to the World of Poetry!

2. NOTES • On loose leaf paper or in your notebook, create a three columned chart: • The first column should be labeled “Poetry Term” (leave six lines between each term) • The second column should be labeled “Definition” • The third column should be labeled “Example” (Don’t worry about this column today…you’ll fill it in tomorrow)

3. TERMS • Rhyme • Alliteration • Consonance • Assonance • Onomatopoeia • Imagery • Metaphor/Extended Metaphor • Simile • Personification • Hyperbole • Allusion • Line • Stanza • Refrain • Enjambment • Rhythm • Repetition • Parallel Structure • Anaphora

4. What Is Poetry? According to research by Donna Norton: • Poetry is not easily defined, nor is it easily measured or classified. • There is no single definition of poetry. • Some definitions specify the characteristics of poetry, including the poetic elements and the functions of words. • Other definitions emphasize its emotional impact.

5. Structure of Poetry • Poems are made up of lines and stanzas • The poetic line is the same as a sentence in prose. The length of the line and the line breaks are important and deliberate choices made by the poet. • The poem’s stanza is the same as the paragraph in prose. It is used to organize ideas. • Quatrain = stanza made up of four lines • Couplet = stanza made up of two lines • Refrain = a regularly repeated line or group of lines, usually at the end of a stanza

6. Reading Poetry • Pay attention to punctuation! • When reading poetry, if you reach the end of the line and there is no punctuation after the last word, do not pause – continue reading as you would any sentence • Enjambment - when the idea or phrase in a poem is carried over from one line into the next.

7. Elements of Poetry Rhythm • The word rhythm is derived from the Greek rhythmos, meaning to flow. In poetry, this flowing quality refers to the movement of words in the poem. • Stress, the number of syllables, and the pattern of the syllables direct the feelings expressed in a poem. • Many poems have a definite repetitive cadence, or meter, with certain lines containing a certain number of pronounced beats. • Poets use rhythm to create dramatic effects and to suggest moods. • Repetition • Poets frequently use repetition to enrich or emphasize words, phrases, lines, or even whole verses in poems.

8. Parallelism or Parallel Structure • Refers to a grammatical or structural similarity between sentences or parts of a sentence, so that elements of equal importance are equally developed and similarly phrase for emphasis • Type of “repetition”

9. Example of Parallel Structure “I lingered round them, under that benign sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells; listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass; and wondered how anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quite earth.” –Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights *note how the subject “I” does four things, all of similar grammatical structures: lingered…, watched…, listened…., wondered….

10. Another Example of Parallelism “In the past we have had a light which flickered, in the present we have a light which flames, and in the future there will be a light which shines over the land and the sea.” –Sir Winston Churchill *Note how the writer addresses time in a similar, or parallel, manner. "In the past...in the present...in the future...." Each element begins with a parallel prepositional phrase.

11. Anaphora • Anaphora: Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of two or more clauses or lines This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise,This fortress built by Nature for herselfAgainst infection and the hand of war,This happy breed of men, this little world,This precious stone set in the silver sea,Which serves it in the office of a wall,Or as [a] moat defensive to a house,Against the envy of less happier lands;

12. Elements of Poetry Sound is an important part of the pleasure of poetry. • Rhyme – the repetition of sounds. Rhyming may occur at the end of lines and within lines. • Alliteration – the repetition of initial consonants in words that are close together • Consonance – the repetition of final consonant sounds in stressed syllables with different vowel sounds in words that are close together • Assonance – the repetition of similar vowel sounds in accented syllables in words that are close together • Onomatopoeia – words that imitate the actions or sounds with which they are associated – such as plop, jounce, beat, creak, swish, clink, hiss.

13. Rhyme I heard a horseman Ride over the hill; The moon shone clear, The night was still; His helm was silver, And pale was he; And the horse he rode Was of ivory. Walter de la Mare, “The Horseman” 1923.

14. Assonance He clasps the crag with crooked hands Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ringed with the azure world, he stands . . . Alfred Tennyson, “The Eagle” 1851

15. Onomatopoeia Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor. He played a few chords then he sang some more-- Line from Langston Hughes’ poem “The Weary Blues”

16. Alliteration Dinogar’s speckled petticoat was made of skins and speckled stoat; whip whip whipalong eight times we sing the song. Gwyn Williams, “The Rattle Bag” 1982

17. Imagery Imagery is a primary element in poetry. It encourages you to see, hear, feel, taste, smell, and touch the worlds created by poets. Figurative Language Poets use figurative language (language with nonliteral meaning) to create imagery in their poetry. This helps to clarify, add vividness, and encourage readers to experience things in a new way. Metaphors, Similes, Personification, and Hyperbole are all examples of figurative language. Elements of Poetry

18. Metaphors – a comparison between two unlike things in which one thing is spoke of as if it were another Similes – comparison of two or more unlike things using the words like or as Personification – giving human qualities to an animal, object or idea Hyperbole – exaggeration used to suggest strong emotion or create comic effect Allusion – a reference to a well-known person, event, or place from history, music, art or another literary work Elements of Poetry:Figurative Language

19. Metaphor The dinosaurs are not all dead. I saw one raise its iron head To watch me walking down the road Beyond our house today. Its jaws were dripping with a load Of earth and grass that it had cropped It must have heard me where I stopped, Snorted white steam my way, And stretched its long neck out to see, And chewed, and finned quite amiably. Charles Malam, “Steam Shovel” 1958

20. Simile The moon this night is like a silver sickle Mowing a field of stars. It has spread a golden runner Over the rippling waves. With its winking shimmer This magic carpet lures me To fly to the moon on it. Inna Miller, “The Path on the Sea” 1972

21. Allusion Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold.Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour.Then leaf subsides to leaf.So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day.Nothing gold can stay. Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost

22. Personification The leaves are gone, The world is old, I hear a whisper from the sky – The dark is long, The ground’s grown cold, I hear the snow’s white lullaby. She breathes it softly Through the air, While with her gown of flakes she sweeps The sky, the trees, the ground grown cold, Singing hush Now hush. Now hush, Hush Sleep. Deborah Chandra, “Snowfall” 1990.

23. At the end of the unit… • You will be able to analyze a poem on your own and discover how the poet’s stylistic choices convey meaning • You will be able to identify and use elements of poetry in your own writing