Types of Poetry

1. Types of Poetry Power Point #3

2. Lyric Poetry The most common form of poetry Most poetry we think of is lyric poetry Focuses on a single idea or image expresses the thoughts & feelings of a poet Can rhyme or be in free verse It does NOT tell a story portraying characters and their actions Originated from an ancient Greek form of poetry that was accompanied by a musical instrument, usually a lyre Very musical sounding words create a pleasant harmonious effect Music is composed of song lyrics

3. Lyric Poetry - continued “I Felt a Funeral in my Brain”by Emily Dickenson I felt a funeral in my brain,        And mourners, to and fro,Kept treading, treading, till it seemed        That sense was breaking through. And when they all were seated,        A service like a drumKept beating, beating, till I thought         My mind was going numb. And then I heard them lift a box,        And creak across my soulWith those same boots of lead,        Then space began to toll As all the heavens were a bell,        And Being but an ear,And I and silence some strange race,         Wrecked, solitary, here. And then a plank in reason, broke,        And I dropped down and down--And hit a world at every plunge,        And finished knowing--then-- • Types of Lyric Poetry • Songs • Sonnets • Ode • Hymn • Elegy • Haiku • Cinquain • Free Verse • Concrete

4. Lyric Poetry - Examples “Homework! Oh, Homework!”by Jack Prelutsky Homework! Oh, homework!I hate you! You stink!I wish I could wash youaway in the sink.If only a bombwould explode you to bits.Homework! Oh, homework!You're giving me fits. I'd rather take bathswith a man-eating shark,or wrestle a lionalone in the dark,eat spinach and liver,pet ten porcupines,than tackle the homeworkmy teacher assigns. Homework! Oh, homework!You're last on my list.I simply can't seewhy you even exist.If you just disappearedit would tickle me pink.Homework! Oh, homework!I hate you! You stink! “My Shadow”by Robert Louis Stevenson I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow--Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,And he sometimes goes so little that there's none of him at all.He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.He stays so close behind me, he's a coward you can see;I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!One morning, very early, before the sun was up,I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

5. Free Verse Free verse is easy and fun to write. There isn’t any strict verse pattern, nor does it rhyme but it usually has its own intricate patterns of rhyme and rhythm. Free verse can be compared to a song that doesn’t rhyme. There is still a lyric quality to it. It lets the writer use language that appeals to the head and the heart. Poet can express feelings, emotions, and ideas in an imaginative way. It can be about serious or humorous subjects.

6. Free Verse - Examples “Infant Joy” By William Blake “I have no name; I am but two days old.” What shall I call thee? “I happy am, Joy is my name,” Sweet joy befall thee! Pretty joy! Sweet joy, but two days old. Sweet joy I call thee: Thou dost smile, I sing the while; Sweet joy befall thee! “Fog” By Carl Sandburg The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on.

7. Narrative Poetry It tells a story Has characters, setting & plot (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution). It is written in verse May or may not rhyme Ideas are organized in stanzas • Kinds of Narrative Poetry • Epic • Ballad

8. Narrative Poetry 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 someone 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 name Lenore,Nameless here forevermore. And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtainThrilled me---filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating," 'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door,Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door.This it is, and nothing more." Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,"Sir," said I, "or madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;But the fact is, I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,That I scarce was sure I heard you." Here I opened wide the door;---Darkness there, and nothing more. “THE RAVEN” By Edgar Allan Poe (1845)

9. Narrative Poetry – The Ballad A specific type of narrative poem Based on ancient customs of telling stories in songs Subject is usually an adventure, a romance, or dramatic event Told in a serious, formal way Repetition & elaborate language give it a song-like quality Ballad Poems are poems that tell a story similar to a folk tale or legend and often has a repeated refrain. Example of a Ballad: “The Wreck of the Hesperus” Page 818