Poetry 101: Types and Elements

1. POETRY 101 “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” - Robert Frost begin Joe Ault

2. What will you learn? next • Major types of poetry and how they differ from each other • Key Poetic Elements and how to identify them within a selected poem Sestina Sonnet villanelle Haiku elegy Blank Verse ode limerick caesura enjambment metaphor simile imagery diction rhyme onomatopoeia alliteration

3. Why study poetry? NEXT Poetry is a language. It has been written, spoken, and read for thousands upon thousands of years. Poetry can evoke emotion, memories, and bring light to new and old ideas. All poetry has been written by real people with real feelings and thoughts. Everybody can read poetry, and everyone can write it. There are messages within poetry about life, love, struggle, happiness, sadness, fear, and fearlessness. Poetry can represent something important, or it can mean absolutely nothing at the same time. Poetry is what you make of it. However, until you have a small background of information on the different types of poetry and the different key poetic elements, reading through and understanding poetry can prove to be quite difficult.

4. Poetry 101 Let’s get started, shall we? Types of Poetry Key Poetic Elements Quiz

5. Types of Poetry Click on the type of poetry and explore its meaning and other cool stuff. HAIKU Sestina SONNET • villanelle limerick • Blank Verse ode elegy menu

6. Types of Poetry Sonnet “The sonnet is one of several forms of poetry originating in Europe, mainly Great Britain and Italy and commonly have 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound.” Example Sonnet menu

7. Types of Poetry Example Sonnet Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed; But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest, Nor shall death brag thou wanderest in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest.   So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,  So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. 14 Lines 10 Syllables per Line types of poetry menu

8. Types of Poetry Haiku “A Japanese lyric verse form having three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables, traditionally invoking an aspect of nature or the seasons.” Example Haiku menu

9. Types of Poetry Example haiku The Rose Donna Brock The red blossom bends and drips its dew to the ground. Like a tear it falls No Rhyme Lines of 5, 7, 5 syllables each Traditionally about Nature types of poetry menu

10. Types of Poetry Sestina “A poem with six stanzas of six lines and a final triplet, all stanzas having the same six words at the line-ends in six different sequences that follow a fixed pattern, and with all six words appearing in the closing three-line envoi.” Example Sestina menu

11. Types of Poetry EXAMPLE SESTINA Was blessed heaven once, more than an island,The grand, utopian dream of a noble mind.In that kind climate the mere thought of snowWas but a wedding cake; the youthful natives,Unable to conceive of Rochester,Made love, and were acrobatic in the making. Dream as we may, there is far more to makingDo than some wistful reverie of an island,Especially now when hope lies with the RochesterGas and Electric Co., which doesn't mindSuch profitable weather, while the nativesSink, like Pompeians, under a world of snow. The one thing indisputable here is snow,The single verity of heaven's making,Deeply indifferent to the dreams of the natives,And the torn hoarding-posters of some island.Under our igloo skies the frozen mindHolds to one truth: it is grey, and called Rochester. No island fantasy survives Rochester,Where to the natives destiny is snowThat is neither to our mind nor of our making. "Sestina d'Inverno" by Anthony Hecht Here in this bleak city of Rochester,Where there are twenty-seven words for "snow,"Not all of them polite, the wayward mindBasks in some Yucatan of its own making,Some coppery, sleek lagoon, or cinnamon islandAlive with lemon tints and burnished natives, And O that we were there. But here the nativesOf this grey, sunless city of RochesterHave sown whole mines of salt about their land(Bare ruined Carthage that it is) while snowComes down as if The Flood were in the making.Yet on that ocean Marvell called the mind An ark sets forth which is itself the mind,Bound for some pungent green, some shore whose nativesBlend coriander, cayenne, mint in makingRoasts that would gladden the Earl of RochesterWith sinfulness, and melt a polar snow.It might be well to remember that an island types of poetry menu

12. Types of Poetry Blank Verse “Blank Verse is poetry that is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter, meaning each line is written in five beats and the accents alternate. Blank verse is often unobtrusive and the iambic pentameter form often resembles the rhythms of ordinary speech. William Shakespeare wrote most of his plays in blank verse. “ Example of Blank Verse menu

13. Types of Poetry EXAMPLE BLANK VERSE Excerpt from MacbethbyWilliam Shakespeare Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. No Rhyme Iambic Pentameter types of poetry menu

14. Types of Poetry Limerick “A kind of humorous verse of five lines, in which the first, second, and fifth lines rhyme with each other, and the third and fourth lines, which are shorter, form a rhymed couplet.” Example Limerick menu

15. Types of Poetry EXAMPLE LIMERICK Limerick by Mark Twain A man hired by John Smith and Co.Loudly declared that he’d tho.Men that he sawDumping dirt near his doorThe drivers, therefore, didn’t do. 5 lines 1st, 2nd, and 5th line rhyme with each other 3rd and 4th line form couplet Types of poetry menu

16. Types of Poetry Elegy “A poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead.” Example Elegy menu

17. Types of Poetry EXAMPLE ELEGY ChidiochTichborne (1558-1586) by Francis Duggan On September the nineteenth 1586 in London TowerWhen the bloom of his young life was decaying like a flowerDying in the cool winds of the early FallIn words his tragic life he did recall.ChidiochTichborne to something beautiful to gave lifeIn his farewell elegy to Agnes his wifeAn elegy still read and popular todayTrue greatness can be slow for to meet decay. Sad or depressing A memory Accused as being in a failed plot to murder Elizabeth England's QueenHis best days as a poet he had not seenHung drawn and quartered a brutal way to dieSuch a death to justice surely gives the lie.Executed in his twenty eight year even in those times that was youngBut he did not remain as one unsungHis gift of life may have been snatched from him in his primeBut his life story and his elegy have withstood the test of time. types of poetry menu

18. Types of Poetry Ode “In modern use, a lyric poem, rhymed or unrhymed, typically addressed to some person or thing and usually characterized by lofty feeling, elaborate form, and dignified style.” Example Ode menu

19. Types of Poetry EXAMPLE ODE Ode to Sir Lucius Gray and Sir H. Morisonby Ben Jonson It is not growing like a treeIn bulk, doth make man better be;Or standing long an Oak, three hundred year,To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sear.A Lily of a dayIs fairer far, in MayAlthough it fall and die that night;It was the plant and flower of light.In small proportions we just beauties see;And in short measure, life may perfect be. Can rhyme if wanted Normally dedictation to someone or something types of poetry menu

20. Types of Poetry Villanelle “A 19-line poem of fixed form consisting of five tercets and a final quatrain on two rhymes, with the first and third lines of the first tercet repeated alternately as a refrain closing the succeeding stanzas and joined as the final couplet of the quatrain.” Example Villanelle menu

21. Types of Poetry EXAMPLE VILLANELLE Do not go gentle into that good night,Old age should burn and rave at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right,Because their words had forked no lightning theyDo not go gentle into that good night, Good men, the last wave by, crying how brightTheir frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night, Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sightBlind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.Do not go gentle into that good night,Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas Six stanzas Each stanza is three lines each types of poetry menu

22. Key Poetic Elements Click on the term to learn what it means and to see examples. simile imagery rhyme enjambment alliteration onomatopoeia diction caesura metaphor menu

23. Key Poetic Elements Imagery “The use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas.” Example of Imagery menu

24. Key Poetic Elements Words which evoke emotion or any of the senses of the reader From the family treeof old school hip hop Kick off your shoesand relax your socksThe rhymes will spread just like a poxCause the music is live like an electric shock --Beastie Boys "Intergalactic" From Hello Nasty Let’s the reader see the image terms menu

25. Key Poetic Elements Rhyme “Correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words, esp. when these are used at the ends of lines of poetry.” Example Rhyme menu

26. Key Poetic Elements Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.All the King's horses, And all the King's menCouldn't put Humpty together again! terms menu

27. Key Poetic Elements Onomatopoeia “The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named, such as ‘pop’, ‘fizzle’, ‘oozes’. It sounds like it is read.” Example of Onomatopoeia menu

28. Key Poetic Elements Crack an Eggby Denise Rodgers Crack an egg.Stir the butter.Break the yolk.Make it flutter.Stoke the heat.Hear it sizzle.Shake the salt,just a drizzle.Flip it over,just like that.Press it down.Squeeze it flat.Pop the toast.Spread jam thin.Say the word.Breakfast's in . Words that sound, in real life, just as they are read terms menu

29. Key Poetic Elements Alliteration “The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.” Example of Alliteration menu

30. Key Poetic Elements Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick? terms menu

31. Key Poetic Elements Simile “A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind.” Example of Simile menu

32. Key Poetic Elements A Red, Red Roseby Robert Burns O My Luve'slike a red, red rose,That's newly sprung in June;O My Luve'slike the melodieThat's sweetly played in tune.As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,So deep in luve am I;And I will luve thee still, my dear,Till a' the seas gang dry, my dearWhile the sands o' life shall run.And fare thee weel, my only luve,And fare thee weel, awhile!And I will come again, my luveTho' it ware ten thousand mile! Uses the word “like” or “as” as comparison words terms menu

33. Key Poetic Elements Caesura “A pause near the middle of a line.” Example of Caesura menu

34. Key Poetic Elements Notice the pauses right in the middle of the lines An Essay on Manby Alexander Pope Know then thyself II, presume not God to scan;The proper study of Mankind II is Man.Plac'd on this isthmus of a middle state,A being darkly wise, and rudely great: BACK menu

35. Key Poetic Elements Enjambment “The continuation of a syntactic unit from one line of verse into the next line without a pause.” Example of Enjambment menu

36. Key Poetic Elements Treesby Joyce Kilmer I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prestAgainst the sweet earth's flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree. Notice how the yellow words begin on one line and continue on to the next line without any pause or punctuation BACK menu

37. Key Poetic Elements Diction “The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing.” Example of Diction menu

38. Key Poetic Elements Diction is simply the word choice that the writer decides to use The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost 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.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. 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 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. terms menu

39. Key Poetic Elements Metaphor “A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.” Example of Metaphor menu

40. Key Poetic Elements Notice how Shakespeare compares the world to a stage “All the world's a stage,And all the men and women merely playersThey have their exits and their entrances.” William Shakespeare terms menu

41. Quiz Time Now Let’s see what you have learned. The goal is to answer four out of five questions correctly. Take quiz menu

42. #1 A ____________ is a term used to compare two things using the words “like” or “as”. • Metaphor • Caesura • Diction • Simile menu

43. #1 WRONG, try again menu

44. #1 Wrong, try again menu

45. #1 Wrong, try again TRY AGAIN menu

46. #1 THAT IS CORRECT! GREAT JOB! NEXT QUESTION menu

47. #2 Which type of poetry is this an example of? Without flowing wine A. Limerick How to enjoy lovely B. Sonnet Cherry blossoms? C. Haiku D. Ode menu

48. #2 Wrong, try again TRY AGAIN menu

49. #2 Wrong, try again TRY AGAIN menu

50. #2 THAT IS CORRECT! GREAT JOB! NEXT QUESTION menu