A, rather long, short introduction to poetry.

1. A, rather long, short introduction to poetry. A poet uses words to share experiences, thoughts or feelings. Poems are written with words chosen for their sounds and beauty as well as their meaning.

2. What is a poem? Do you; • Read • Listen to • Look at Poetry?

3. You can do all of those, and more.

4. You can learn poems off ‘by heart’.

5. ‘ I wandered lonely……’ This is one of the most famous first lines ever written. The first few lines of this poem are;

6. I WANDERED lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

7. It was written by William Wordsworth 1888

8. Most people in the UK would recognise this first line. Have a go at learning the line ; ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o’er dales and hills’.

9. There are long poems. The Faerie Queene: Book I. A Gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine, Y cladd in mightie armes and siluer shielde, Wherein old dints of deepe wounds did remaine, The cruell markes of many' a bloudy fielde; Yet armes till that time did he neuer wield: His angry steede did chide his foming bitt, As much disdayning to the curbe to yield: Full iolly knight he seemd, and faire did sitt, As one for knightly giusts and fierce encounters fitt. These are the first lines of Spencer’s poem The Fairie Queen.. It was written to praise of Queen Elizabeth 1 and published in 1596. It is twelve books long. The twelve books contain over one thousand pages.

10. There are short poems. FleasAdamHad 'em.

11. FleasAdamHad 'em. Write that one out neatly. Illustrate with a flea!

12. Poems can rhyme.   Please Mrs ButlerThis boy Derek DrewKeeps copying my work, Miss.What shall I do?Go and sit in the hall, dear.Go and sit in the sink.Take your books on the roof, my lamb.Do whatever you think.

13. Please Mrs ButlerThis boy Derek DrewKeeps calling me rude names, Miss.What shall I do?Lock yourself in the cupboard, dear.Run away to sea.Do whatever you can, my flower.But don't ask me! Allan Ahlberg

14. Write down some rhymes for these words; • blue • house • man • girl

15. Some Poems don’t rhyme. My friendIs not my friend any moreShe has secrets from meAnd goes about with Tracy HacketI would get her back,Only do not want to say so.So I pretendTo have secrets from herAnd go about with Alice Banks

16. But what bothers me is,Maybe she is pretendingAnd would like me backOnly does not want to say so.In which caseMaybe it bothers herThat I am pretending.But if we are both pretending,Then really we are friendsAnd do not know it.

17. On the other hand,How can we be friendsAnd have secrets from each otherAnd go about with other people?My friendIs not my friend any more,Unless she is pretending.I cannot think what to do.It is a puzzle. Allan Ahlberg

18. Different kinds of poems.

19. Narrative A NARRATIVE POEM tells a story and can be about anything. Sometimes the poem's lines have a rhyming pattern. Sometimes they don't rhyme at all.

20. The Lady of Shalot On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye, That clothe the wold and meet the sky; And thro' the field the road runs by To many-tower'd Camelot; And up and down the people go, Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below, The island of Shalott.

21. The Lady of Shalot had been cursed and could not look out of the window. She saw everything that was happening in a mirror. She saw Sir Lancelot in the mirror and fell in love with him. She looked out of the window. The mirror cracked.

22. She left the web, she left the loom, She made three paces through the room, She saw the water-lily bloom, She saw the helmet and the plume, She look'd down to Camelot. Out flew the web and floated wide; The mirror crack'd from side to side; "The curse is come upon me," cried The Lady of Shalott.

23. She got into a boat and it floated towards Camelot. Before she got there she died. This is the end of the poem; Lancelot mused a little space He said, "She has a lovely face; God in his mercy lend her grace, The Lady of Shalott."

24. Haiku HAIKU poems can be about anything. There are many different forms of Haiku, but this is the most basic: There are three lines. Line one has five syllables. Line two has seven syllables. Line three has five syllables.

25. What is this haiku describing? Green and speckled legs,Hop on logs and lily padsSplash in cool water.

26. Free Verse FREE VERSE is a kind of poetry that has no real rhythm or pattern, so you can put words together in all sorts of ways.

27. Cinquains CINQUAINS were developed in the early 1900s by an American poet to resemble Haiku. Cinquains follow a formula. • The first line is one word giving the title. It has 2 syllables. The second line has 2 words that describe the title. It has 4 syllables. The third line has 3 words that express an action. It has 6 syllables. The fourth line has 2 words that express a feeling. It has 8 syllables. The fifth line is 1 word. It has 2 or 3 syllables.

28. Hermit CrabHermit crabHard, madCrawling, peeking-out, diggingHe crawls in another shell.Pinching Crab Frozna

29. Limerick LIMERICKS are poems with five lines with a special beat and rhyming pattern: Lines 1, 2 and 5 have 9 beats and the last words rhyme. Lines 3 and 4 have 6 beats and rhyme with each other.

30. A Limerick by Michael Rosen There was an old man from Crewe Who wanted to know how to moo He studied a cow To try and learn how But all he could do was boo!

31. Have a go at completing this limerick; There was a young person from Bath

32. Shape Poems

34. This is the endOf my poetry lesson.I hope it will not lessen,Your enjoyment ofpoems.