PoetryPoetryA poem is created by putting words together in an interesting way to express a feeling, create a mental picture, tell a story, or make a sound.Poetry entertains the ears and the eyes.

Poems EverywherePoems Everywhere

Poems can be found in many places. They are in your

reading book and in lots of places in and out of school.

You might have a collection of poems in one book all written by the same author, like this book by Shel Silverstein~

Or you might find a collection of poems, written by various authors, but printed in the same book.

This is called an anthologyanthology.

Poetry Parts: Verse and Poetry Parts: Verse and StanzaStanza

VerseVerse ~ usually means a line of poetry, but sometimes means a whole poem:

Dust of Snow by Robert Frost

The way a crow

Shook down on me

The dust of snow

From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart

A change of mood

And saved some part

Of a day I rued.

StanzaStanza

A stanza in a poem is like a paragraph in an essay.

Each stanza is usually separated by some blank space.

Common stanza lengths are two, three, four, six or eight lines.

How Many Stanzas Does This How Many Stanzas Does This Poem Have?Poem Have?

Snevington Snee by Jack PrelutskySnevington Snee by Jack Prelutsky

I’m Snevington SneeI’m Snevington SneeAnd from seven till threeAnd from seven till threeI hang by my toesI hang by my toesFrom a coconut tree.From a coconut tree.

I’ve plenty of timeI’ve plenty of timeAnd it’s hardly a crime,And it’s hardly a crime,And no one seems willingAnd no one seems willingTo do it for me.To do it for me.

Rhyme Rhyme Repetition of end sounds is called rhymerhyme.

My dog chewed up my homework.He slobbered on it, too.So now my homework’s ripped to shreds,And full of slimy goo. (~Bruce Lansky)

Rhyme SchemeRhyme Scheme

Rhyme scheme can be determined by marking similarly rhyming lines of the poem with a letter of the alphabet.

Rhyme SchemeRhyme SchemeHere is a poem by Jack Prelutsky

with an A-B-C-B rhyme scheme:

Grizelda Gratz kept sixty cats A

She fed them very well BOn angel cakes and raisin flakes C

And acorns in a shell. B

Now It’s Your TurnNow It’s Your TurnCan you identify the rhyme scheme of this

poem by Mary O’Neill?

Green is the grass

And the leaves of trees

Green is the smell

Of a country breeze.

ConsonanceConsonanceThe repetition of consonant sounds in nearby words, especially at the ends of words, as in

blank and think or

strong and string

Free Verse or Free Verse or Unrhymed VerseUnrhymed Verse

Free verse or unrhymed poems do not rhyme or have regular rhythm.

American Walt Whitman was one of the first poets to publish free verse poems.

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,

Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,

The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,

The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work…

~(From I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman)

RhythmRhythmRhythmRhythm is a regular, patterned

repetition of sounds in a poem (the beat).

RhythmRhythm and rhymerhyme can give poetry a musical quality.

Figurative LanguageFigurative Language

Poets and other writers often use figurative language and other poetic devices to make their writing more interesting and expressive.

Examples of Figurative Examples of Figurative LanguageLanguage

AlliterationOnomatopoeia

SimileMetaphor

Idiom

AlliterationAlliteration

Down the slippery slide they slid

Sitting slightly sideways;

Slipping swiftly see them skid

On holidays and Fridays. ~by Michael Rosen

Alliteration is when almost all of the words in the line have the same beginningbeginning sound.

OnomatopoeiaOnomatopoeia

The rusty spigotsputters,

uttersa splutter,

spatters a smattering of drops,gashes wider;

slash,splatters,scatters,spurts,

finally stops sputteringand plash!

gushes rushes splashesclear water dashes.

~by Eve Merriam

Onomatopoeia is fun to say and easy to remember! It is the imitation of sounds in word form.

CombinationCombinationSometimes a poet will combine

two or more literary devices. Can you tell what two devices are used in the verse below?

“ice cubes clinking clatter clink, crazily inside my drink” ~from Ice Cubes by Joan Graham

SimileSimile

“Arithmetic is where numbers fly like pigeons in and out of your head.” ~from Arithmetic by Carl Sandburg

A simile is a comparison using _____ or _____. Can you fill in the blanks?

MetaphorMetaphor“On the first snowfall there is a pinhole in the

pillow of the skya feather from a white dove is falling from the

sky…”

(~from On the First Snowfall by Eve Merriam)

What makes this an example of a metaphor?

IdiomIdiomAn idiom is a phrase whose

words have a different meaning other than its original meaning.

Don’t worry. The math test on fractions is a piece of cake!

Enjoy Poetry!Enjoy Poetry!Poetry opens up a whole new

world that is different from prose. Try these things:

Check out a poetry book from the Learning Center.Start a collection of poetry by copying your favorites into a poetry journal.

Try your hand at writing some of your own poetry.