Poetic Styles

Descriptive PoetryNotable for its vividness. Uses descriptions that appeal to the

senses-Engages the imagination

Acquainted with the Night (Frost)Birches (Frost)

Poetic Styles Con`t

Narrative Poetry Tells a story-Concerned with characters, setting

and conflict

On the way to the MissionThe Zax –Identify the: plot, setting,

characters, theme

Poetic Styles Con`t Reflective Poetry

Searches for deep truths and poses the questions of existence.

Contemplates life & what it means to be human-Eg. Who am I? Is there an ultimate purpose to

life? What is the nature of happiness?

Letter to a Future Generation- Journal Response

Do you think ignorance of past atrocities, or knowledge of them is a better, more effective way to prevent these mistakes from being repeated?

Structure of Poetry Rhyme Schemes

are described USING LETTERS that correspond to sets of rhymes.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, AHumpty Dumpty had a great fall; AAll the king’s horses, and all the king’s men, BCouldn’t put Humpty together again. B

• The Rhyme Scheme for this poem is: A,A,B,B

Structure of Poetry

Meter – a.k.a. rhythmThe pattern of beats or stressesCan be specific and consistent

Iambic PentameterIs a line of poetry with 5 iambic feet in

a row. The MOST COMMON meter in English

poetry

Types of Poetry

SonnetA fourteen line poem in iambic

pentameterIts subject is traditionally that of love. 2 Kinds:

○ PetrarchanItalian, octave (8 lines) & sestet (6 lines)Rhyme scheme is ababcdcd then cdecde

○ ShakesperianNo octave/sestet structureRhyme scheme is ababcdcdefefgg

Shakesperian Sonnet

Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day?

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 dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Types of Poetry Con`t Villanelle

Poem of 19 linesHas 5 stanzas, each of three lines, with a

final one of four lines1st line of 1st stanza is repeated as the last

line of the 2nd and 4th stanzas3rd line of the 1st stanza is repeated as the

last line of the 3rd and 5th stanzasThese 2 lines are the last 2 lines of the

poemRhyme scheme is aba

Villanelles

Do Not go Gentle into that Good NightBy Dylan Thomas

Reading SchemeBy Wendy Cope

Types of Poetry Con`t Ballad

A song-like poem that tells a story (Narrative)

Four to Six line stanzasRegular rhythm and rhyme schemes

“The Ballad of Reading Gaol” by Oscar Wilde

Types of Poetry Con`t

Concrete PoemA Poem whose form represents its subject or

theme.

(Soda Pop)

Types of Poetry Con’t

ElegyA poem whose purpose is to express

grief or sorrow for the dead. Often read at funerals

VS. Eulogy (Not poetry usually)

A plain language speech whose purpose is to express sorrow or grief for the dead. Often read at funerals.

Elegies

Child Burial by Paula Meehan Elegy before Death by Edna St.

Vincent Millay Tiara by Mark Doty

Types of Poetry Con`t Ode

Poem written to celebrate an event, a person, a thing, a being, a power, an object etc.

Horatian Odes: follow a regular stanza pattern and rhyme scheme

Irregular Odes: No set stanza or rhyme scheme

Odes

Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Bowl of Goldfishes

Pablo Neruda’s Poems

Assignment

Write your own Ode or ElegyIt must be at least 12 linesCan be about anything or anyoneCan be serious (tribute to someone

you love/loved)It can be humorous (a tribute to

something unusual)Due. Tuesday, November 22nd