Tools for Making Great Poems

Tools for Making Great Poems

StructureStructure

Difference from Prose The Stanza

Stanza:Poem = Paragraph:Prose The Line The Meter

The rhythm of the stress syllables and the number of syllables in a line.

Difference from Prose The Stanza

Stanza:Poem = Paragraph:Prose The Line The Meter

The rhythm of the stress syllables and the number of syllables in a line.

The MeterThe Meter

Poetry emerged as an oral tradition and needed to be remembered

Humans “get” rhythm; it’s natural Iambic pentameter: SUSUSUSU

Approximate length of a human breath

Almost a rocking rhythm; soothing and natural

Poetry emerged as an oral tradition and needed to be remembered

Humans “get” rhythm; it’s natural Iambic pentameter: SUSUSUSU

Approximate length of a human breath

Almost a rocking rhythm; soothing and natural

The LineThe Line Line length is a tool to complete or not complete a thought

on a line: a reader needs to concentrate when a thought is broken unnaturally between two lines

The breath Enjambing: jumping the ditch: speeding the

reader to the next and creating urgency Long lines (beyond the breath create stress

and the sense of being dragged through something prolonged)

The look: Poetry is NOW a visual tradition

Line length is a tool to complete or not complete a thought

on a line: a reader needs to concentrate when a thought is broken unnaturally between two lines

The breath Enjambing: jumping the ditch: speeding the

reader to the next and creating urgency Long lines (beyond the breath create stress

and the sense of being dragged through something prolonged)

The look: Poetry is NOW a visual tradition

Word ChoiceWord Choice

Rhyme Sounds

Alliteration Assonance Onomatopoeia Hard consonants versus soft

Rock versus Stone

Rhyme Sounds

Alliteration Assonance Onomatopoeia Hard consonants versus soft

Rock versus Stone

RhymeRhyme End rhymes: occur at the end of a

line The “scheme” is the pattern in which the

rhymes occur

For example:

Whose woods these are I think I know (a)His house is in the village though (a)He will not see me stopping here (b)To see his woods fill up with snow (a)

Rhyme Scheme = a, a, b, a

End rhymes: occur at the end of a line The “scheme” is the pattern in which the

rhymes occur

For example:

Whose woods these are I think I know (a)His house is in the village though (a)He will not see me stopping here (b)To see his woods fill up with snow (a)

Rhyme Scheme = a, a, b, a

Other Kinds of RhymesOther Kinds of Rhymes

Internal rhymes: occur within a line“Once upon a midnight dreary,

while I pondered, weak and weary,”

Slant or soft rhymes: “heart” and “star”

Eye rhymes: “rough” and “bough”

Internal rhymes: occur within a line“Once upon a midnight dreary,

while I pondered, weak and weary,”

Slant or soft rhymes: “heart” and “star”

Eye rhymes: “rough” and “bough”

AlliterationAlliteration Alliteration: Several words begin

with the same sound

For example:Softly Sally snores on the sand

Build on your alliteration by putting that same sound in other parts of words too.

Alliteration: Several words begin with the same sound

For example:Softly Sally snores on the sand

Build on your alliteration by putting that same sound in other parts of words too.

AssonanceAssonance

Assonance: Several words contain the same primary vowel sound:

For example:

The rolling stone knows no home.

Assonance: Several words contain the same primary vowel sound:

For example:

The rolling stone knows no home.

Sounds Can Create FeelingSounds Can Create Feeling

In general, hard consonants like “K” or hard “G” feel harsher

In general, soft consonants like “S” or “R” have a quieter feeling (“S” can also be used to create a sense of wind or a sinister feeling)

In general, hard consonants like “K” or hard “G” feel harsher

In general, soft consonants like “S” or “R” have a quieter feeling (“S” can also be used to create a sense of wind or a sinister feeling)

Vowels Also Create FeelingVowels Also Create Feeling

Long vowel sounds can make things feel more soothing, open and soft

Short vowel sounds can feel disruptive and, again, a little harsher

Notice the difference both in the vowel and consonant sounds between the feeling embedded in the word “ROCK” versus the word “STONE”

Long vowel sounds can make things feel more soothing, open and soft

Short vowel sounds can feel disruptive and, again, a little harsher

Notice the difference both in the vowel and consonant sounds between the feeling embedded in the word “ROCK” versus the word “STONE”

AllusionAllusion

Cultural reference points: poems, songs, myths, stories, movies…

“So it goes with my Phoenix heart.”

Cultural reference points: poems, songs, myths, stories, movies…

“So it goes with my Phoenix heart.”

PersonificationPersonification

Giving something non-living the qualities of a person or something living.

For example:“The yellow fog that rubs its back upon

the window panes”

Giving something non-living the qualities of a person or something living.

For example:“The yellow fog that rubs its back upon

the window panes”

Playing with WordsPlaying with Words One of the fun things about writing is

playing with words and inventing new words or phrases that create a fuller more original image

Gerard Manly Hopkins is the master of creating new nouns with hyphens: “Through the cobbled foam-fleece.”

Ogden Nash is the master of smooshing words together to create a new meaning (often just to get them to fit his rhyme scheme) “waspitality”

One of the fun things about writing is playing with words and inventing new words or phrases that create a fuller more original image

Gerard Manly Hopkins is the master of creating new nouns with hyphens: “Through the cobbled foam-fleece.”

Ogden Nash is the master of smooshing words together to create a new meaning (often just to get them to fit his rhyme scheme) “waspitality”

PracticePractice

Use “Whose Woods These Are” to test yourself

Make some observations about the sound choices: what content do they go with

What’s the rhyme scheme?

Use “Whose Woods These Are” to test yourself

Make some observations about the sound choices: what content do they go with

What’s the rhyme scheme?

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the village though;He will not see me stopping hereTo watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queerTo stop without a farmhouse nearBetween the woods and frozen lakeThe darkest evening of the year.

Whose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the village though;He will not see me stopping hereTo watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queerTo stop without a farmhouse nearBetween the woods and frozen lakeThe darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shakeTo ask if there is some mistake.The only other sound's the sweepOf easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.

He gives his harness bells a shakeTo ask if there is some mistake.The only other sound's the sweepOf easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.