Grade 7
Poetry Anthology
Cinquain
• What is a cinquain?
• At the most basic level a cinquain is a five line
poem or stanza.
• The poem has one topic and the details
describe the the topic's actions and feelings.
Line 1 - one word for the topic
Line 2 - 2 words to describes your topic
Line 3 - 3 words that describes the actions
relating to your topic
Line 4 - 4 words that describes the feelings
relating to your topic
Line 5 - one word that is another name for your
topic
Haiku
• Haiku (俳句 high-koo) are short poems that
use sensory language to capture a feeling or
image. They are often inspired by an element
of nature, a moment of beauty or a poignant
experience. Haiku poetry was originally
developed by Japanese poets, and the form
was adapted to English and other languages
by poets in other countries. A haiku is an
unrhymed three-line poem.
Format
Line 1: 5 syllables
Line 2: 7 syllables
Line 3: 5 syllables
Or
Winter is coming.
Snow will be arriving soon.
We should rake the leaves.
Limerick
• What is a Limerick?
• Limericks are one of the most fun and wellknown poetic forms. No one knows for sure
where the name “limerick” comes from, but most
people assume it is related to the county of
Limerick, in Ireland.
• The reason limericks are so much fun is because
they are short, rhyming, funny, and have a
bouncy rhythm that makes them easy to
memorize.
Limerick
• The Rules of Limericks:
• Limericks, like all poetic forms, have a set of rules
that you need to follow. The rules for a limerick
are fairly simple:
• They are five lines long.
• Lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme with one another.
• Lines 3 and 4 rhyme with each other.
• They have a distinctive rhythm (which I’ll explain
shortly)
• They are usually funny.
Limerick
• The rhyme scheme of a limerick is known as “AABBA.” This is
because the last words in lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme. Those are the
“A’s” in the rhyme scheme. The “B’s” are the last words of lines 3
and 4. Let me give you an example:
There was a young fellow named Hall
Who fell in the spring in the fall.
‘Twould have been a sad thing
Had he died in the spring,
But he didn’t—he died in the fall.
– Anonymous
• Notice that the words, “Hall,” “fall,” and “fall” all rhyme. Those are
the “A” words in the “AABBA” rhyme scheme. Also notice that
“thing” and “spring” rhyme. Those are the “B” words in the rhyme
scheme.
Limerick
• Limerick Rhythm:
• Now let’s take a look at the rhythm of the limerick. It goes by the
complicated name “anapaestic,” but you don’t need to worry about
that. What I want you to notice when you read or recite a limerick is
that the first two lines and the last line have three “beats” in them,
while the third and fourth lines have two “beats.” In other words,
the rhythm of a limerick looks like this:
da DUM da da DUM da da DUM
da DUM da da DUM da da DUM
da DUM da da DUM da DUM da da DUM
da DUM da da DUM da da DUM
Limerick
• The rhythm doesn’t have to exactly match this,
but it needs to be close enough that it sounds the
same when you read it. For example, using the
limerick above about the fellow from Hall, if we
emphasize the beats, it reads like this:
there WAS a young FELLow named HALL
who FELL in the SPRING in the FALL.
‘twould have BEEN a sad THING
had he DIED in the SPRING,
but he DIDn’t—he DIED in the FALL.
Limerick
•
Let’s take a look at another famous limerick:
There was an old man of Nantucket
Who kept all his cash in a bucket;
But his daughter, named Nan,
Ran away with a man, And as for the bucket, Nantucket.
– Anonymous
•
•
If you emphasize the beats when you read it, it comes out like this:
there WAS an old MAN of NanTUCKet
who KEPT all his CASH in a BUCKet;
but his DAUGHTer, named NAN,
ran aWAY with a MAN,
and AS for the BUCKet, NanTUCKet.
Limerick
Some Limerick Tricks
• There are two more things that you will
notice when you read limericks:
1.The first line usually ends with a person’s first
name or the name of a place.
2.The last line is usually funny.
Free Verse
• Free verse is an open form of poetry. It does
not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or
any other musical pattern. It thus tends to
follow the rhythm of natural speech.
Free Verse
• Choosing Words Carefully:
Carefully chosen words can help you create a poem that
sounds like the situation, emotion, or object you are
trying to portray. For instance, short words with sharp
consonants cause the reader to stop-and- go in a choppy
cadence: Cut, bash, stop, kick, lick, bite, punch, jump,
stick, kiss. They almost sound like what they mean. Use
these types of short words when you want to show
excitement, fear, anger, new love, or anything that might
make your heart beat quickly. Longer words with soft
sounds cause the reader to slow down. Use them when
you want to show pause, tension, laziness, rest.
Concrete
• What is a Concrete Poem?
Concrete poetry—sometimes also called ‘shape
poetry’—is poetry whose visual appearance
matches the topic of the poem. The words form
shapes which illustrate the poem’s subject as a
picture, as well as through their literal meaning.
Concrete
Diamante
• A diamante – pronounced dee-uh-MAHN-tay – is an
unrhymed seven-line poem. The beginning and ending
lines are the shortest, while the lines in the middle are
longer, giving diamante poems a diamond shape.
“Diamante” is the Italian word for diamond, so this
poetic form is named for this diamond shape.
• Also known as a “diamond poem” because of it’s
shape, there are two different types of diamantes;
synonym diamantes and antonym diamantes.
• Also known as a “diamond poem” because of it’s
shape, there are two different types of diamantes;
synonym diamantes and antonym diamantes.
Diamante
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The Rules of a Diamante: There are just a few rules to writing a diamante:
Diamantes are seven lines long.
The first and last lines have just one word.
The second and sixth lines have two words.
The third and fifth lines have three words.
And the fourth line has four words.
Lines 1, 4, and 7 have nouns.
Lines 2 and 6 have adjectives.
Lines 3 and 5 have verbs.
Here’s an easy way to visualize all three rules:
Noun
Adjective, Adjective
Verb, Verb, Verb
Noun, Noun, Noun, Noun
Verb, Verb, Verb
Adjective, Adjective
Noun
Diamante
Here’s an easy way to visualize all three rules:
Noun
Adjective, Adjective
Verb, Verb, Verb
Noun, Noun, Noun, Noun
Verb, Verb, Verb
Adjective, Adjective
Noun
In a synonym diamante, the nouns at the beginning and end are two words that mean basically the same thing. In an
antonym diamante, the two nouns are opposites. Here are a couple of examples:
In this diamante, the words “Monsters” and “Creatures” mean the same thing, so they are synonyms.
Monsters
Evil, Spooky
Howling, Shrieking, Wailing
Ghosts, Vampires, Goblins, Witches
Flying, Scaring, Terrifying
Creepy, Crawly
Creatures
Antonym Diamante: In this diamante, you might say that the words “Cat” and “Dog” are opposites, or “antonyms,” so
this is an antonym diamante.
Cat
Gentle, Sleepy
Purring, Meowing, Scratching
Whiskers, Fur, Collar, Leash
Barking, Licking, Digging
Slobbery, Playful
Dog
One Poem of Your Choice!
Have Fun!