Welcome to the
World of Poetry!
NOTES
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On loose leaf paper or in your notebook, create a
three columned chart:
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The first column should be labeled “Poetry Term”
(leave six lines between each term)
The second column should be labeled “Definition”
The third column should be labeled “Example” (Don’t
worry about this column today…you’ll fill it in tomorrow)
TERMS
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Line
Stanza
Refrain
Enjambment
Rhythm
Repetition
Parallel Structure
Anaphora
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Rhyme
Alliteration
Consonance
Assonance
Onomatopoeia
Imagery
Metaphor/Extended
Metaphor
Simile
Personification
Hyperbole
Allusion
What Is Poetry?
According to research by Donna Norton:
 Poetry is not easily defined, nor is it easily measured
or classified.
 There is no single definition of poetry.
 Some definitions specify the characteristics of poetry,
including the poetic elements and the functions of
words.
 Other definitions emphasize its emotional impact.
Structure of Poetry
 Poems are made up of lines and stanzas
 The poetic line is the same as a sentence in prose.
The length of the line and the line breaks are
important and deliberate choices made by the poet.
 The poem’s stanza is the same as the paragraph in
prose. It is used to organize ideas.
• Quatrain = stanza made up of four lines
• Couplet = stanza made up of two lines
• Refrain = a regularly repeated line or group of
lines, usually at the end of a stanza
Reading Poetry
 Pay
attention to punctuation!
 When reading poetry, if you reach the end
of the line and there is no punctuation after
the last word, do not pause – continue
reading as you would any sentence
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Enjambment - when the idea or phrase in a
poem is carried over from one line into the
next.
Elements of Poetry
Rhythm
 The word rhythm is derived from the Greek rhythmos,
meaning to flow. In poetry, this flowing quality refers to
the movement of words in the poem.
 Stress, the number of syllables, and the pattern of the
syllables direct the feelings expressed in a poem.
 Many poems have a definite repetitive cadence, or
meter, with certain lines containing a certain number of
pronounced beats.
 Poets use rhythm to create dramatic effects and to
suggest moods.
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Repetition
Poets frequently use repetition to enrich or emphasize
words, phrases, lines, or even whole verses in poems.
Parallelism or Parallel Structure
 Refers
to a grammatical or structural
similarity between sentences or parts of a
sentence, so that elements of equal
importance are equally developed and
similarly phrase for emphasis
 Type of “repetition”
Example of Parallel Structure
“I lingered round them, under that benign sky: watched
the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells;
listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass; and
wondered how anyone could ever imagine unquiet
slumbers for the sleepers in that quite earth.”
–Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights
*note how the subject “I” does four things, all of similar
grammatical structures: lingered…, watched…,
listened…., wondered….
Another Example of Parallelism
“In the past we have had a light which flickered, in the
present we have a light which flames, and in the future
there will be a light which shines over the land and the
sea.”
–Sir Winston Churchill
*Note how the writer addresses time in a similar, or
parallel, manner. "In the past...in the present...in the
future...." Each element begins with a parallel
prepositional phrase.
Anaphora
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Anaphora: Repetition of the same word or group of
words at the beginning of two or more clauses or lines
This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as [a] moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands;
Elements of Poetry
Sound is an important part of the pleasure of poetry.
 Rhyme – the repetition of sounds. Rhyming may occur
at the end of lines and within lines.
 Alliteration – the repetition of initial consonants in words
that are close together
 Consonance – the repetition of final consonant sounds
in stressed syllables with different vowel sounds in words
that are close together
 Assonance – the repetition of similar vowel sounds in
accented syllables in words that are close together
 Onomatopoeia – words that imitate the actions or
sounds with which they are associated – such as plop,
jounce, beat, creak, swish, clink, hiss.
Rhyme
I heard a horseman
Ride over the hill;
The moon shone clear,
The night was still;
His helm was silver,
And pale was he;
And the horse he rode
Was of ivory.
Walter de la Mare, “The Horseman” 1923.
Assonance
He clasps the crag with crooked hands
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands . . .
Alfred Tennyson, “The Eagle” 1851
Onomatopoeia
Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor.
He played a few chords then he sang some more--
Line from Langston Hughes’ poem “The Weary Blues”
Alliteration
Dinogar’s speckled petticoat
was made of skins and speckled stoat;
whip whip whipalong
eight times we sing the song.
Gwyn Williams, “The Rattle Bag” 1982
Elements of Poetry
Imagery
 Imagery is a primary element in poetry. It encourages
you to see, hear, feel, taste, smell, and touch the worlds
created by poets.
Figurative Language
 Poets use figurative language (language with nonliteral
meaning) to create imagery in their poetry. This helps to
clarify, add vividness, and encourage readers to
experience things in a new way.
 Metaphors, Similes, Personification, and Hyperbole are all
examples of figurative language.
Elements of Poetry:
Figurative Language
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Metaphors – a comparison between two unlike things in
which one thing is spoke of as if it were another
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Similes – comparison of two or more unlike things using
the words like or as
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Personification – giving human qualities to an animal,
object or idea
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Hyperbole – exaggeration used to suggest strong
emotion or create comic effect
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Allusion – a reference to a well-known person, event, or
place from history, music, art or another literary work
Metaphor
The dinosaurs are not all dead.
I saw one raise its iron head
To watch me walking down the road
Beyond our house today.
Its jaws were dripping with a load
Of earth and grass that it had cropped
It must have heard me where I stopped,
Snorted white steam my way,
And stretched its long neck out to see,
And chewed, and finned quite amiably.
Charles Malam, “Steam Shovel” 1958
Simile
The moon this night is like a silver sickle
Mowing a field of stars.
It has spread a golden runner
Over the rippling waves.
With its winking shimmer
This magic carpet lures me
To fly to the moon on it.
Inna Miller, “The Path on the Sea” 1972
Allusion
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost
Personification
The leaves are gone,
The world is old,
I hear a whisper from the sky –
The dark is long,
The ground’s grown cold,
I hear the snow’s white lullaby.
She breathes it softly
Through the air,
While with her gown of flakes she sweeps
The sky, the trees, the ground grown cold,
Singing hush
Now hush.
Now hush,
Hush
Sleep.
Deborah Chandra, “Snowfall” 1990.
At the end of the unit…
 You
will be able to analyze a poem on
your own and discover how the poet’s
stylistic choices convey meaning
 You will be able to identify and use
elements of poetry in your own writing