Elements of Poetry
Poets have many tools they
use to add to the poem’s
sound, meaning, and
emotional effect on the reader.
Modified and used for English 11
Mr. W. Garcia, 2010
(based on .PPT made by T. Travis
for AuthorStream.com)
•Poetry is the art of expressing one’s
thoughts in verse.
•It uses few words to convey its message.
•It is meant to be read aloud.
•Poetry arouses our emotions.
•Poems use imagery or figures of speech to
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•
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explain feelings or to create a mental
picture or idea.
These suggest action or mood.
Many poems have a specific rhyme scheme.
Poems can rhyme or not rhyme.
•STANZAS
•RYHME AND
RHYME SCHEME
•RHYTHM
•FREE VERSE
•ALLITERATION
•IMAGERY
•EXAGGERATION
•LINES
•SIMILE
•METAPHOR
•ONOMATOPOEIA
•REDUCTIONS
•EUFEMISMS
•POETIC LICENSE
•SYMBOL
•TONE / MOOD
Lines
• A single line in a poem.
• Often organized into
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stanzas.
--------------------2 lines is a couplet.
3 lines is a triplet.
4 lines is a quatrain.
5 lines is a cinquain.
6 lines is a sestet.
7 lines is a septet.
8 lines is a octave.
14 lines is a sonnet.
“To a Snowflake” - C.J. Heck
1 Hello little snowflake!
2
3
4
Where are all your friends?
Should I expect a lot of them
before the morning ends?
5
6
7
8
I love it when you come to me
and you all fall down together,
and I get dressed to visit you,
toasty warm in cold, cold weather.
The poem above has 8 lines.
The lines are organized into
quatrains.
Stanza
•A group of lines.
•Often have 4, 5, or 6
lines.
•2 line stanzas are
called couplets.
•Usually develops one
idea.
•Give poems structure.
•Emphasize different
ideas.
•Beginning a new
stanzas often signals the
beginning of a new
image, thought, or idea.
“First and Last” by David McCord
A tadpole hasn’t a pole at all,
And he doesn’t live in a hole in the wall.
You’ve got it wrong: a polecat’s not
A cat on a pole. And I’ll tell you what:
A bullfrog’s never a bull; and how
Could a cowbird possibly be a cow?
A kingbird, though, is a kind of king,
And he chases a crow like anything.
Four Stanzas in Couplets
Each Stanza Signals
a New Image
Rhyme and
Rhyme Scheme
• Words rhyme when
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•
•
they have the same
sound.
Poems often use
rhyme at the end of
lines.
Rhyme scheme is a
pattern of rhymes in
a poem.
Poets use rhyme to
add a musical sound
to their poems.
“Ten Minutes Till the Bus”
by David L. Harrison
Ten whole minutes
Till the bus,
Scads of time,
What’s the fuss?
Two to dress,
One to flush,
Two to eat,
One to brush,
That leaves four
To catch the bus,
Scads of time,
What’s the fuss?
Rhythm
• Pattern of beats or
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•
a series of stressed
and unstressed
syllables in poem.
Poets create
rhythm by using
words in which
parts are
emphasized or not
emphasized.
The yellow
highlighted parts
of the poem show
what’s stressed.
from “Windy Nights”
By Robert Louis Stevenson
Whenever the moon and stars are set,
Whenever the wind is high,
All night long in the dark and wet,
A man goes riding by.
Late in the night when the fires are out,
Why does he gallop and gallop about?
Whenever the wind is high.
Stressed =
Unstressed =
Free Verse
• Poetry written
•
•
without a regular
rhyme, rhythm,
and form.
Sounds natural,
just like everyday
conversation.
Poets use free
verse because it
allows them to
experiment with
the shapes and
sounds in their
poetry.
No rhyme or
regular rhythm
“Blossoms”
by Walter Dean Myers
I never dreamt
that tender blossoms
would be brown
Or precious angels
could come down
to live in the garden
of my giving heart
But here you are
brown angel.
Alliteration
• Repetition of the
•
same consonant
sound at the
beginning of
several words or
sentences or a line
of poetry.
Poets use
alliteration to
make their poetry
musical and more
interesting.
Same Beginning
Sounds
“Surf” by Lillian
Morrison
Waves want
to be wheels,
They jump for it
and fail
fall flat
like pole vaulters
and sprawl
arms outstretched
foam fingers
reaching.
Imagery
• Language that
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•
appeals to the 5
senses.
Are “word
pictures”.
Helps the reader
to experience
familiar things
in a fresh way
using the
senses.
“There is a Thing”
by Jack Prelutsky
There is a thing
beneath the stair
with slimy face
and oily hair
that does not move
or speak or sing
or do another
single thing
but sit and wait
beneath the stair
with slimy face
and oily hair.
Strong Image
Sensory Words
Uses
Senses
Sound
Smell
Taste
Touch
Sight
Exaggeration
• Describe
•
something as
larger or wildly
different than it
actually is.
Poets use
exaggeration to
create a mental
picture and spark a
reader’s
imagination.
“Beetles”
by Monica Shannon
Beetles must use polish,
They look so new and shiny!
Just like a freshly painted car,
Except for being tiny.
Poet stretches the truth about how beetles
become shiny to make readers smile and to
create greater interest in these insects.
Simile
• Comparison
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•
“The World” by Noel Berry
The trees are like the hair of the world.
The city is like the heart of the world.
The wind is a flute player
metaphor
playing in the night.
The cars beeping horns are like buttons
beeping inside the earth.
Each bird is like a single piccolo
singing away
and the grass, just like me,
being buried under the snow.
between 2 things,
using the words
like or as.
Poets use
comparisons
between things to
make you think
about them in a
new way.
Used to surprise
the reader and to
Comparisons
create strong
trees to hair, a city to a heart, car horns
images.
beeping to buttons, grass to a person,
bird to a piccolo
Metaphor
• Direct comparison
between 2 things.
• Does NOT use the
words like or as.
• Poet describes a
•
thing or person as
if it actually were
the other thing or
person.
Creates a clear,
memorable picture
and tries to get
you to see the
original subject in
a new way.
“Dreams” by Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams Comparison of
life to a bird
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
Comparison of
life to a field
Onomatopoeia
• Use of words that
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•
sound like the
noises they
describe.
Poets choose
words not just for
what they mean,
but what they
sound like.
Poets use
onomatopoeia to
liven up their
writing and add
fun sounds to it.
“The Fourth”
by Shel Silverstein
Oh
CRASH!
my
BASH!
it’s
BANG!
the
ZANG!
Fourth
WHOOSH!
Of
BAROOM!
July
WHEW!
On the
Fourth of
July
you hear:
Crashes
Bashes
Bangs
Zangs
Whooshs
Barooms
Whews
Personification
•
•
Type of figure of
speech that gives
human qualities to
animals, objects,
or ideas.
Adds life to a poem
and helps the
reader view a
familiar thing in a
new way.
“Snowy Benches”
by Aileen Fisher
Do parks get lonely
in winter, perhaps,
when benches have only
snow on their laps?
Parks have feelings and benches have laps.
The poet asks whether the parks feel lonely
in winter, like people sometimes do.
Idiom
• A popular everyday
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expression that
doesn’t exactly mean
what the words say.
Poet’s use idioms
because that’s the
way people talk to
each other.
Example: “easy as
pie” means you are
able to do something
without difficulty
“Last Night”
by David L. Harrison
Last night I knew the answers.
Last night I had them pat.
Last night I could have told you
Every answer, just like that!
Last night my brain was cooking.
Last night I got them right.
Last night I was a genius.
So where were you last night!
“I had them pat” - knowing something well.
“My brain is cooking” - it was working fast
and bubbling over with ideas.
Symbol
• Something that stands
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•
for something more than
just itself.
Suggests another larger
meaning.
Examples: the Puerto
Rican flag is a symbol of
patriotism. A red heart is
a symbol of love.
The witches, ghost
and goblins are
symbols traditionally
associated to the
celebration of
Halloween.
“Haunted House”
- by Jack Prelutsky
There's a house upon the hilltop
We will not go inside
For that is where the witches live,
Where ghosts and goblins hide.
Tonight they have their party,
All the lights are burning bright,
But oh we will not go inside
The haunted house tonight.
The demons there are whirling
And the spirits swirl about.
They sing their songs to Halloween.
"Come join the fun," they shout.
But we do not want to go there
So we run with all our might
And oh we will not go inside
The haunted house tonight.
Mood
• Feeling that a
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•
poem creates in
the reader.
Can be positive or
negative.
Poet creates the
mood with the
length of
sentences, the
words chosen,
punctuation, and
the sounds of the
words.
“Poor”
by Myra Livingston
I heard of poor.
It means hungry, no food.
No shoes, no place to live,
Nothing good.
It means winter nights
And being cold,
It is lonely, alone.
Feeling old.
Poor is a tired face.
Poor is thin.
Poor is standing outside
Looking in.
Short words
and lines
create a
serious
mood.
Words
create
a feeling of
sadness.
Tone
• Attitude a writer
takes toward the
subject or
audience of a
poem.
The subject of the
poem is crocodiles.
The author’s
attitude towards
crocodiles is that
they are dangerous.
“The Crocodile”
How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the water of the Nile
On every golden scale!
How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws!
Identify the Elements of Poetry
TASK #1 (DAILY WORK SECTION)
1. Use the poem “A Work of Artifice” to find as
many examples of each element of poetry
presented so far.
2. Be prepared to share your examples with your
classmates in the next class.
3. Make sure you can explain why each example
fits an element of poetry.