POETRY
POETRY
 A type of literature
that expresses
ideas, feelings, or
tells a story in a
specific form
(usually using lines
and stanzas)
POINT OF VIEW IN POETRY
POET
 The poet is the author
of the poem.
SPEAKER
 The speaker of the
poem is the
“narrator” of the
poem.
POETRY FORM
 FORM - the
appearance of the
words on the page
 LINE - a group of
words together on
one line of the poem
 STANZA - a group of
lines arranged
together
A word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.
KINDS OF STANZAS
Couplet
Triplet (Tercet)
Quatrain
Quintet
Sestet (Sextet)
Septet
Octave
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=
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=
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a two line stanza
a three line stanza
a four line stanza
a five line stanza
a six line stanza
a seven line stanza
an eight line stanza
SOUND EFFECTS
RHYTHM
 The beat created by
the sounds of the
words in a poem
 Rhythm can be
created by meter,
rhyme, alliteration
and refrain.
METER
 A pattern of stressed and unstressed
syllables.
 Meter occurs when the stressed and unstressed
syllables of the words in a poem are arranged in a
repeating pattern.
 When poets write in meter, they count out the
number of stressed (strong) syllables and
unstressed (weak) syllables for each line. They
they repeat the pattern throughout the poem.
METER cont.
 FOOT - unit of meter.
 A foot can have two
or three syllables.
 Usually consists of one
stressed and one or
more unstressed
syllables.
 TYPES OF FEET
The types of feet are
determined by the
arrangement of
stressed and
unstressed syllables.
(cont.)
METER cont.
Most famous type of meter:
Iambic - unstressed, stressed
FREE VERSE POETRY
 Unlike metered
poetry, free verse
poetry does NOT have
any repeating
patterns of stressed
and unstressed
syllables.
 Does NOT have
rhyme.
 Free verse poetry is
very conversational sounds like someone
talking with you.
 A more modern type
of poetry.
BLANK VERSE POETRY
from Julius Ceasar
 Written in lines of
iambic pentameter,
but does NOT use end
rhyme.
Cowards die many times before
their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death
but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have
heard,
It seems to me most strange that
men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary
end,
Will come when it will come.
RHYME
 Words sound alike
because they share
the same ending
vowel and consonant
sounds.
 (A word always
rhymes with itself.)
LAMP
STAMP
 Share the short “a”
vowel sound
 Share the combined
“mp” consonant
sound
END RHYME
 A word at the end of one line rhymes with
a word at the end of another line
Hector the Collector
Collected bits of string.
Collected dolls with broken heads
And rusty bells that would not ring.
INTERNAL RHYME
 A word inside a line rhymes with another
word on the same line.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I
pondered weak and weary.
From “The Raven”
by Edgar Allan Poe
NEAR RHYME
 a.k.a imperfect
rhyme, close rhyme
 The words share
EITHER the same
vowel or consonant
sound BUT NOT BOTH
ROSE
LOSE
 Different vowel
sounds (long “o” and
“oo” sound)
 Share the same
consonant sound
RHYME SCHEME
 A rhyme scheme is a pattern of rhyme (usually
end rhyme, but not always).
 Use the letters of the alphabet to represent
sounds to be able to visually “see” the pattern.
(See next slide for an example.)
SAMPLE RHYME SCHEME
The Germ by Ogden Nash
A mighty creature is the germ,
Though smaller than the pachyderm.
His customary dwelling place
Is deep within the human race.
His childish pride he often pleases
By giving people strange diseases.
Do you, my poppet, feel infirm?
You probably contain a germ.
a
a
b
b
c
c
a
a
ONOMATOPOEIA
 Words that imitate the sound they are
naming
BUZZ
 OR sounds that imitate another sound
“The silken, sad, uncertain, rustling of
each purple curtain . . .”
ALLITERATION
 Consonant sounds repeated at the
beginnings of words
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
peppers, how many pickled peppers did
Peter Piper pick?
REFRAIN
 A sound, word, phrase
or line repeated
regularly in a poem.
“Quoth the raven,
‘Nevermore.’”
FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE
SIMILE
 A comparison of two things using “like, as
than,” or “resembles.”
 “She is as beautiful as a sunrise.”
METAPHOR
 A direct comparison of two unlike things
 “All the world’s a stage, and we are merely
players.”
- William Shakespeare
EXTENDED METAPHOR
 A metaphor that goes several lines or
possible the entire length of a work.
IMPLIED METAPHOR
 The comparison is hinted at but not clearly
stated.
 “The poison sacs of the town began to
manufacture venom, and the town swelled
and puffed with the pressure of it.”
- from The Pearl
- by John Steinbeck
Hyperbole
 Exaggeration often used for emphasis.
They have yarns
Of a skyscraper so tall
They had to put hinges
On the two top stories
To let the moon go by
- Yarns by Carl Sandburg
Litotes
 Understatement - basically the opposite of
hyperbole. Often it is ironic.
 Ex. Calling a slow moving person “Speedy”
Idiom
 An expression where the literal meaning of
the words is not the meaning of the
expression. It means something other than
what it actually says.
 Ex. It’s raining cats and dogs.
PERSONIFICATION
 An animal
given humanlike qualities
or an object
given life-like
qualities.
from “Ninki”
by Shirley Jackson
“Ninki was by this time irritated
beyond belief by the general air of
incompetence exhibited in the
kitchen, and she went into the living
room and got Shax, who is
extraordinarily lazy and never
catches his own chipmunks, but who
is, at least, a cat, and preferable,
Ninki saw clearly, to a man with a
gun.
OTHER
POETIC DEVICES
SYMBOLISM
 When a person, place,
thing, or event that
has meaning in itself
also represents, or
stands for, something
else.
= Innocence
=
America
=
Peace
Allusion
 Allusion comes from
the verb “allude”
which means “to refer
to”
 An allusion is a
reference to
something famous.
A tunnel walled and overlaid
With dazzling crystal: we
had read
Of rare Aladdin’s wondrous
cave,
And to our own his name we
gave.
From “Snowbound”
John Greenleaf Whittier
IMAGERY
 Language that appeals to the senses.
 Most images are visual, but they can also
appeal to the senses of sound, touch, taste,
or smell.
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather . . .
from “Those Winter Sundays”
TPCASTT Poetry Analysis
1/09 Poetry Unit: TP-CASTT - Blume
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TPCASTT is an ACRONYM for…
Title
Paraphrase
Connotation
Attitude
Shift
Title
Theme
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First, let’s review some vocabulary:
• literal = means “exact” or “not exaggerated”. Literal
language is language that means exactly what is said.
Most of the time, we use literal language.
• figurative = the opposite of literal language.
Figurative language is language that means more
than what it says on the surface. Often used by poets
and other writers.
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Review vocabulary, continued:
• denotation = the dictionary definition of a word or
phrase
• connotation = a meaning suggested by a word or
phrase, in addition to its exact (denotative) meaning;
can be the emotional feelings associated with the
word
Think of the denotative and connotative meanings of
words such as home, mother, love, peace, friend, etc.
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Write the following
title and author on your
TPCASTT handout
Piano
by D. H. Lawrence
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Title: What predictions can you
make about the poem from the
title? What are your initial
(first) thoughts about the poem?
What might be the theme of the
poem?
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Title: What predictions can you
make from the title?
The poem might be simply
about a piano or playing a
piano . Is it about some
memory the author has or
some special feelings he has
about his piano?
(now read the poem)
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Piano by D. H. Lawrence.
Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.
In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cozy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.
So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour
With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.
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Title: What predictions can you
make from the title? Read the
poem. What are your initial
(first) thoughts about the poem?
What might be the theme of the
poem?
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Title: What predictions can you
make from the title? Read the
poem. What are your initial
(first) thoughts about the poem?
What might be the theme of the
poem?
It seems like the author is
saddened by a childhood
memory. Maybe the theme is
regret or nostalgia.
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Paraphrase: Describe what
happens in the poem, in your
own words.
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Paraphrase: Describe what
happens in the poem, in your
own words.
The poet/speaker hears a
woman singing, which
makes him vividly recall a
childhood memory. He
listened to his mother
playing the piano, while
sitting underneath the piano
and touching her feet. He
longs to be back in the cozy,
happy home of his family,
when he was a child. He is
overcome by emotion and
cries.
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Connotation: What might the
poem mean beyond the literal
level? Find examples of
imagery, metaphors, similes,
personification, symbolism,
idioms, hyperbole, alliteration,
rhyme scheme, rhythm, etc. and
think about their possible
connotative meanings. Consider
the emotional feelings that the
words may give the reader.
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Connotation: What might the
poem mean beyond the literal
level? Find examples of
imagery, metaphors, similes,
personification, symbolism,
idioms, hyperbole, alliteration,
rhyme scheme, rhythm, etc. and
think about their possible
connotative meanings. Consider
the emotional feelings that the
words may give the reader.
The poem might mean that the
author/speaker is unhappy with
his current adult life. Things
seemed to be quite loving and
warm in his childhood.
There is a simple rhythm in the
three-stanza, rhyming couplet
structure, maybe related to his
pleasant, more simple
childhood. The piano itself is a
symbol of rhythmic emotion.
Rich imagery created by use of
such devices as onomatopoeia
(boom, tingling, tinkling) and
simile (weep like a child). The
word “appassionato” suggests
heightened emotions (passion).
“Manhood is cast down” suggests
he is giving in to his longings
for the past.
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Attitude: Describe the tone of the
poem. What is the poet’s attitude
toward the subject of the poem?
The speaker’s attitude? Find and
list examples that illustrate the
tone and mood of the poem
(these show attitude).
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The poet/speaker’s tone seems
to be one of sadness and
the poem. What is the poet’s
longing, as shown by “till the
attitude toward the subject of
heart of me weeps to
the poem? The speaker’s
attitude? Find and list examples belong…”, “the glamour of
that illustrate the tone and mood childish days is upon me…”,
and “I weep like a child for
of the poem (these show
the past”.
attitude).
Attitude: Describe the tone of
“softly, in the dusk…”
“a mother who smiles as she
sings…”
“betrays me back, till the
heart of me weeps to
belong…”
“cast down in a flood of
remembrance…”
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Shift: Is there a shift (a change)
in the tone or speaker of the
poem? Where does the shift
happen in the poem? What
does it shift from and to?
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Shift: Is there a shift (a change)
in the tone or speaker of the
poem? Where does the shift
happen in the poem? What
does it shift from and to?
There is a subtle shift in tone
from the beginning of the
poem ,which seems like a
simple recollection of a
childhood memory.
In the second stanza, the
author/speaker uses words
like “betrays” and “weeps” to
indicate a desire to return to
these happier times.
Then in the third stanza,
words like “it is in vain”,
“appassionato”, “manhood is
cast down”, “flood of
remembrance”, and “I weep
like a child for the past”
demonstrate a more painful
longing to have things the
way they used to be.
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Title: Look at the title again.
Have your original ideas about
the poem changed? How? What
do you think the title means
now?
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I think the title Piano
Have your original ideas about represents a focal point for
the poem changed? How? What the author/speaker’s feelings.
Pianos and music are, by
do you think the title means
nature, connected with our
now?
emotions and often with
other people in our lives.
Music can prompt us to feel
very deeply, and thus the
piano comes to represent a
much happier time in the life
of the author/speaker.
Title: Look at the title again.
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Theme: What is the overall
theme of the poem?
What insight, understanding,
lesson, or truth are we supposed
to have after reading this poem?
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The theme of the poem
appears to be longing for the
theme of the poem?
past, which may seem to have
What insight, understanding,
lesson, or truth are we supposed been more loving and happy.
to have after reading this poem?
Theme: What is the overall
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Doing a TPCASTT poem analysis will help you
turn your observations into meaningful
discussions or writing.
You have noticed the details - now can put
them together so you can understand and talk
about the poem much better.
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