ELEMENTS OF
POETRY:
An Introduction for 4th Grade Connections
LINES
AND
Lines


STANZAS
Stanzas
Single lines in a poem.
Several lines are organized
into stanzas.
2 lines = Couplet
3 lines = Tercet
4 lines = Quatrain
5 lines = Cinquain
6 lines = Sestet
8 lines = Octet

Stanzas usually express a
unique idea, thought or
image within a poem. They
can be compared to a
paragraph in prose. They
are typically separated by a
line break.
e.g. of stanza (tercet):
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light
--Dylan Thomas
RHYME, RHYTHM
Rhyme


AND METER
Rhythm and Meter
Words at the end of several lines
that have the same sound.
Poems can have different rhyme
patterns:
John went to the park,
A
Where he found a shark.
A
He thought it was neat,
B
‘Til it ate his feet.
B


Rhythm is the pattern of stressed
and unstressed syllables in a
poetry line.
Meter is a specific rhythmic
structure used in a poem.
For example, a limerick has 3 lines with 3
stressed syllables (or beats) and 2 lines with
2 stressed syllables:
There was an old man from Peru,
If you happen to see
A
Who dreamt he was kissing his shoe.
The watch I just lost,
B
He woke up at night,
Please return to me.
A
With a terrible fright,
Of course, at no cost.
B
To find it was perfectly true!
---Kathy Ewing
LYRICAL POETRY
Lyrical poetry usually follows a rhyme scheme
 Normally composed of stanzas and line breaks.
 Expresses emotional, personal feelings

Example:
Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept at the end
And end of a love or season?
--Excerpt from Robert Frost, “Reluctance”
FREE VERSE



Free verse poetry does not follow specific rhyme or rhythm patterns.
Some poets believe it allows them more opportunities to express
themselves, because it is less structured.
Free verse contains sounds that are more natural in everyday speech.
Example:
After the Sea-Ship—after the whistling winds;
After the white-gray sails, taut to their spars and ropes,
Below, a myriad, myriad waves, hastening, lifting up their necks,
Tending in ceaseless flow toward the track of the ship:
--Walt Whitman
From “After the Sea-Ship”
FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE
AND OTHER TOOLS
Poets often use figurative language and other literary tools
to better express the ideas in their poems. These are a few:
 Imagery
 Personification
 Hyperbole
 Idioms
 Simile
 Symbolism
 Metaphor
 Mood
 Onomatopoeia
 Tone
IMAGERY


Imagery consists of words that create specific images
and thoughts that appeal to all five senses.
For example, the following excerpt from T.S. Eliot’s
“Preludes” creates vivid images of a winter evening in
the city:
The winter evening settles down
With smell of steaks in passageways.
Six o'clock.
The burnt-out ends of smoky days.
And now a gusty shower wraps
The grimy scraps
Of withered leaves about your feet
And newspapers from vacant lots;
HYPERBOLE
A hyperbole is an exaggeration of events and
attributes in poetry and literature.
 The exaggeration serves to emphasize a point the
poet wishes to make and is often humorous.

Why does a boy who’s fast as a jet
Take all day—and sometimes two—
To get to school?
—John Ciardi, "Speed Adjustments”
SIMILE
A simile compares two unlike things using words
such as “like” or “as”.
 It is also used to create imagery and help the
reader understand the poet’s vision.

O my Luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June:
O my Luve's like the melodie,
That's sweetly play'd in tune.
---from Robert Burns, “Red Red Rose”
METAPHOR
Metaphors are more direct comparisons.
 They do not use word such as “like” or “as” to
create an image.

I'm a riddle in nine syllables,
An elephant, a ponderous house,
A melon strolling on two tendrils.
O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!
This loaf's big with its yeasty rising.
Money's new-minted in this fat purse.
I'm a means, a stage, a cow in calf.
I've eaten a bag of green apples,
Boarded the train there's no getting off.
--Sylvia Plath, “Metaphors”
ONOMATOPOEIA
Onomatopoeia are words that sound like the
noises they represent.
 Onomatopoeia can have a powerful impact on the
reader.

The squalling cat and the squeaking mouse,
The howling dog by the door of the house,
The bat that lies in bed at noon,
All love to be out by the light of the moon.
--From Robert Lewis Stevenson, “The Moon”
PERSONIFICATION
Personification is a figure of speech that gives
human qualities to animals and inanimate
objects.
 It can provide a fresh perspective when
describing an event.

I like to see it lap the miles,
And lick the valleys up,
And stop to feed itself at tanks;
And then, prodigious, step.
--From Emily Dickinson, “The Train”
IDIOMS
Idioms are popular phrases that do no literally
mean what they say, but are meant to express an
idea or feeling.
 They are usually humorous, and often contain
similes and metaphors.

Let the cat out of the bag
Pulling my leg
Hit the sack
Feel like a million dollars
Spill the beans
Early bird catches the worm
Smell a rat
Jump the gun
SYMBOLISM



Symbols are words or images that stand for
something else.
Poets use symbolism in their work to suggest a
greater meaning. They can be very powerful and
memorable.
For example, in Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My
Captain!”, the fearful trip refers to the Civil War, the
ship symbolizes the United States, and the Captain is
Abraham Lincoln.
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
MOOD
AND
Mood
TONE
Tone
The mood of a poem
expresses an overall
state of mind, or
feeling. Some words
that can describe
mood are:
The tone of the poem
expresses the attitude
of its speaker. Some
words that can
describe tone are:
imaginary, idealistic,
romantic, realistic,
optimistic, pessimistic,
gloomy, mournful
sorrowful, etc.
formal, informal,
serious, humorous,
angry, playful, neutral,
sad, resigned, cheerful, ironic,
clear, suspicious, witty, etc.
AND,
ONE LAST THING…
Remember, the most important rules of
poetry are:
Be creative…
Be original…
Be yourself…
…and have FUN!