Name_________________________
L.A. Period _______
Date_______________________
Notes on Poetry
Reading Poetry
Poetry is: a type of literature that expresses ideas and feelings, or tells a story in a
specific form (usually using lines and stanzas)
Poetic Technique:
Form: the _________________ of the ________________ on the page
Line: a _________________ of words together on one _________ of the poem
Stanza: a group of _____________ arranged _______________
Rhythm/Meter: The ____________ created by the ____________ of the words in a poem.
Rhythm can be created by using ____________, rhymes, _______________, and refrain.
“Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?” from a sonnet by William Shakespeare
Rhyme Scheme: a pattern of ____________ words or _____________ (usually ________
rhyme, but not always).
Use the letters of the __________ to represent sounds to be able to _____________ “see”
the pattern.

End Rhyme: A word at the _____________ of one line rhymes with a
word at the end of ____________ line
“Bid me to weep, and I will weep,
While I have eyes to see;
And having none, yet I will keep
A heart to weep for thee. “
A
B
A
B
from “To Anthea, Who May Command Him Any Thing” by Robert Herrick

_______________ Rhyme: A word _________ a line rhymes with
another ______________on the same line
“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary.”
from “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe
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
Near Rhyme: Also known __________________ or “close enough”
rhyme. The words share EITHER the same _____________or
consonant sound BUT NOT _________________
“When have I last looked on
The round green eyes and the long wavering bodies
Of the dark leopards of the moon?
All the wild witches, those most noble ladies…”
from "Lines written in Dejection" Yeats
Refrain: A ____________, word, ______________ or line repeated regularly in a poem,
usually at the ______________of each stanza or __________________, such as the
_________________ in a song.
Tone: Used in poetry to convey ______________ and _______________, and set the
________________ for the work. This can be done through word ________________, the
grammatical _____________________ of words (syntax), _______________, or details
that are __________________ or omitted.
“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.”
from “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe
Connotation: an __________________ or social ______________________ with a word,
giving __________________ beyond the literal definition
Rose: love, romance, life
Black: depression, death, anger, evil
Denotation: the ___________________, literal image, _________________, concept, or
object that a ________________ or phrase refers to
Rose: a flower
Black: a dark color, lack of color, or mix of all colors
Figurative Language:
used to make the literature more _________________________ by using words and
expressions that have more than just a literal meaning.
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
Alliteration: __________________ sounds repeated at the ___________________
of words
“She sells sea shells by the sea shore”
 Allusion: From the verb “allude” which means “to refer to”. A
__________________ to someone or something __________________.
“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” by John Greenleaf Whittier

Analogy: ____________ of two or more _______________ things in order to show
a ___________________ in their characteristics

Simile: Comparison of two ____________ things using “like” or “as”
“You are as subtle as a brick to the small of my back”
from “There’s no ‘I’ in team” by Taking Back Sunday

Metaphor: Comparison of two unlike things where ________word is
used to _____________ the other (one is the other)
“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players
They have their exits and their entrances;”


from As You Like It by William Shakespeare
Extended Metaphor: Continues for __________ lines or possibly the
entire ______________________ of a work
Assonance: Repeated _________________ sounds in a line (or lines) of a poem
Often creates _______________________
"And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain" from “The
Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe

Consonance: _______________ to alliteration EXCEPT: repeated
_______________ sounds can be anywhere in the words, not just at the beginning!
"And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain"
from “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe
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
Idiom: the __________________ meaning of the words is not the meaning of the
expression. It means something other than _____________________________.
He was benched during the basketball playoffs.
Meaning: Taken out of the game and made to sit on the bench
That problem was a no-brainer.
Meaning: A problem that is especially easy to solve, if not outright
obvious

Imagery: Language that provides a _____________________ using sight, sound,
smell, touch, taste
“…then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather . . .”
from “Those Winter Sundays”

Hyperbole: An intentional _____________________ or overstatement, often used
for ___________________
"She has a brain the size of a
pinhead."
"I will die if no one asks me to
dance."
"I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."
"I told you a billion times not to
exaggerate."

Litote: An intentional ____________________, often used for ________________ or
__________________, such as naming a slow moving person __________________.

Onomatopoeia: Words that _________________________ that they are naming
“WHAM!”, “POW!” and “CRUNCH”

Oxymoron: Combines two usually _________________________ terms in a
compressed _______________, as in the word bittersweet or the phrase living death
"O miserable abundance, O beggarly riches!" from "Devotions on Emergent
Occasions" by John Donne




pretty ugly
larger half
deafening silence
jumbo shrimp
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
Personification: A ____________________ thing or animal is given ___________
or life-like qualities
"Ah, William, we're weary of weather," said the sunflowers, shining with dew.
"Our traveling habits have tired us. Can you give us a room with a view?"
They arranged themselves at the window and counted the steps of the sun,
and they both took root in the carpet where the topaz tortoises run.
"Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow Room" by William Blake

Symbolism: The use of a word or object which ________________________ a
deeper meaning than the words themselves. It can be a ______________________
or a written sign used to represent something _____________________________.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
-from “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
Dove = __________
Eagle = __________
Lion = __________
Types of Poetry:
A narrative poem:
 ___________________ and tells a story, with a beginning, middle, and end.
 Generally longer than the lyric styles of poetry because the poet needs to establish
__________________ and a ____________________
“The Cremation of Sam McGee” by Robert Service (pg 708)
A lyric poem: Short poem (only a few lines, 1-2 stanzas)
 Usually written in ___________________ point of view
 Expresses an emotion or an idea, or describes a ______________________
 Does not tell a story and are often _______________________
 Many of the poems we read will be lyrical
“Washed in Silver” by James Stephens (pg 713)
A concrete poem:
 Words are arranged to create a _______________ that relates to the ____________
of the poem
“Seal” by William Jay Smith (pg 720)
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An acrostic poem is:
 The first _____________________ of each line forms a word or phrase (vertically).
An acrostic poem can describe the subject or even tell a brief __________________
about it.
Mother is excellent
Overprotective with her family
Thinks about me often
Helpful with all my needs and problems
Everlasting love for our family
Responsible for taking care of our family
A free verse poem is:
 Does NOT have any repeating _________________________of stressed and
unstressed syllables
 Does NOT have _________________________
 Very conversational - sounds like someone ______________________ with you
I DREAM'D in a dream I saw a city invincible to the attacks of the
whole of the rest of the earth,
I dream'd that was the new city of Friends,
Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust love, it led
the rest,
It was seen every hour in the actions of the men of that city,
And in all their looks and words.
from “I DREAM'D in a dream” by Walt Whitman
A blank verse poem is:
 Does have a regular meter, usually ____________________pentameter (five sets of
stressed/unstressed)
 Does NOT have _________________________
 Used by classical ____________________________, like Shakespeare
˘ / ˘
/
˘
/
˘ / ˘
/
To swell the gourd, and plump the ha-zel shells
-from “Ode to Autumn” by John Keats
“St Crispian’s Day Speech” from Henry V by William Shakespeare (pg 203)
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Forms of Poetry:
A Couplet:
 A poem of only __________________lines
 Both lines have an ____________________ and the same ___________________
 Often found at the end of a ______________________
The artist stirred some blue and green
To paint an underwater scene.
A Haiku:
 ________________________ style poem written in __________________lines
 Focuses traditionally on ___________________
 Lines respectively are ________syllables, ________syllables, and _____syllables
The autumn wind blows,
Calling leaves on the ground
To join him in dance.
-by Frank Schaffer
A Quatrain is:
 Stanza or short poem containing _________________lines
 Lines 2 and 4 must ________________, while lines 1 and 3 may or may not rhyme
 ________________ in rhyming patterns (abab, abcb)
There is nothing quite so peaceful
As the sound of gentle rain,
Pitter-pitter-patting
Against my window pane.
A Cinquain is:
 Stanza or short poem containing _______________lines
 1 word, _________ words, 3 words, ___________words, 1 word
 Patterns and syllables are changing!
Butterflies
Gentle creatures
Fluttering, searching, landing
Lovely flashes of light
Miracles
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A Limerick is: A ____________ line poem with rhymes in line 1, 2, and 5, and then another
rhyme in lines 3 and 4
What is a limerick, Mother?
It's a form of verse, said Brother
In which lines one and two
Rhyme with five when it's through
And three and four rhyme with each other.
- untitled and author unknown
A Ballad:
 Tells a story, similar to a _____________ or ______________
 Usually set to ______________
 simple repeating rhymes, often with a __________________
The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day,
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A pall-like silence fell upon the patrons of the game.”
From “Casey At The Bat” by Ernest L. Thayer
A Shakespearean Sonnet:
 __________________ lines with a specific rhyme scheme
 Written in 3 ______________ and ends with a _________________
 Rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometimes declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed.
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
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A Persona Poem:
 a poem written in the ______________ point of view
 writer imagines s/he is an _____________, an object, a _____________ - anything
s/he is not
Point of View in Poetry:
The Poet of the poem is the _______________ of the poem, the person who actually wrote it
VS
The Speaker of the poem is the ________________ of the poem, the voice telling us the
thoughts/feelings/story
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