Poetry
Unit 2
ENG4U – Poetry Unit
Unit 2 – What is Poetry?
"Poetry is not self-expression but a making." - Margaret Atwood
Assignment #1
1. How do you define poetry?
2. What separates a poem from prose?
3. What essential elements should all poems possess? (you may want to use the Internet)
Assignment #2
Read over the following sample and decide if this conforms to your definition of poetry.
September 4th
September 4th is a day I'll never forget. I knew going into it that it'd be the saddest day
of the summer, but the blue beauty that arose like the yellow flowers of spring still
humbles me.
I wish I'd written you a love letter on September 3rd to go along with yours that still
sits close to me. The dizzy image of your goodbye tears still makes me feel small.
We let time beat us, but don't worry. One day turns into ten months, and soon we'll
have our days again.
--Jon Newitt
Poetry - http://www.uen.org/utahlink/tours/tourFames.cgi?tour_id=14154
Introduction to Poetry
The History of Poetry
Poetry is one of the oldest forms of literature. In ancient times, myths were told in poem form.
Wandering poets carried them from place to place. They sang or chanted the poems to their
audiences. Before poems were ever written down, they were part of the oral tradition in
literature.
ENG4U
Page 1
Poetry
Unit 2
Even after most poetry was written, sung poetry has remained popular. A ballad, for example, is
a kind of folk poetry. It tells a story in song. Early settlers in America brought ballads with them
and soon created new ones. You will see this type of poem later in the course.
Poetry has been sung and written throughout history, all over the world.
Poetry impacts our lives in many ways. The lyrics of songs are poems. Most people involve
poetry, in one of its forms, in the most important events in their lives: falling in love, marriage,
children, and death. Poetry is an important part of the human experience. All of us are born with
a love for the sound of language and a need for self-expression.
For some, however, drilled in the rigors of rhythm and explication, the joy of poetry has been
lost somewhere in the academic jungle. Such folks feel that poetry is a unique form of torture
contrived by ruthless English teachers who seek to torment hapless students.
Truth is, however, that poetry is a natural part of our lives. Indeed, some would say that poetry is
the language of life. Chances are most of the people who claim to hate poetry enjoy some aspect
of poetry in their daily lives. Whether it's a jingle on TV, a greeting card, or a favourite song
lyric, poetic language is all around us.
For the next five lessons we will learn about the different types of poetry as well as read and
understand the elements of the short story.
Musical Devices in Poetry - Rhythm and Rhyme
Poetry makes great use of the “music” of language. The poet chooses his or her words for sound
as well as for meaning. Edgar Allan Poe, for instance, described poetry as “music . . . combined
with a pleasurable idea.” There are two broad ways by which the poet achieves musical quality
in poetry:
1.
2.
ENG4U
by the choice and arrangement of sounds
by the arrangement of accents – an essential element of all music is repetition
Page 2
Poetry
Unit 2
Read the following example:
Trees
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's hungry breast;
A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree!
Poetry, A Magazine of Verse
Joyce Kilmer
End Rhyme Scheme
End Rhyme Scheme is the way we identify the end rhyme pattern of a poem. In order to
understand it, all you have to do is look at the last words of each line.
Here are the rules:
1. Using the letters of the alphabet, assign the first letter (A), to the last word of the first line.
2. Look at the last word of the second line. If it rhymes with the last word in the line above, it
gets the same letter, if it doesn't rhyme with the word above, it gets a new letter (the next one
in the alphabet).
3. Continue the process described in #2 throughout the whole poem. Be sure to look at all the
lines above to see if the last word of the line you are working on rhymes with any of the last
words above.
Example:
Roses are red
Violets are blue
End rhyme scheme is fun
And so are you!
ENG4U
(red gets "A" as its designation)
(blue gets "B" because it does not rhyme with red)
(fun gets "C" because it doesn't rhyme with red or blue)
(you gets "B" because it rhymes with blue)
Page 3
Poetry
Unit 2
Let’s look at the poem “Trees” – note the rhyme scheme
Trees
I think that I shall never see A
A poem lovely as a tree.
A
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's hungry breast;
A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
C
C
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
D
D
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
E
E
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree!
A
A
B
B
In this poem, note the rhyme scheme –
see, tree – prest, breast – day, pray –
wear, hair – lain, rain – me, tree. Or
“A”, “A”, “B”, “B”, “C”, “C”, “D”,
“D”, “E”, “E”, “A”, “A”
Poetry, A Magazine of Verse
Joyce Kilmer
Assignment #3
Read the poem “Dyspeptic Clerk” by Robert Service. Before reading the poem read the short
biography on Robert Service printed below. When you have finished reading the poem, answer
the questions that follow.
Robert William Service - 1874-1958
Robert William Service was born on January 16, 1874.
At the age of 15 he followed his father into the banking business, but in 1896
he emigrated to Canada where he joined his younger brother in an experiment
in ranching. The life of a farmer in British Columbia, however, was far from
his expectations and after 18 months he set off for California.
For the next 6 years Service drifted up and down the Pacific coast. In 1903,
finding himself broke in Vancouver, he applied to and was hired by the Canadian Bank of
Commerce and won a posting in Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory.
Here Service found the western life he had sought, with its balance of a frontier sort of social life
and the solitude of the northern woods.
ENG4U
Page 4
Poetry
Unit 2
Dyspeptic Clerk
1. I think I'll buy a little field,
Though scant am I of pelf,
And hold the hope that it may yield
A living for myself;
For I have toiled ten thousand days
With ledger and with pen,
And I am sick of city ways
And soured with city men.
3. My hut shall have a single room
Monastically bare;
A stick fire for the winter gloom,
A table and a chair.
A Frugalist I call myself,
My needs are oh so small;
My luxury a classic shelf
Of poets on the wall.
2. So I will plant my little plot
With lettuce, beans and peas;
Potatoes too - oh quite a lot,
An pear and apple trees.
My carrots will be coral pink,
My turnips ivory;
And I'll forget my pen and ink,
And office slavery.
4. Here as I dream, how grey and cold
The City seems to me;
Another world of green and gold
Incessantly I see.
So I will fling my pen away,
And learn a how to wield;
A cashbook and a stool today . . .
Soon, soon a Little Field.
Answer the following question after reading the poem “Dyspeptic Clerk” – use complete
sentences.
1.
Give the definitions for the following words and then write a well constructed sentence
with each.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
scant
pelf
ledger
monastically
frugal
2.
Frugalist – Robert Service has made up this word from frugal. What does he mean by
frugalist? Why does he capitalize the word?
3.
What is the rhyme scheme in this poem? Refer to the discussion on Rhythm and Rhyme
in this lesson.
4.
Paraphrase stanza one and three. Refer to the notes on “Paraphrase” written on the
following page before attempting this question.
5.
Why is the character in this poem dissatisfied with his job? What would make him
happy? Quote appropriate lines from the poem to support you answer.
ENG4U
Page 5
Poetry
Unit 2
Paraphrase: Write it in Your Own Words
A paraphrase (also known as an indirect quotation) is a writing in your own words—phrase by
phrase— the original passage. While a summary is used with long passages or large amounts of
information, a paraphrase is generally used when you want to relay the exact information from a
specific sentence or two.
In a paraphrase, you re-write the author's original idea(s) in your own words. A paraphrase
usually mimics the organization of the original, but you should always substitute your own
words for the author's.
Assignment #4
Read the following poem “Lake of Bays” written by Raymond Souster and then answer the
questions that follow.
Lake of Bays
"Well, I'm not chicken . . ."
that skinny ten-year old girl
balanced on the crazy-high railing
of the Dorset bridge:
suddenly let go
down
fifty feet into the water.
"That one will never grow up
to be a lady," my mother said
as we walked away,
but I'll remember
her brown body dropping like a stone
long after I've forgotten
many many ladies . . . .
Raymond Souster
1.
Quote lines from the poem that contrast (compare) the boy’s view of the ten year old girl
with that of his mother. Fill in the chart below with the lines from the poem.
Boy’s view
ENG4U
Mother’s View
Page 6
Poetry
Unit 2
Gender Stereotyping is the expectation or belief that individuals within a certain culture hold
about the behaviours that are characteristics of male or female in their given culture.
2.
What comment is Souster making about gender stereotyping in our North American
culture?
3.
In your own words what do you think the following line said by
the young girl means, “"Well, I'm not chicken . "
Assignment #5
Read the following poem “Old Woman Seated” written by Frances Gill and then answer the
questions on the following page.
Old Woman Seated
I am not to go into the attic
Because I am known to fall,
But when they are out
And the house cracks its joints
I am often there:
Wearing clothes which have been sent
To a jumble sale for Christian Aid,
Taking tea in a chair they do not like.
Sometimes I air decided views on
the young,
Or read Mrs. Henry Wood,
Or put some flowers in a clear vase
With the stem showing – which is
Not permitted.
When they return to find me a little tired
From not unravelling a sweater for Oxfam,
Or writing to a grandchild who will
not reply,
they discuss me in voices that have had
the benefits of Speech Training,
and although dissatisfied –
they can’t prove anything.
Frances Gill
ENG4U
Page 7
Poetry
Unit 2
“Old Woman Seated” - Answer the following questions
1.
What does the old woman’s family want her to do? What do you think she wants to do?
2.
What does Gill imply about the way our society treats the elderly?
3.
What image of the old woman do you get from:
“Or put some flowers in a clear vase
with the stem showing – which is not permitted”
4.
In your own words what does this verse tell us about the “Old Woman”.
When they return to find me a little tired
From not unravelling a sweater for Oxfam,
Or writing to a grandchild who will
not reply,
Figures of Speech
Personification:
occurs when objects, ideas, or animals are given human qualities.
Examples: "The ancient car groaned into third gear."
"The cloud scattered rain throughout the city."
"The tropical storm slept for two days."
The non-living objects in the above sentences (car, cloud, storm) have been given human
qualities (groaned, scattered, slept). Adding meaning to non-living or non-human objects in this
manner is called personification.
Simile:
is a comparison using like or as. It usually compares two dissimilar objects.
Example: His feet were as big as boats. (We are comparing the size of feet to boats.)
Her face shone like the sun. (We are comparing her face to the brightness of the sun.)
Alliteration
is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighbouring words.
Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. (The first letter, p, is a consonant. It is
repeated many times.)
Whereat, with blade, with bloody blameful blade,
He bravely breach'd his boiling bloody breast.
ENG4U
Page 8
Poetry
Unit 2
Assignment #6
Poetry and figures of speech
Read the following poem and then answer the questions that follow:
Hockey
By Scott Blaine
The ice is smooth, smooth, smooth.
The air bites to the center
Of warmth and flesh, and I whirl.
It begins in a game ….
The puck swims, skims, veers,
Goes leading my vision
Beyond the chasing reach of my stick.
The air is sharp, steel-sharp,
I suck needles of breathing,
And I feel the players converge.
It grows to a science …
We clot, break, drive,
Electrons in motion
In the magnetic pull of the puck.
The play is fast, fierce, tense.
Sticks click and snap like teeth
Of wolves on the scent of a prey,
It ends in the kill …
I am one of the pack in a mad,
Taut leap of desperation
In the wild, slashing drive for the goal.
1. From the poem “Hockey” find examples of the following figures of speech:



personification
simile
alliteration
2. Scott Blaine successfully captures the feeling of competition and youthful exuberance in the
poem. Quote the words or phrases that enable you to feel what he does when he plays
hockey.
ENG4U
Page 9
Poetry
Unit 2
Assignment #7
Read the following poem by Robert Service and think about the kind of man he is describing.
Answer the questions on the following page.
As you read, think about the following questions. (Do not write out the answers just keep the
answers in your mind) Do you know men like the one in the poem? Have you seen these men
around Ottawa? How do you think these men feel as they grow older?
The Men That Don’t Fit In
There's a race of men that don't fit in,
A race that can't stay still;
So they break the hearts of kith and kin,
And they roam the world at will.
They range the field and they rove the flood,
And they climb the mountain's crest;
Theirs is the curse of the gypsy blood,
And they don't know how to rest.
If they just went straight they might go far;
They are strong and brave and true;
But they're always tired of the things that are,
And they want the strange and new.
They say: "Could I find my proper groove,
What a deep mark I would make!"
So they chop and change, and each fresh move
Is only a fresh mistake.
And each forgets, as he strips and runs
With a brilliant, fitful pace,
It's the steady, quiet, plodding ones
Who win in the lifelong race.
And each forgets that his youth has fled,
Forgets that his prime is past,
Till he stands one day, with a hope that's dead,
In the glare of the truth at last.
He has failed, he has failed; he has missed his chance;
He has just done things by half.
Life's been a jolly good joke on him,
And now is the time to laugh.
Ha, ha! He is one of the Legion Lost;
He was never meant to win;
He's a rolling stone, and it's bred in the bone;
He's a man who won't fit in.
ENG4U
Page 10
Poetry
Unit 2
“The Men That Don’t Fit in” Questions to be answered
Answer using complete sentences.
1. Now that you have read the poem “The Men That Don’t Fit In”, make a list of at least five
words that describe the men you met in the poem.
2. Do the men regret the paths their lives have taken as the poem ends?
3. Do you feel sorry for the men that don’t fit in? Why or Why not?
Symbolism in Poetry
The poem “Curiosity” by Alastair Reid tells of two different types of people. But as you read the
poem, you will note that Reid does not come out and tell you he is talking of the two different
types of people, but instead he uses symbolism (use of imagery so that one object represents
something else) to put forth his message. The use of the cat and the dog become symbols for two
very distinct types of people who make up our world.
About the Poet:
Alastair Reid: The son of a minister, Alastair Reid was born in 1926 in Scotland. Reid graduated
with honours from St. Andrews University after serving in the Royal Navy. He taught at Sarah
Lawrence College (1951-1955) and, after his appointment as staff writer at the New Yorker in
1959, he enjoyed visiting across the US and in England, teaching Latin American studies and
literature.
Reid’s poetry has a light, engaging style, that has allowed him to be enthusiastically received as a
poet, translator, essayist, and author of children's books, moving between types of writing as
easily as he has moved between countries. Reid has lived in Spain, Latin America, Greece, and
Morocco (to name a few places) and does not like the title "Scottish" writer. His deliberate
rootlessness shows in his poetry, which is characterized by, in one critic's words, "natural
irregularity."
Assignment #8
Read the poem “Curiosity” (on the next page) and then answer the following question.
Remember to always answer using complete sentences.
1. On the surface “Curiosity” is a poem about cats and dogs. But these animals are symbols for
two different types of people. What group of people is represented by the cat and what group
is represented by the dog? Quote lines from the poem that prove your points. Complete your
answer using a well structured paragraph of no less than six sentences.
ENG4U
Page 11
Poetry
Unit 2
Curiosity
may have killed the cat; more likely,
the cat was just unlucky, or else curious
to see what death was like, having no cause
to go on licking paws, or fathering
litter on litter of kittens, predictably.
Nevertheless, to be curious
is dangerous enough. To distrust
what is always said, what seems,
to ask odd questions, interfere in dreams,
leave home, smell rats, have hunches,
does not endear cats to those doggy circles
where well-smelt baskets, suitable wives, good lunches,
are the order of things, and where prevails
much wagging of incurious heads and tails.
Face it. Curiousity
will not cause us to die –
only lack of it will.
Never to want to see
the other side of the hill.
or that improbable country
where living is an idyll
(although a probable hell)
would kill us all.
Only the curious
have, if they live, a tale
worth telling at all.
Dogs say he loves too much, is irresponsible,
is changeable, marries too many wives,
deserts his children, chills all dinner tables
with tales of his nine lives.
Well, he is lucky. Let him be
nine-lived and contradictory,
curious enough to change, prepared to pay
the cat-price, which is to die
and die again and again,
each time with no less pain.
A cat minority of one
is all that can be counted on
to tell the truth. And what he has to tell
on each return from hell
is this: that dying is what the living do,
that dying is what the loving do,
and that dead dogs are those who do not know
that hell is where, to live, they have to go.
- by Alastair Reid (1926-)
ENG4U
Page 12
Poetry
Unit 2
Assignment #9
Who are the young men who joined the war effort during the first great war from 1914-1918?
What were their lives like before they joined up for “fun and adventure”. What happened to
many of them during the war – did they come back the same person to their old way of life or
were they changed? What does war do to your body and your mind?
About the poet:
Wilfred Owen was born the March 18, 1893 in the United Kingdom. He was the eldest of four
children. He moved to France in 1913, as a teacher of English in the Berlitz School of
Languages; one year later he was a private teacher in a prosperous family in the Pyrenees. On
October 21, 1915, he enlisted in the Artists' Rifles and was drafted to France in 1917, the worst
winter of the war. His total war experience was short: with only five weeks on the front line but
it is this experience that provided the material for all his war poetry. The Great War ended on
11th November 1918 at 11 o'clock, but Wilfred never saw this peace as he was killed seven days
before in one of the last battles of the war.
Read the Poem “Disabled” and answer the questions that follow.
Disabled
By Wilfred Owen (1898-1918)
He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark,
And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,
Legless, sewn short at elbow. Through the park
Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn,
Voices of play and pleasure after day,
Till gathering sleep had mothered them from him.
About this time Town used to swing so gay
When glow-lamps budded in the light blue trees,
And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim,In the old times, before he threw away his knees.
Now he will never feel again how slim
Girls' waists are, or how warm their subtle hands.
All of them touch him like some queer disease.
There was an artist silly for his face,
For it was younger than his youth, last year.
Now, he is old; his back will never brace;
He's lost his colour very far from here,
Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry,
And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race
And leap of purple spurted from his thigh.
One time he liked a blood-smear down his leg,
After the matches, carried shoulder-high.
ENG4U
Page 13
Poetry
It was after football, when he'd drunk a peg,
He thought he'd better join.-He wonders why.
Someone had said he'd look a god in kilts,
That's why; and maybe, too, to please his Meg,
Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts
He asked to join. He didn't have to beg;
Smiling they wrote his lie: aged nineteen years.
Unit 2
Germans he scarcely thought of; all their guilt,
And Austria's, did not move him. And no fears
Of Fear came yet. He thought of jewelled hilts
For daggers in plaid socks; of smart salutes;
And care of arms; and leave; and pay arrears;
Esprit de corps; and hints for young recruits.
And soon, he was drafted out with drums and cheers.
Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal.
Only a solemn man who brought him fruits
Thanked him; and then inquired about his soul.
Now, he will spend a few sick years in institutes,
And do what things the rules consider wise,
And take whatever pity they may dole.
Tonight he noticed how the women's eyes
Passed from him to the strong men that were whole.
How cold and late it is! Why don't they come
And put him into bed? Why don't they come?
1. In a well written paragraph, compare the life of the young man in the poem “Disabled” by
Wilfred Owen, before and after the war. Use appropriate quotations from the poem to
illustrate your answer. Create a chart first before writing your paragraph – called
brainstorming
Before the War
ENG4U
After the War
Page 14
Poetry
Unit 2
Poetry - What is It?
A narrative poem is a poem that tells a story. But more than that, it is a poem that combines
storytelling and poetry. Narrative poetry can be long or short; include rhyme, or be written in
blank verse. Sometimes narrative poetry contains dialogue and sometimes it doesn’t. Narrative
poems have been written for centuries, to tell stories but true and fictional. “Casey at the Bat”,
written by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, is one of America’s most famous narrative poems.
Assignment #10
Read the following Narrative Poem “Casey at the Bat” and answer the questions that follow.
Casey at the Bat
by Ernest Lawrence Thayer
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.
A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought, "If only Casey could but get a whack at that—
We'd put up even money now, with Casey at the bat.
But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a hoodoo, while the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance of Casey getting to the bat.
But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despisèd, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and men saw what had occurred,
There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.
Then from five thousand throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It pounded on the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.
There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile lit Casey's face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat.
Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt;
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance flashed in Casey's eye, a sneer curled Casey's lip.
ENG4U
Page 15
Poetry
Unit 2
And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped—
"That ain't my style," said Casey. "Strike one!" the umpire said.
From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar, Like the beating of the storm-waves
on a stern and distant shore;
"Kill him! Kill the umpire!" shouted someone on the stand;
And it's likely they'd have killed him had not Casey raised his hand.
With a smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the dun sphere flew;
But Casey still ignored it and the umpire said, "Strike two!"
"Fraud!" cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered "Fraud!"
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again.
The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, his teeth are clenched in hate,
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate;
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.
Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,
But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out.
Questions
You were introduced to three Figures of Speech on page 8; simile, personification and
alliteration. In the poem “Casey at the Bat”, three literary devices have been artfully used. The
three are alliteration, hyperbole and oxymoron.
Alliteration – repetition of initial sounds, example: seven steaks sizzled
Oxymoron – the setting together, for effect, two words of opposite meaning,
Example: burning cold or screaming whisper.
Hyperbole - an overstatement – an extreme exaggeration used for effect
Example: “I’ve told you a thousand time!”
1. Identify two examples of alliteration. How do they contribute to the poem?
2. Identify one example of an oxymoron. Why would Thayer have chosen to use this example?
3. Identify two instances of hyperbole. How do these affect the tone of the poem?
ENG4U
Page 16
Poetry
Unit 2
4. After you read Thayer's poem, "Casey at the Bat," write down your impressions of the major
characters. Since there is little information describing them in the poem, stretch your
imagination. The characters are:







Casey
Cooney
Burrows
Flynn
Jimmy Blake
The Pitcher
The Umpire
5. Write a sports page headline for the Mudville Times for the day after the game.
Found Poetry
"Poetry is thought expressed in rhythm. Poetry incorporates images and ideas that can also be
found in prose, but poetry begins with a vital rhythmic movement ...a line of poetry is like
dancing. Poetry is thought that is felt." - Louis Simpson
What is Found Poetry?
A Found Poem comes from a passage (or passages) of writing that were never meant to be
poetry. Many (or all) of the words are lifted out, re-arranged, and shaped to say something that
the poet wants them to say, something that arises from, but does not mean the same as, the
original piece(s) of prose. The title is usually very important because it allows the reader to
understand the writer's intentions, but like all rules, this one has exceptions. The source for a
found poem may be almost anything written: news articles, advertising copy, excerpts from
fiction, textbooks, instructions, lists, summaries, itineraries, slogans, etc., etc., etc.
Read over the selection below. The sample is from the opening lines of Dickens' novel A Tale of
Two Cities.
Found Poetry Sample (from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities)
As prose:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age
of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season
of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of
despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to
Heaven, we were all going direct the other way, in short, the period was so far like the
present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good
or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
There were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England;
there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face, on the throne of France. In
both countries it was clearer than crystal to the lords of the State preserves of loaves and
fishes, that things in general were settled for ever.
ENG4U
Page 17
Poetry
Unit 2
As poetry:
Recalled to life
It was the best of times
it was the worst of times
It was the age of wisdom
it was the age of fools
It was the epoch of belief
it was the epoch of incredulity
It was the season of Light
it was the season of Darkness
It was the spring of hope
it was the winter of despair
We had everything before us
we were all going direct the other way
Assignment #11
Using any prose source (text book or novel), create a found poem.
In a polished paragraph, summarize what this exercise has revealed about writing.
Haiku
Pre-writing
If you read a lot of haiku, you see there is a leap that happens, a moment where the poet makes a
large jump and the reader's mind must catch up. This creates a little sensation of space in the
reader's mind, which is nothing less than a moment's experience of Nature, and when you feel it,
there is usually an "Ahh" wanting to issue from your lips.
Haiku by Basho
Haiku Poems by Richard Wright
Within plum orchard,
Sturdy oak takes no notice
Of flowering blooms.
I am nobody
A red sinking autumn sun
Took my name away
The moon glows the same:
It is the drifting cloud forms
Make it seem to change.
Make up you mind snail!
You are half inside your house
And halfway out!
Yellow rose petals
Drop one-by-one in silence:
Roar of waterfall.
In the falling snow
A laughing boy holds out his palm
Until they are white
ENG4U
Page 18
Poetry
Unit 2
That sensation of space is a true test of haiku. No matter how well we learn to write these three
line poems, it takes much practice to fill those three lines.. Basho has said that if you write five
haiku in your life, you are a haiku writer, and if you write ten, you are a master.
We may write three novels before we write a good one. So form is important, we should learn
form, but we should also remember to fill form with life. This takes practice.
Assignment #12
Write a Haiku using a picture (pick one of your own or use one of the pictures printed below)
Haiku format is:
ENG4U
Five syllables for the first line
Seven syllables for the second line
Five syllables for the third line
Page 19