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Name___________________________________
American Studies Poetry Unit
A. You will be responsible for being able to identify and apply the literary terms in the packet that
follows. All literary terms and poems studied may be on the final exam.
B. For every poem we study, you will complete the 6-step poetry analysis in the packet.
Occasionally, I will assign short writing assignments to go along with the poems. These will be
collected and graded for completion, thoroughness, and creativity.
What is the 6-step analysis? Use the following steps to help you analyze the assigned poems. You should
make copious notes, comments, and questions on the copy of each poem.
STEP 1: TITLE. Predict what the poem will be about based on the title:_______________________
STEP 2: PARAPHRASE. Silently read the poem. Try to write at least one sentence for each stanza of the
poem, capturing all of its literal ideas.
STEP 3: ANALYSIS. What is the structure of the poem? (Is it in stanzas, free verse, or blank verse?
Is it a sonnet, lyric poem, ode, another special form with specific rules?)
______________________________
What is the rhyme scheme, if any? _______________________
Diction – Circle especially significant or unusual words in the poem. Why were they included? What
meaning do they convey? _______________________________________________________
Figurative Language –Look for examples of poetic devices in the poem. (metaphors, similes, allusions,
alliteration, euphony, symbols, etc.) How do such devices aid the poem in achieving its meaning?
STEP 4. TONE/SHIFT. Reread the poem, looking for diction, images, and details that hint at or suggest the
poet’s tone/attitude to the poem’s subject. Write down several words that describe this tone. Make note of
any places in which the tone seems to shift. Watch for changes in line length, sound, diction, and
punctuation, and pay special attention to the conclusion.
STEP 5. TITLE. Now, reread the poem’s title again and your initial explanation for it. Now that you’ve
reread the poem several times, explain the title of the poem in light of its meaning again.
STEP 6. THEME
First, identify the literal subject(s) of the poem. __________________________________
Then, identify the abstract or figurative subject of the poem. ____________________________________
Finally, write the theme of the poem in a complete sentence. ___________________________________
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LITERARY TERMS FOR POETRY
POETRY is a patterned form of verbal or written expression of ideas in concentrated, imaginative
and rhythmical terms. Poetry may contain rhyme and a specific meter, but not necessarily.
FIGURES OF SPEECH
FIGURE OF SPEECH or FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE: An expression in which the words
are used in a non-literal sense to present a figure,
picture or image.
METONYMY: one thing used to signify another
with which it has become closely associated (Ex:
the crown refers to the King)
PARADOX: a statement, often metaphorical, that
ALLEGORY: a work of literature in which the
seems to be self-contradictory but has valid
elements represent abstract ideas or qualities (Ex: meaning (“In order to have peace, you must
The Crucible)
prepare for war.”)
ALLUSION: a reference to some person, place or
event that has literary, historical or geographical
significance.
PERSONIFICATION: the giving of human
characteristics to inanimate objects, ideas or
animals
ANAPHORA: the repetition of a word to begin
several lines of the same poem
PUN: a play on words that are identical or similar
but have diverse meanings
ANTITHESIS: contrast or opposition in meaning,
emphasized by a parallel in grammatical structure
(EX: Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved
Rome more.)
SIMILE: a direct comparison between two usually
unrelated things using "like" or "as"
REPETITION: reiterating a word or phrase
APOSTROPHE: addressing someone (dead) or
REFRAIN: the repetition of one or more phrases
something (an idea), not present, as though present or lines at intervals in a poem
CONCEIT: a far-fetched and ingenious comparison OXYMORON: a type of paradox in which two
between two unlike things
linked words contradict each other (Ex: "jumbo
shrimp" “cold fire”)
HYPERBOLE (OVERSTATEMENT): an
exaggeration for the sake of emphasis which is not SYMBOL: a word or image that signifies
to be taken literally
something other than what is literally represented;
it has both a literal and figurative meaning.
IMAGERY: words or phrases which appeal to the
senses & create a picture in the reader's mind
SYNTAX: the grammatical arrangement of words
in a sentence (inversion and parallelism are
INVERSION: Reversing the order of the parts of a examples of syntactical structures)
sentence for specific effect (Ex: “Uneasy lies the
head that wears the crown”)
SYNECHDOCHE: a part of something used to
signify the whole (hands/workmen)
METAPHOR: An implied comparison between two
usually unrelated things that suggests one thing is UNDERSTATEMENT: an expression that uses
the other; a linking verb is often used to connect the less force/emphasis than a situation warrants
ideas.
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TYPES OF POEMS
RHYME
LYRIC: A short, non-narrative poem presenting a
single speaker who expresses a state of mind or a
process of thought and feeling
REGULAR VERSE: poetry that has both rhythm
and rhyme, usually in a recognizable pattern that
may indicate a particular form of verse.
BALLAD: a song-like poem that tells a story
through action & dialogue
FREE VERSE: lines of poetry with a controlled
rhythm, but lacking rhyme or metrical patterns
EPIC: long narrative poem on a serious subject
written in an elevated style, often dealing with a
heroic figure
END: rhyme at end of line
DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE: poem in which a
speaker relates an event at a critical moment to
other people whose presence & reactions are
revealed through the speaker’s clues
PERFECT (TRUE): an exact rhyme (cat/bat)
INTERNAL: rhyme within the line
IMPERFECT (APPROXIMATE): also known as
“slant” (cost/boast)
ODE: long lyric poem in praise of a person, thing, METER
or idea; often elevated in style
IAMBIC: unstressed/stressed
SONNET: 14 line poem in iambic pentameter, with
a specific rhyme scheme and structure
TROCHAIC: stressed/unstressed
(Italian/Petrarchan or English/Shakespearean)
ANAPESTIC: u u /
SOUNDS
DACTYLIC:
/uu
EUPHONY: language which is smooth, pleasant,
and musical to the ear
SPONDAIC:
/ /
CACOPHONY: language which is harsh, rough,
and unmusical to the ear
PYRRHIC:
u/
/u
u u
TONE
ONOMATOPOEIA: the use of a word to represent
or imitate natural sounds
DENOTATION: the literal or dictionary meaning
of a word
ALLITERATION: the repetition of the initial letter
or sound in two or more words in a line of verse
CONNOTATION: the implied meaning; emotions
or feelings associated with a word
ASSONANCE: the similarity or repetition of a
vowel sound in two or more words in a line of verse PERSONA: the speaker in the poem (not the
author) who usually reveals the tone of the poem
FORM
TONE: the speaker’s attitude toward the subject
STANZA: a division of a poem based on thought or matter
form
MOOD: a feeling, emotional state, or disposition
COUPLET: two lines of verse that rhyme
of mind--the predominating atmosphere of a
literary work.
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Lesson 1: Introduction to Poetry
Warmup: Freewrite, before discussion, trying to arrive at a personal definition of what poetry is. Try to
think of examples of poems that have had some impact on you personally, or perhaps, instances when
poems are read as part of a ceremony. Of course, song lyrics count too! Be prepared to share.
Pop Quiz: Read “Introduction to Poetry” using the 7 step process. Then answer the questions below.
Billy Collins Introduction to Poetry
Pop Quiz on “Introduction to Poetry”:
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
1. In line 4, the speaker compares a poem to a
____________________. This is an example of ______:
a. simile
b. implied metaphor
c. personification
d. allusion
or press an ear against its hive.
or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
2. The speaker’s desire for people “to waterski across
the surface of the poem” suggests that he wants them to:
a. study the poem carefully
b. be careful while reading the poem
c. enjoy the poem
d. skim the poem
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.
3. The form of this poem is:
a. sonnet
b. 6 quatrains
c. rhyming couplets
d. free verse
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
4. In the line “All they want to do is tie the poem to a
chair with rope and torture a confession out of it,” the
poet is using:
a. personification
b. extended metaphor
c. simile
d. understatement
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
5. Who do you think the speaker of the poem might be?
__________________________________________
6. What do you think is the speaker’s overall message
about how to appreciate poetry? Which line best
illustrates this theme?
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Lesson 2: Poems about War
Apostrophe To Man by Edna St. Vincent Millay
(On reflecting that the world is ready to go to war again)
Detestable race, continue to expunge yourself, die out.
Breed faster, crowd, encroach, sing hymns, build bombing airplanes;
Make speeches, unveil statues, issue bonds, parade;
Convert again into explosives the bewildered ammonia
and the distracted cellulose;
Convert again into putrescent matter drawing flies
The hopeful bodies of the young; exhort,
Pray, pull long faces, be earnest,
be all but overcome, be photographed;
Confer, perfect your formulae, commercialize
Bacteria harmful to human tissue,
Put death on the market;
Breed, crowd, encroach,
expand, expunge yourself, die out,
Homo called sapiens.
Assignment: How does the style and diction (word choice) of the poem contribute to the tone and
theme? Consider how the title is significant to the overall meaning.
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The Conquerors by Phyllis McGinley
It seems vainglorious and proud
Of Atom-man to boast aloud
His prowess homicidal
When one remembers how for years,
With their rude stones and humble spears,
Our sires, at wiping out their peers,
Were almost never idle.
Despite his under-fissioned art
The Hittite made a splendid start
Toward smiting lesser nations;
While Tamerlane, it’s widely known,
Without a bomb to call his own
Destroyed whole populations.
Nor did the ancient Persian need
Uranium to kill his Mede,
The Viking earl, his foeman.
The Greeks got excellent results
With swords and engined catapults.
A chariot served the Roman.
Mere cannon garnered quite a yield
On Waterloo’s tempestuous field.
At Hastings and at Flodden
Stout countrymen, with just a bow
And arrow, laid their thousands low.
And Gettysburg was sodden.
Though doubtless now our shrewd machines
Can blow the world to smithereens
More tidily and so on,
Let’s give our ancestors their due.
Their ways were course, their weapons few.
But ah! How wondrously they slew
With what they had to go on.
Assignment: Which figure of speech is most effective in developing the main idea of this poem? Give
at least 3 examples. What is the tone of the ending?
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What Were They Like? by Denise Levertov
Did the people of Viet Nam
use lanterns of stone?
Did they hold ceremonies
to reverence the opening of buds?
Were they inclined to quiet laughter?
Did they use bone and ivory,
jade and silver, for ornament?
Had they an epic poem?
Did they distinguish between speech and singing?
Sir, their light hearts turned to stone.
It is not remembered whether in gardens
stone gardens illumined pleasant ways.
Perhaps they gathered once to delight in blossom,
but after their children were killed
there were no more buds.
Sir, laughter is bitter to the burned mouth.
A dream ago, perhaps. Ornament is for joy.
All the bones were charred.
it is not remembered. Remember,
most were peasants; their life
was in rice and bamboo.
When peaceful clouds were reflected in the paddies
and the water buffalo stepped surely along terraces,
maybe fathers told their sons old tales.
When bombs smashed those mirrors
there was time only to scream.
There is an echo yet
of their speech which was like a song.
It was reported their singing resembled
the flight of moths in moonlight.
Who can say? It is silent now.
Assignment: Examine the structure/form of the poem. How does it contribute to the overall meaning of
the poem?
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Facing It by Yusef Komunyakaa
My black face fades,
hiding inside the black granite.
I said I wouldn't,
dammit: No tears.
I'm stone. I'm flesh.
My clouded reflection eyes me
like a bird of prey, the profile of night
slanted against morning. I turn
this way--the stone lets me go.
I turn that way--I'm inside
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
again, depending on the light
to make a difference.
I go down the 58,022 names,
half-expecting to find
my own in letters like smoke.
I touch the name Andrew Johnson;
I see the booby trap's white flash.
Names shimmer on a woman's blouse
but when she walks away
the names stay on the wall.
Brushstrokes flash, a red bird's
wings cutting across my stare.
The sky. A plane in the sky.
A white vet's image floats
closer to me, then his pale eyes
look through mine. I'm a window.
He's lost his right arm
inside the stone. In the black mirror
a woman's trying to erase names:
No, she's brushing a boy's hair.
Oral reading by author: http://www.ibiblio.org/ipa/poems/komunyakaa/facing_it.php
Discussion: Examine the poet’s use of imagery (patterns of sensory detail) and figurative language.
How are these used to develop the speaker’s overall message about the Vietnam Memorial?
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Lesson 3: Comparison-Contrast
We grow accustomed to the Dark
by Emily Dickinson
We grow accustomed to the Dark -When light is put away -As when the Neighbor holds the Lamp
To witness her Goodbye -A Moment -- We uncertain step
For newness of the night -Then -- fit our Vision to the Dark -And meet the Road -- erect -And so of larger -- Darknesses -Those Evenings of the Brain -When not a Moon disclose a sign -Or Star -- come out -- within -The Bravest -- grope a little -And sometimes hit a Tree
Directly in the Forehead -But as they learn to see -Either the Darkness alters -Or something in the sight
Adjusts itself to Midnight -And Life steps almost straight.
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Acquainted with the Night
by Robert Frost
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
O luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
Discussion: Both poems above are concerned with darkness and night. Compare and contrast the poems,
analyzing the significance of dark or night in each. In your essay, consider elements such as point of
view, figurative language, diction, and structure.
Writing Assignment--Your Turn: Download a photograph of the night that inspires you, or take your
own night photograph. Then, write your own poetic response to the night as pictured in your chosen
photograph. Prepare a small poster, featuring and crediting the photographer and including your poetic
homage to his art -- especially if you ARE the artist.
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Lesson 4: Auditory Imagery
The Sound of Night by Maxine Kumin
And now the dark comes on,
all full of chitter noise.
Birds huggermugger crowd the trees,
the air thick with their vesper cries,
and bats, snub seven-pointed kites,
skitter across the lake, swing out,
squeak, chirp, dip, and skim on skates
of air, and the fat frogs wake and prink
wide-lipped, noisy as ducks, drunk
on the boozy black, gloating chink-chunk.
1. Find at least 2 examples of onomatopoeia.
2. Find at least 2 examples of alliteration.
3. Find 1 example of assonance.
And now on the narrow beach
we defend ourselves from dark.
The cooking done, we build our firework
bright and hot and less for outlook
than for magic, and lie in our blankets
while night knickers around us. Crickets
chorus hallelujahs; paws, quiet
and quick as raindrops, play on the stones
expertly soft, run past and are gone;
fish pulse in the lake; the frogs hoarsen.
4. Find 1 example of consonance.
Now every voice of the hour—
the known, the supposed, the strange,
the mindless, the witted, the never seen—
sing, thrum, impinge, and rearrange
endlessly; and debarred from sleep we wait
for the birds, importantly silent,
for the crease of first eye-licking light,
for the sun, lost long ago and sweet.
By the lake, locked black away and tight,
we lie, day creatures, overhearing night.
6. The overall mood of the poem is:
a. Serene
b. Restless
c. Violent
d. Happy
Provide 2 examples from the poem to support this
answer.
5. Find 1 example of euphony (sounds that are
soothing to the ear). Why do you think the poet
incorporated euphony in these lines?
7. The overall tone/attitude of the speaker is:
a. Joyous
b. Mournful
c. Perplexed
d. Observant
Provide 2 examples from the poem to support this
answer.
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Lesson 5: Allusion
Silence by Edgar Lee Masters In his Spoon River Anthology, Masters wrote “epitaphs” for 244 citizens of
the fictional Spoon River, Illinois, to tell the truth about their lives. This poem was read at Masters’ funeral.
I have known the silence of the stars and of the sea,
And the silence of the city when it pauses,
And the silence of a man and a maid,
And the silence of the sick
When their eyes roam about the room.
And I ask: For the depths,
Of what use is language?
A beast of the field moans a few times
When death takes its young.
And we are voiceless in the presence of realities -We cannot speak.
A curious boy asks an old soldier
Sitting in front of the grocery store,
"How did you lose your leg?"
And the old soldier is struck with silence,
Or his mind flies away
Because he cannot concentrate it on Gettysburg.
It comes back jocosely
And he says, "A bear bit it off."
And the boy wonders, while the old soldier
Dumbly, feebly lives over
The flashes of guns, the thunder of cannon,
The shrieks of the slain,
And himself lying on the ground,
And the hospital surgeons, the knives,
And the long days in bed.
But if he could describe it all
He would be an artist.
But if he were an artist there would be deeper wounds
Which he could not describe.
There is the silence of a great hatred,
And the silence of a great love,
And the silence of an embittered friendship.
There is the silence of a spiritual crisis,
Through which your soul, exquisitely tortured,
Comes with visions not to be uttered
Into a realm of higher life.
There is the silence of defeat.
There is the silence of those unjustly punished;
And the silence of the dying whose hand
Suddenly grips yours.
There is the silence between father and son,
When the father cannot explain his life,
Even though he be misunderstood for it.
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There is the silence that comes between husband and wife.
There is the silence of those who have failed;
And the vast silence that covers
Broken nations and vanquished leaders.
There is the silence of Lincoln,
Thinking of the poverty of his youth.
And the silence of Napoleon
After Waterloo.
And the silence of Jeanne d'Arc
Saying amid the flames, "Blessed Jesus" -Revealing in two words all sorrows, all hope.
And there is the silence of age,
Too full of wisdom for the tongue to utter it
In words intelligible to those who have not lived
The great range of life.
And there is the silence of the dead.
If we who are in life cannot speak
Of profound experiences,
Why do you marvel that the dead
Do not tell you of death?
Their silence shall be interpreted
As we approach them.
Assignment: Categorize the various types of silence Masters has observed. Identify several historical
allusions he makes. What is Masters’ point? What is the purpose of the last two lines?
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Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy
This girlchild was born as usual
and presented dolls that did pee-pee
and miniature GE stoves and irons
and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.
Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:
You have a great big nose and fat legs.
She was healthy, tested intelligent,
possessed strong arms and back,
abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.
She went to and fro apologizing.
Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.
She was advised to play coy,
exhorted to come on hearty,
exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.
Her good nature wore out
like a fan belt.
So she cut off her nose and her legs
and offered them up.
In the casket displayed on satin she lay
with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on,
a turned-up putty nose,
dressed in a pink and white nightie.
Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said.
Consummation at last.
To every woman a happy ending.
Discussion:
What is the tone of the poem? What images or lines lead you to your opinion?
Explain the allusion of the title. How does this allusion develop Percy’s critique of society?
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Lesson 6: Speaker and Tone
The speaker is the voice of a poem, or the role the poet plays in the poem. The speaker may be the poet,
or a fictional person, animal, or object the poet pretends to be. Playing a role in the poem enables the
poet to state a message or explain a feeling more clearly than speaking as him or herself. For example,
one poet may speak as an eagle to describe the wonders of flight. Another poet may pretend to be a
mother in order to express an ideal of unselfish love.
When reading a poem, it is important to understand the speaker’s tone or attitude toward the subject of
the poem. Is the speaker being honest or “tongue-in-cheek”? Is the speaker sharing emotions? Is the
speaker trying to prove a point? Recognizing the speaker and the speaker’s attitude is an important step
toward “reading between the lines.” Knowing a wealth of common adjectives used to describe tone is an
excellent way to improve your analytical skills. Look at the following list of words and circle any you
do not know the meaning of. For homework tonight, look up their meanings.
Pessimistic
Critical (with respect to the author’s tone)
Humorous
Scornful
Reflective
Melancholy
Joyous
Sympathetic
Contemplative
Optimistic
Perplexed
Ridiculing
Conspiratorial
Hopeful
Mournful
Skeptical
Biased/Unbiased
Ambiguous
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Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
1. Describe the speaker of “Still I Rise.” Who do you
think he/she is. Provide at least one example for your
opinion.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
2. Who do you think the “you” is that the speaker is
speaking to? What is the speaker’s attitude toward that
person? Provide an example to support your answer.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
3. What is the speaker’s general tone or attitude in the
poem? Find at least 3 words or phrases that support your
answer.
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Lesson 7: Extended Metaphor
My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke
The whiskey on your breath
Could make a small boy dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.
We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother’s countenance
Could not unfrown itself.
The hand that held my wrist
Was battered on one knuckle;
At every step you missed
My right ear scraped a buckle.
You beat time on my head
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt.
1. What is the central metaphor of the poem?
2. What are some words or phrases that contribute to and extend this metaphor throughout the
entire poem? (See if you can find at least 1 example from each stanza).
3. How does the form of the poem enhance this metaphor?
4. What is ironic about using this metaphor for the subject matter?
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"Women" by Alice Walker
They were women then
My mama's generation
Husky of voice-Stout of
Step
With fists as well as
Hands
How they battered down
Doors
And ironed
Starched white
Shirts
How they led
Armies
Headragged Generals
Across mined
Fields
Boody-trapped
Ditches
To discover books
Desks
A place for us
How they knew what we
Must Know
Without knowing a page
Of it
Themselves.
Assignment: Explain the extended metaphor used throughout “Women” and examine its overall
effectiveness.
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Lesson 8: Regular Verse
Regular verse is poetry that has both rhythm and rhyme, usually in a recognizable pattern that may
indicate a particular kind of verse -- ballad, sonnet, villanelle, etc. Even when the verse form is unique to
the poem, the regularity of its pattern clearly distinguishes this traditional style poem.
Sympathy by Paul Laurence Dunbar
I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals-I know what the caged bird feels!
I know why the caged bird beats its wing
Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
For he must fly back to his perch and cling
When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;
And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting-I know why he beats his wing!
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,-When he beats his bars and he would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings-I know why the caged bird sings!
1. Find 1 example of simile.
2. Find 1 example of personification.
3. Explain how the visual imagery in the 2nd
stanza contributes to the mood of the poem.
Use a specific example to support your
answer.
4. How does the use of repetition strengthen
the poem’s meaning?
5. Even though each of the stanzas comments
on the same situation, there is a progression
in the idea. What is this progression? What
effect does it have on the mood of the
poem?
6. What is the meaning of the title? Use the
title to help you uncover the theme or
overall message of the poem. Provide an
example from the poem to support this
theme.
Writing Assignment -- Your Turn: In what ways are you a caged animal? Write an original poem
about your own efforts at self-expression or aspiration, using this metaphor or another one to unify your
piece.
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Lesson 9: Rhythm and Meter
rhythm: the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line.
meter: the measured arrangement of words in poetry, as by rhythm and the number of syllables in a
line.
scansion: Describing the rhythms of poetry by dividing the lines into feet, marking the locations of
stressed and unstressed syllables, and counting the syllables.
Thus, when we describe the rhythm of a poem, we “scan” the poem and mark the stresses (/) and
absences of stress (U) and count the number of feet. A feet has two syllables.
In English, the two most common type of feet are:
Iambic - unstressed stressed
Trochaic – stressed unstressed
U
/
/
U
A frequently heard metrical description is iambic pentameter: a line of five iambs. This is a meter
especially familiar because it occurs in all blank verse (such as Shakespeare’s plays) and sonnets.
Pentameter is one name for the number of feet in a line. The commonly used names for line lengths are:
monometer
dimeter
trimeter
tetrameter
one foot
two feet
three feet
four feet
pentameter
hexameter
heptameter
octameter
five feet
six feet
seven feet
eight feet
Can you scan the following poem excerpts for number of feet and accents, then identify the type of
meter if it fits one of the above metrical descriptions?
Emily Dickinson
The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry’s cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
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Shakespeare Sonnet 130
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
From Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”
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.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door Only this, and nothing more.'
From Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
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Lesson 10: Sonnets
Yet Do I Marvel by Countee Cullen
I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind,
And did He stoop to quibble could tell why
The little buried mole continues blind,
Why flesh that mirrors Him must some day die,
Make plain the reason tortured Tantalus
Is baited by the fickle fruit, declare
If merely brute caprice dooms Sisyphus
To struggle up a never-ending stair.
Inscrutable His ways are, and immune
To catechism by a mind too strewn
With petty cares to slightly understand
What awful brain compels His awful hand.
Yet do I marvel at this curious thing:
To make a poet black, and bid him sing!
From the Dark Tower by Countee Cullen
We shall not always plant while others reap
The golden increment of bursting fruit,
Not always countenance, abject and mute
That lesser men should hold their brothers cheap;
Not everlastingly while others sleep
Shall we beguile their limbs with mellow flute,
Not always bend to some more subtle brute;
We were not made eternally to weep.
The night whose sable breast relieves the stark
White stars is no less lovely being dark,
And there are buds that cannot bloom at all
In light, but crumple, piteous, and fall;
So in the dark we hide the heart that bleeds,
And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds.
Discussion: Compare Cullen’s message in the two poems. In what way are the forms of these sonnets
similar? In what way are they different?
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Lesson 11: Diction and Connotation
You know that poem about two roads diverging in a woods? Of course, you do, and you know it's not
just about a road, right? The connotations of that road lead most readers on to consider their own life
journey, not just a travel itinerary. That's connotation.
In addition to literal, dictionary meanings, words often have implied, emotional meanings known as
connotations. These connotations play a significant role in the search for the "right word" because they
sometimes clash with a writer's intended meaning or view. Much of poetry involves the poet using
connotative diction that suggests shades of meanings beyond "what the words simply say."
Connotation is the extra tinge or taint of meaning each word carries beyond the minimal, strict definition
found in a dictionary. For instance, the terms civil war, revolution and rebellion have the same
denotation; they all refer to an attempt at social or political change. However, civil war carries historical
connotations for Americans beyond that of revolution or rebellion. Likewise, revolution is often applied
more generally to scientific or theoretical changes, and it does not necessarily connote violence.
Rebellion, for many English speakers connotes an improper uprising against a legitimate authority (thus
we speak about "rebellious teenagers" rather than "revolutionary teenagers").
In the same way, the words house and home both refer to a domicile, but home connotes certain singular
emotional qualities and personal possession in a way that house doesn't. I might own four houses I rent
to others, but I might call none of these my home, for example.
Connotation descriptors:
Favorable/positive
Neutral
Unfavorable/negative
Examples:
relaxed inactive lazy
prudent timid cowardly
modest shy mousy
time-tested old out-of-date
dignified reserved stiff-necked
persevering persistent stubborn
up-to-date new newfangled
thrifty conservative miserly
self-confident proud conceited
inquisitive curious nosy
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Each of the following sentences includes a pair of words with similar dictionary definitions but
different connotations. One of the words is more appropriate based on the context of the sentence.
As snakes continue to grow, they (junk, shed) the protective keratinous layer on the surface of their
bodies because it does not expand.
Oblivious to those around him, the father tenderly (smiled, smirked) at his newborn baby through the
window of the hospital nursery.
During rush hour traffic in a metropolis, cars creep along at agonizingly slow (velocities, speeds).
Even the coolest star in the night skies is unbelievably (sultry, hot) according to astronomers.
The local newspaper's front-page story indicated that $50,000 was (stolen, pilfered) from the town's
largest bank during the night.
The pack of wild horses (loped, sprinted) alongside the train at top speed for more than 200 yards.
Although many Americans purchase meat at their local grocery stores, some farmers still (butcher,
execute) livestock to feed their families.
The French are (noted, notorious) for their fine food.
Now read the following poem, mindfully open to the possible connotations of even the simplest words
chosen.
At Mud Lake in the Morning by Michael Cleary
Mud Lake, Idaho (AP) 3,000 rabbits were rounded up and clubbed to death Saturday by about 800 men
and boys . . . during a rabbit population boom that occurs about every ten years.
At Mud Lake in the morning,
boys squint into the ache of sun
ricocheting off fresh snow,
feel the tingle of violence
in their fathers’ tense smiles and rough jokes,
sense that this is a big and grownup thing
to be proud and fearful on the edge of a man’s world,
waiting for jackrabbits to be driven
under the nervous bats and clubs
they heft and slap into leathered palms
to know the unfamiliar power of pain and death.
Too soon the rabbits come,
a stampede of darting, dodging terror
as men and boys strike clumsily
until they find the fierce and ancient fury
in heavy thuds and hollow cracks
and the rabbits start to go down,
some sudden and still, smaller than alive,
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others jerking, scrambling on their sides,
changing snow into a crazy quilt
of scarlet specks and patches of deeper red.
With dusk, deeds grow
bold and large on distant farms
until each boy has vanquished ten times ten
again and then again
in warrior tales told to hearthbound mothers
washing bloody socks and splattered overalls
in their mothers’ mothers’ kitchens.
Fathers smoke quietly with measured pride
as sisters, hostile and aloof,
retreat into wary corners.
At night, boys wriggle slowly into sleep,
happiness wound tight inside,
wonder at the thrill of wood on bone,
snow soiled with matted fur and bloody bootprints,
wonder where blood goes when the snow melts,
wonder how long ten years will be
and how they can stand the waiting.
Assignment: What is the message of this poem? How does the diction and connotation heighten this
message?
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Lesson 12: Theme
A theme is the central message of the poem. In order to discover the theme, one must analyze many
elements of the poem: word choice, figurative language, symbols, mood, tone. Read the following poem,
and use all 7 steps of the poetry analysis process. Mark up the poem with a highlighter and pen as you
complete each step.
Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas
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.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
What two lines are repeated as a refrain? Why?
Using the refrain in your analysis, write a short paragraph explaining what you think the theme or
overall message of the poem is.