The Sound of Poetry
Alliteration
Each word begins with the same letter
big, bad brother
Spring
By Gerard Manley Hopkins
Nothing is so beautiful as spring –
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightning to hear him sing;
The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.
What is all this juice and all this joy?
A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden. – Have, get, before it cloy,
Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,
Most, O maid’s child, thy choice and worthy the winning.
Onomatopoeia
The sound of the word gives a sense of its meaning
crunch, hiss, bang
Noise
By Jessie Pope
I like noise,
The whoop of a boy, the thud of a hoof,
The rattle of rain on a galvanised roof,
The hubbub of traffic, the roar of a train,
The throb of machinery numbing the brain,
The switching of wires in an overhead tram,
The rush of the wind, a door on the slam,
The boom of the thunder, the crash of the waves,
The din of a river that races and raves,
The crack of a rifle, the clank of a pail,
The strident tattoo of a swift-slapping sail –
From any old sound that the silence destroys
Arises a gamut of soul-stirring joys.
I like noise.
Assonance
The same vowel sounds are repeated
wheezed, sneezed, squeezed
From The Lotus-Eaters
By Alfred, Lord Tennyson
All day the wind breathes
Low with the mellower tone
Through every hollow cave
And alley lone …
Homonyms
Words that are spelt the same way may even have the same sound but have different
meanings
bear (animal and naked) trip (to travel and to fall) tear (to rip and to cry)
Homophones
These words have the same sound but different spellings and meanings
court – caught
Spoonerisms
Spoonerisms occur when you accidentally or deliberately mix up the first letters in two or
more words. When you say “I ain’t got no dain bramage’ instead of ‘I ain’t got not brain
damage.’
Visual Imagery of Poetry
Similes
A simile is a type of image or verbal picture made by comparing tow things, using the
words like or as.
As sharp as a laser beam.
The laundry basket
By Chris Hereward
My shirtsleeve hangs
over the rim of the laundry basket
like a limp human arm
from the jaws of a crocodile.
Metaphors
A metaphor is another way of creating a powerful image in which a comparison is made
between two things. A metaphor actually says one objects is another object.
A mobile phone is a teenage tracking device.
The Sea
By James Reeves
The sea is a hungry dog,
Giant and grey.
He rolls on the beach all day.
With his clashing teeth and shaggy jaws
Hour upon hour he gnaws
The rumbling, tumbling stones,
And ‘Bones, bones, bones, bones!’
The giant sea-dog moans,
Licking his greasy paws.
And when the night wind roars
And the moon rocks in the stormy cloud,
He bounds to his feet and snuffs and sniffs,
Shaking his wet sides over the cliffs,
And howls and hollos long and loud.
But on quiet days in May or June,
When even the grasses on the dune
Play no more their reedy tune,
With his head between his paws
He lies on the sandy shores,
So quiet, so quiet, he scarcely snores.
Personification
Personification is a metaphor in which human characteristics are given to non-human
things.
The wind is angry
By Adrienne Brady
The wind is angry –
he’s been in a rage all night,
stamping his feet, bellowing
and finally breaking out.
In morning light he gallops,
at full tilt, round the house
charging at the walls,
pulling at the thatch
and beating with clenched fists
against the windows.
Even now, he’s thrusting
icy fingers through crevices
and under doors.
The house is tired
and slightly bored;
she watches the listless eyes,
sighs – settles on her haunches
and entrenches herself still more.
Symbolism
Symbolism is when words or phrases have a double meaning. Symbols can be
determined by culture and can make a poem more intriguing and more powerful.
A rose could signify love and a child innocence.
A poison tree
By William Blake
I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe;
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore and apple bright;
And my foe beheld it shine.
And he knew that it was mine,
And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe out stretched beneath the tree.
Rhythm
The rhythm is the flow and beat of the poem. It is used to create the mood. Rhythm is
created by the stress you place on certain words or parts of words you read.
angry rap
By Komminos
won’t somebody listen,
listen to us please,
give us what we ask for,
give us what we need.
when i was at school
i was treated like a fool
i tried to be cool
but i broke all the rules.
keep in line
get to class on time
being is a crime
submit and you’ll be fine.
sonny where’s your tie.
give me twenty reasons why
boy, i wish you’d try
couldn’t wait to say goodbye.
in this society
no one listens to me
the bureaucracy
doesn’t recognise me.
haven’t i got rights
do I have to fight?
they say go fly a kite
i think i just might.
at the end of the queue
makes ya wanna spew
we are people too
just trying to get through.
at home it’s the same
i’m always to blame
life is just a game
where parents reign.
be seen and not be heard
feel like a caged-up bird
they have the last word
it really is absurd.
speak when spoken to
we have opinions too
always tell me what to do
don’t give a hoot for you.
i went to work
i was treated like a jerk
nearly went berserk
work, work, work.
do this, do that
don’t talk, don’t chat
the boss gets fat
that’s where it’s at.
lift heavy weights
no smoko breaks
no coming in late
no talking to your mates.
Rhyme
Words that sound the same, or almost the same, are likely to make us notice them. There
is something about words that echo one another in a poem that makes us pay attention
and helps us to ‘hear’ the poem. Many poets use rhyme, which is the repetition of sounds.
Rhyme
By Pie Corbett
The trouble with rhymes
that you find sometimes
is that once they are found
you find you are bound
just because of the sound
to use them and then
you do not know when
to stop
Forms of Poetry
Limericks
A limerick is a poem of five lines, which is meant to be absurd and witty. It is often thought
of as ‘nonsense’ verse and tells of unlikely events.
An architect sat back and laughed;
’I know that my new plans seem daft.
On each of the floors,
There’s no window or doors –
But at least I’ve got rid of the draught.’
By Frank Richards
Ruptured rhymes
Ruptured rhymes are poems that make fun of traditional nursery rhymes, fairytalkes or
well-known stories. They are parodies; that is, they imitate and exaggerate the work of
others in order to amuse us.
Twinkle twinkle movie star
In your flashy limo-car.
How you shine with diamonds bright
Flashing smiles of dentures white.
Twinkle twinkle little star
For son you won’t know who you are.
Danny Wee
Cinquains
A cinquain is a poem of five lines. There are two forms. The first type, which we could call
a ‘syllable cinquain’, is similar to the haiku and the tanka. In that the length of each line is
based on a set number of syllables. The five lines have the following pattern; 2, 4, 6, 8, 2.
I seems
That barbed comments
Baited with some small joke
Hook themselves well into the soul
And rip
Sue Marsden
The second form is called a ‘word cinquain’ and relies upon a set number of words per
line. It uses nouns, adjectives and verbs to make up its pattern.
Moonlight
Dazzling, silver
Shimmers, swells, covers
My coolness and fear
Spotlight
Acrostic poems
An acrostic poem is one in which the first letter of each line, read downwards, spells a
word.
Yeti
By Gervase Phim
You
Enormous
Tibetan
Iceman
Alphabet poems
Alphabet poems are like acrostic poems but do not spell a word. Instead, every new word
or line begins with the next letter of the alphabet; a – z or z – a.
Netball
Athletic barging,
Contacting, defending.
Every fortunate, giggling, happy,
idiotic, jumping, kindly lady
Must not overdo pivots.
Quietly remark; ‘Such terrible
umpiring!’
Vault with expertise,
Yet zone.
Numerical poems
Numerical poems are a fun way of working with letters and numbers at the same time, a
marriage of poetry and maths, if you like.
1 1 was a racehorse
2 2 was 1 2
1 1 1 1 race
22112
Haiku
Haiku originates in Japan and is a very old form of poetry. The aim of a haiku is to capture
a single idea, moment or feeling in a clear and precise description. It appears simple, yet
allows us to create strong visual images and comparisons.
It is written in the present tense
Is unrhymed
Has 3 lines and 17 syllables organised into a 5, 7, 5 sequence.
Sunset
By Stuart Taylor
Sunset on the sea
drawing cold shapes on water
on wavy canvas.
Tanka
The tanka is also a Japanese form of poetry, much older but less well known than the
haiku. It is longer than a haiku, so it allows and image to be extended and gives the poet
room to express feelings in more depth. In reality a tanka should create a vivid image,
which is related to emotions. I
- It is unrhymed
- Has five lines and contains 31 syllables, organised into a sequence of 5, 7, 5, 7, and 7.
Papers
By Anonymous
The pile of papers
Sprawled across this office desk
Are but memories
of random skittery thoughts
Flitting pas my vacant gaze.
Shape poems
Shapes are part of our world. We grow up learning what shapes mean and share the
meaning with others in a type of ‘picture language’.
Africa
By Dave Calder
Direction
When we look at an image, our eyes move across the image in certain ways. We tend to
look at the vertical image first, followed by the horizontal. The diagonal direction can give
a seeling of movement or change. The direction curves can be either unstable or safe
depending on the sharpness of the curves. Triangles can ‘trap’ our eyes and draw
attention to a certain image.
Write a way
By Benjamin Zephaniah
Couplet
A couplet is two lines of poetry
The Walrus
By Michael Flanders
The walrus lives on icy floes
And unsuspecting Eskimoes.
Don’t bring your wife to Arctic Tundra
A Walrus may bob up from undra.
Dylan Thomas portraits
This type of poem is named after the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, who used words
experimentally. This form focuses on the senses and begins with the question ‘Did you
ever …?’ The question is then answered with a description. Dylan Thomas portraits are
always written in couplet form.
Sound
Did you ever hear a classroom?
Voices rumbling, chairs scraping, teacher shouting.
Ezra Pound couplets
Ezra Pound was an American poet. He wrote unrhymed couplets that gave a powerful
descriptive comparison. These comparisons are metaphors, in which one thing is said to
be another. In the Ezra Pound couplet there are two statements:
An image, presented in the first line
A comparison, present in the second line
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
Ezra Pound
Ballads
Ballads are narrative poems; they tell a story. They are usually concerned with a strongly
emotional or dramatic event and therefore also contain a lyrical element by presenting a
character’s state of mind or feelings. Ballads were originally an oral form of poetry, passed
on from generation to generation by word of mouth, and then came to be written down.
The word ‘ballad’ comes form the Latin ballade (to dance) and, originally, ballads were
sung to accompany dances. Later, the name came to mean any poem composed and
sung by minstrels, who were travelling performers.
The traditional ballad tells a clear and straightforward story using strong characters, simple
language, easy-to follow actions and sometimes suspense as the full story is gradually
revealed. Ballads have strong rhythm, rhyme and repetition and are usually arranged in
quatrains – four –line stanzas or groups of lines, which often rhyme.
The ballad of the drover
By Henry Lawson (1889)
The Highwayman
By Alfred Noyes
Song lyrics
Song lyrics and ballads are similar in that they are both linked to music. However, while the ballad’s major
focus is on the story, the major focus of songs is on the feelings and ideas of the writer. They are therefore
lyrical. The term ‘lyric’ is also used to describe the words in a song. Songs are popular because they are
very rhythmic, they are easy to remember, and their subject matter is not limited. Just as love is a common
theme in literature, many songwriters focus on love in their songs; being in love, falling out of love, its
emotional power and how we respond to it.
Youthful Lyrics
By Anika Moa
I am just a school girl,
Living in a fantasy world.
Now I'm outspoken...
I walked around for a couple of years,
Trying to convince myself.
It was a plan, I was to understand it...
They say things to me like, 'you're so beautiful',
They spoke of other things like, 'how much do you charge?'
YOU'RE YOUTHFUL...
YOU CAN'T HIDE BEHIND THAT FACE.
YOU'RE SO YOUTHFUL,
SIT TIGHT AND STARE.
Ooohhh...
Silence stalks me, pushes me through
I feel so broken.
Turn the lights on a couple of times
to see if you would exchange
I would not know if you turned them off
They said things to me like 'you're so wonderful'
You spoke of other things like, 'I love you 'cos...
YOU'RE YOUTHFUL...
YOU CAN'T HIDE BEHIND THAT FACE.
YOU'RE SO YOUTHFUL,
SIT TIGHT AND STARE.
Ooohhh....
Maybe I'm allowed
Maybe it's in the book
Maybe I could shout down the walls
9 till 5 I hope it doesn't show,
9 till 5 it's not a perfect thing.
They said things to me like, 'you're amazing'
You speak of other things like, 'is this going on my bill?'
YOU'RE YOUTHFUL...
YOU CAN'T HIDE BEHIND THAT FACE.
YOU'RE SO YOUTHFUL,
SIT TIGHT AND STARE.
Ooohhh...
You're youthful...
You know this time will not do,
You're so youthful...
I own you now...
Ooohhh...
Youthful....yeaaaah.
Free verse
Free verse is a form, which doesn’t rhyme and, because of this, give poets great scope to
express their ideas. It means that they do not have to conform to a strict metre or rigid
thyme scheme as in a ballad, for instance. Instead, free verse has a very informal
structure and natural, flowing rhythm. Generally the lines of free verse poems are short,
sometimes consisting of only one word.
How and where words are placed on the page, the use or non-use of capitals and
punctuation, the placement of pauses, and repetition all help to create emphasis as well as
rhythm in a free verse poem. These things can speed up or slow down the tempo of the
poem.
Tap
By Peter McFarlane
I know if I listen it’s going to
DRIP
in-ter-mit-tent-ly
DRIP
DRIP
DRIP
DRIP
DRIP
DRIP
DRIP
DRIP
until
I
tighten
a
wrench
round
its
THROAT!
Prose Poetry
Prose poetry is similar to free verse in style, as it doesn’t not follow any set ‘rules’ of rhyme
or rhythm. However, while free verse is written with poetic line breaks (which create
emphasis on a word or idea), prose poetry is not. It is instead written in sentence form, yet
is more rhythmical, and its imagery is richer and more intense, than prose.
Freedom to breathe
By Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Odes
The ode has its origins in ancient Greece, and was written to honour or praise a person,
object or abstract quality. It is intensely lyrical and subjective, and therefore has a high
level of emotion. An ode is usually addressed to the subject and is therefore written in the
second person.
The following ode by John Keats, one of the Romantic poets, pays homage to the season
of autumn, which is personified through out the poem. The poem’s use of full rhyme, long
vowel sounds, alliteration and assonance create a softness of mood, and a gentle,
unhurried rhythm. The language is sensory, sumptuous and lush, evoking strong images.
Thematically, the first part of each stanza defines the subject matter; the second part
develops and contemplates the subject.
Ode to Autumn
By John Keats
Elegies
An elegy is a sad poem of grief, loss or death in which the poet may mourn not only
people, but things and animals as well. In fact, the word ‘elegy’ comes from the Greek
word for ‘a mournful poem’.
Elegies can be written in any form; what makes them unique is that they are reflective and
sad. Elegies can be written in two ways. Some elegies are very personal, expressing
grief over the loss of a relative, friend or thing. Other elegies may be more general, where
the poet contemplates the issue of death or mortality.
Killed in action
For N.J. de B.-L. Crete, May, 1941
By Juliette de Bairacli-Levey
His chair at the table, empty,
His home clothes hanging in rows forlorn,
His cricket bat and cap, his riding cane,
The new flannel suit he had not worn.
His dogs, restless, restless, with tortured ears
Listening for his swift, light tread upon the path.
And there – his violin! Oh his violin! Hush! Hold your tears.
Pastoral poetry
Pastoral poems are written about situations from country life. They are ‘nature’ poems,
regardless of their form, length or metre. They are also lyrical, telling us about the
personal feelings and emotions of the poet.
The most famous pastoral poetry is that of the Romantics of the eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries, such as Wordsworth, Blake, Shelly and Keats. The theme of nature
as something innocent and ideal has a long history, but it was with the Romantic poets that
are view gained new ground. They saw nature as something pure, the perfect specimen
of creation, in contrast with the destructiveness of humans. Their poems were the social
commentaries of their time, as they protested against the effects of industrialisation,
technology and the destruction of nature.
In William Words worth’s poem ‘Lines written in early spring’, he not only muses about the
beaut of nature, but also reflects upon human nature.
Lines written in early spring
By William Wordsworth
I heard a thousand blended notes
While in a grove I sat reclined.
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.
To her fair works did nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.
Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And ‘tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.
The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measre –
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.
The budding twigs spread out their fan
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there,
If ths belief from heaven be sent,
if such be Nature’s holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?
Epic Poetry
An epic is a long narrative poem, usually centred around a hero (or heroes) on an
important journey. There are some very famous epic poems, for example, the Iliad and
the Odyssey, both written by the Greek poet Homer. The Iliad takes its name from ‘Ilion’
the Greek name for Troy. It is set during the Trojan War, when Achilles kills Hector to
avenge the death of his friend Patroclus. The Odyssey describes the ten-year voyage of
Odysseus after the Trojan War, during which he encounters various monsters (such as the
Cyclops) and other supernatural and mythological beings. The modern idea of an epic,
however, is any long story. We often use the term for long novels or films.
The characteristics of an epic poem are than:
It tells a story
The plot is simple
The main character is usually a hero
The hero is on an important journey or has to carry about an important deed
He/she is watched over by gods or supernatural beings
There is no division into stanzas
Journey of the Magi
By T.S Elliot
Blank verse
Blank verse is unrhymed and has a regular metre, with each line having roughly the same
number of syllables. In blank verse we usually find detailed descriptions of events, but it is
also a form of poety in which characters reveal a great deal about themselves.
Shakespeare often used blank verse in his plays, namely in the soliloquies of his
characters. In Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1, the Prince of Denmark struggles with the thought of
suicide. This soliloquy, perhaps the most famous speech in the English language, takes
place after Hamlet’s father is killed by his uncle, Claudius, who in turn then marries
Hamlet’s mother, thus becoming King f Denmark. Hamlet’s speech is a powerful
examination of life and eath, the know and the unknown, and the connection between
thought and action.
To be, or not to be
(Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1)
By William Shakespeare
Dramatic monologue
In poetry, reading or hearing a dramatic monologue is like listening to someone talking on
the telephone. It’s as if there is a one-side conversation occurring, where you hear the
speaker but not the person to whom he or she is speaking.
‘Pleasant Sunday afternoon’ by Bruce Dawe is about a poorly educated man who is visited
by and encyclopaedia salesman. Unfortunately, the man’s family wreaks havoc when the
salesman produces his set of encyclopaedias and opens it. The man’s wife, Ethel, puts
grease on the pages, and then scorches them when trying to remove it with a knife. One
of the children, Stewart, apparently vomits over them; another child, Graham, empties his
bowels on the floor and uses the pages from an encyclopaedia to clean it up. Another
child has meanwhile ripped out one of the volumes, while his father tries to put the pages
back in their right order. The salesman quickly flees from the scene, leaving behind his
ruined encyclopaedias. The father continues to chat, unaware of the disaster his family
ahs caused.
Pleasant Sunday afternoon
By Bruce Dawe
Soliloquies
A soliloquy is very much like a dramatic monologue, except the character is speaking to
him or herself – ‘thinking out loud’ – without the presence of others. Shakespeare wrote
many soliloquies in his plays. They give a real insight into the mins of his characters,
whether they are expressing anxiety, despair, or joy. The soliloquy below is certainly not
joyous. It takes place after MacBeth, who has become king of Scotland by murdering his
predecessor, learns that his wife has committed suicide. Lady MacBeth, while originally
spurring her husband on to do the deed, cannot cope with the guilt it brings. MacBeth’s
response to her death is at first subdued, but his speech evolves into one of pessimism
and despair, in which he reflects upon the worthlessness of live.
Sonnets
The sonnet is a fourteen-line lyric poem, written in iambic pentameter, traditionally aobut
love and romance. Invented by the Italian poet Petrarch in the 1300s, the word ‘sonnet’
means ‘little song’. The sonnet spread through out Europe to England, and by the 1600s,
the traditional of the sonnet as a love poem was well established. Shakespeare created
his own version of the sonnet, writing over 150 of them. Thus, the two kinds of sonnets
most common in English poetry take their names from the poets who utilised them;
the Petrarchan sonnet and
the Shakespearean sonnet.
* divided into two parts; the octave and the * made up of three quatrains (set of four
sestet
rhyming lines) with a rhyme scheme of
abab – presenting a different idea in each
* the octave (first eight lines) poses a
quatrain.
question or establishes an idea
* ends with a rhyming couplet, which can be
* the sestet (next six lines) answers,
a summary of the ideas, or to indicate a
comments upon or criticises the idea
change in thought (a shift in the direction
established in the octave.
of the emotions or thought is called a
‘voita’)