Poetry
Poetry is:
One
of the three major genres
of literature
Highly concise with a musical
quality. It uses emotionally
charged language that usually
appeals to the five senses.
Types of
Poetry
Dramatic Poetry
Poetry that uses the
techniques of drama
Verse that presents the
speech of one or more
characters
Examples Include:
Shakespeare’s
Romeo and
Juliet
Euripides’ Madea
Narrative Poetry
o Tells
a story
o Because it tells a story, it
is usually longer than
other types of poetry
Ballads
A
poem that tells a story
 They are a form of narrative poetry
 They are often used in songs and
have a very musical quality to them
No, these are not 80’s rock ballads
 The basic form for ballads is iambic
heptameter (seven sets of unstressed,
stressed syllables per line)
Epic Poetry
Also
known as
(Heroic Poetry) an epic is
a long narrative about
adventures of larger than
life characters.
Characteristics Include:
•Hero is a great leader of a
certain group of people
•The setting includes many
places, particularly
supernatural realms ( ex.
The land of the dead or
“hell”)
Group of people
•.
•The hero fights in a great
battle or goes on a long
journey or quest.
 Often gods or
supernatural beings will
take part in the action.
(ex. The Odyssey,
Beowulf)
The Epic Hero
The main
character in a long
narrative that
reflects the values
and heroic ideals
of a particular
society.
Characteristics
They possess superior physical
strength
o Usually a very “ethical” or moral
person
o Embodies the ideals of the society
MODERN DAY HEROES
o
Modern Day Epics
What themes
do these epics
share?
Lyric Poetry
A
poem of highly
musical verse that
expresses the
observations and
feelings of a single
speaker.
Example

What though, for showing truth to flattered
state,
Kind Hunt was shut in prison, yet has he,
In his immortal spirit, been as free
As the sky-searching lark, and as elate.
Minion of grandeur! think you he did wait?
Think you he nought but prison-walls did see,
Till, so unwilling, thou unturnedst the key?
Ah, no! far happier, nobler was his fate!
In Spenser's halls he strayed, and bowers fair,
Culling enchanted flowers; and he flew
With daring Milton through the fields of air:
To regions of his own his genius true
Took happy flights. Who shall his fame impair
When thou art dead, and all thy wretched
crew?
Sonnet
A
fourteen-line lyric poem,
usually written in rhymed
iambic pentameter.
? What’s Iambic Pentameter????
 Iambic
pentameter is among the
most common metrical forms in
English poetry: it is used in many
of the major English poetic forms,
including blank verse, the heroic
couplet, and many of the
traditional rhymed stanza forms.
 If you count, it usually has 10
syllables per line.
Examples:
 An
iambic foot is an unstressed
syllable followed by a stressed
syllable. We could write the
rhythm like this:
 da DUM A line of iambic
pentameter is five of these in a
row: Example Here :
da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM
Romeo and Juliet
Examples:
Notice
the 10
syllables
per line.
JULIET appears above at a window
But, soft! what light through yonder window
breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou her maid art far more fair than
she:
Be not her maid, since she is envious;
Her vestal livery is but sick and green
And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.
It is my lady, O, it is my love!
Back to the Sonnet
14
lines
Two types:
1.English (Shakespearian
Shakespearian)
2. Italian (Petrarchan)
English Sonnet
consists
of three quatrains
(4 lines) and a couplet (2
lines)
Italian Sonnet
Italian
consists of an
octave ( 8 lines) and a
sestet (6 lines).
Haiku
Three
line verse form
st
rd
The 1 and 3 line of the
Haiku each have 5 syllables
The 2nd line has 7 syllables
A haiku seeks to convey a
single vivid emotion by means
of images of nature.
Examples:
Notice
the syllables 5,7,5
Curving up, then down.
Meeting blue sky and green earth
Melding sun and rain.
Blank Verse
 Poetry
written in
unrhymed iambic
pentameter
 Popular verse form
widely used by
Free Verse
Poetry not written in a
regular rhythmical pattern,
or meter
it is the opposite of blank
verse.

Stanza
• A group of lines
1. Couplet – 2 lines
2.Quatrain- 4 lines
3.Sestet- 6 lines
4.Octave- 8 lines
Symbolism in Poetry
 Anything
that stands for or
represents something else.

=
or
 An object that serves as a symbol
has its own meaning but it also
represents something abstract.
Examples in Poetry
•Uses like or as to
compare to two or
more things
•The little girl was as
pretty as a flower.
Metaphors-
Figure of speech
in which one thing is spoken
of as though it were
something else.
Does not use like or as to
make the comparison.
Example:
My nephews are animals.
Extended
Metaphor
• Same as a regular
metaphor but in this case a
subject is spoken of or
written of as though it were
something else.
•Several comparisons are made
Figurative
Language in Poetry
Be
prepared to see figures of
speech such as similes,
metaphors, personification,
and onomatopoeia.
Smiley face playing
trumpet
Literal Language
You’re
not
listening
!
Sometimes the language
means exactly
what it says, there are no hidden
meanings or symbols.
 This is the opposite

of Figurative Language.
Hyperbole
An
extreme exaggeration
“I’m so hungry I could eat a
horse!”
Uh
oh !
Eat
more
beef!!
Personification
• Giving human
characteristics to a nonhuman or non-living
thing.
“The screaming phone
woke me up!”
Alliteration
The
repetition of initial
consonant sounds.
Sally sells sea shells down by
Listen to
the sea shore. the
ssssss
sound
The
repetition of sounds at the
end of words .
Rhyme – When rhyming
words come at the end of lines.
Internal Rhyme – When
rhyming words are found within
a line.
End
Rhyme Scheme
o The
pattern of rhyming words
in a poem
o The rhyme scheme of a poem
is indicated by using different
letters of the alphabet for each
new rhyme.
Example: “My Mistress’s Eyes are Nothing Like
the Sun”- Shakepeare
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
A
That music hath a far more pleasing sound.
B
I grant I never saw a goddess go:
A
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.
B
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
C
As any she belied with false compare.
C
Rhythm
The pattern of beats, or
stresses, in spoken or written
language.
This is very similar to the da
dum da dum da dum of the
iambic pentameter.
“Ya’ll come
back now ya
hear?”
THE END