Introduction to Poetry
Key Terms
Standard
ELACC8RL4: Determine the meaning of words
and phrases as they are used in a text,
including figurative and connotative
meanings; analyze the impact of specific word
choices on meaning and tone, including
analogies or allusions to other texts.
What is a Poem?
• A poem is a verbal composition created in
verse rather than prose
• Prose is ordinary writing that relies on
sentences and paragraphs.
• Verse is writing that happens in lines or
stanzas. It is not confined to paragraphs.
Line
• A line is a row of words within a poem.
• A line might be very long, or it might be as
short as one word, or even one letter.
• One complete thought might be split up over
several lines, so a reader shouldn’t necessarily
pause at the end each line. It might flow right
into the next one with no stop. Pause when
you reach punctuation.
1. How many lines?
2. Where should the reader pause?
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
- Emily Dickinson
Stanza
• A stanza is one group of lines within a poem.
• A stanza can be made of as many lines as the
poet desires.
• Stanzas are usually separated by a horizontal
gap of space on a page.
• A poem might have one stanza or many
stanzas.
• The form each stanza follows does not have to
match, but it can.
How Many Stanzas
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
This is Just To Say
by: William Carlos Williams
Rhyme
• A rhyme is 2 or more words that end with the
same vowel sound.
• Poems can rhyme, but they don’t have to.
• Rhyming words can be found in a Rhyming
Dictionary
Rhyme Scheme
• Rhyme Scheme is the pattern in which a
poem’s rhymes are arranged.
• Some poems have a very rigid, predictable
rhyme scheme pattern
• Some poems have no rhyme scheme at all
Labeling Rhyme Scheme
• We label rhyme scheme by calling the first line
“A.” Every line in that stanza that rhymes with
“A” is labeled “A.”
• The first line that does NOT rhyme with “A” is
labeled “B.” Every line that rhymes with “B” is
labeled “B.”
• Continue going through the alphabet until you
run out of lines in the stanza.
• Start over with “A” in the next stanza.
• We name the rhyme scheme after the pattern
Example: A Hippo is Bounding…
A hippo is bounding around on my head.
Gorillas are banging on drums.
A rhino is charging me full speed ahead
while a crocodile's eyeing my thumbs.
A rattlesnake's winding his way up my side.
A tiger is sniffing my clothes.
A grizzly just grabbed me, his mouth open wide.
A tarantula's perched on my nose.
I'm drowning, surrounded by man-eating sharks.
An elephant sits on my chest.
Yes, that's how it feels when the teacher remarks,
"Grab your pencils. It's time for the test."
--Kenn Nesbitt
Free Verse
• Free Verse is when a poem has no set rhyme
or pattern.
• The verse does not conform to a specified
number of lines or syllables.
• It may have no rhyme whatsoever, though
the author may occasionally throw a rhyme in
here and there. The rhyme, however, will NOT
have a pattern.
Free Verse Example
Sunset by: Lillian Moore
There's dazzle
in the western sky
Colors spill and
run
The pond mouth
lies open
greedy
for the last drop
of
melting
sun
Sound
How does a poem appeal to the ear?
Standard
• ELACC8RL4: Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative
and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of
specific word choices on meaning and tone, including
analogies or allusions to other texts.
• ELACC8RL4: Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative
and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of
specific word choices on meaning and tone, including
analogies or allusions to other texts.
Sound
Many poems are built around sound. The poet
attempts to create wording that is catchy to
the ear.
Rhythm
• Rhythm is the beat of a poem.
• Many poems have strong patterns of beat that
make the poem sound almost like is has a
chant.
Rhyme
• The pattern of rhyme in a poem can affect the
way it sounds.
End Rhyme
• End rhyme is when the rhymes occur at the
end of lines in a poem.
• End rhyme is what creates rhyme scheme.
Example
Couplets
• Couplets are pairs of rhyming lines.
• The poem will be arranged so that the pairs
are continually grouped one after the other.
A Wish For You
If I could grant a wish for you,
You would get a thrill or two.
May all your lucky numbers win the lottery.
May you discover beautiful, ancient pottery.
May you be able to act and sing.
May life bring you every good thing.
May you eat chocolate and candy, too.
May each dish of ice cream be just for you.
May you always have money and never be poor.
May you always have peace and never know war.
Oh, if I could grant a wish for you,
You would get a thrill or two.
Internal Rhyme
• Internal rhyme is when rhyme occurs within
lines of a poem rather than just at the end of
lines
• Sometimes words within a line will rhyme
with words at the end of a line.
Example
The Cloud by Percy Bysshe Shelly (An excerpt)
I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,
From the seas and the streams;
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
In their noonday dreams.
From my wings are shaken the dews that waken
The sweet buds every one,
When rocked to rest on their mother's breast,
As she dances about the sun.
I wield the flail of the lashing hail,
And whiten the green plains under,
And then again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder.
Repetition
• Repetition is when an author repeats words,
phrases, or lines to build or emphasize an
effect.
Example
Alliteration
• Alliteration is using words that begin with the
same sound together.
Example
A tree toad loved a she-toad
Who lived up in a tree.
He was a two-toed tree toad
But a three-toed toad was she.
The two-toed tree toad tried to win
The three-toed she-toad’s heart,
For the two-toed tree toad loved the ground
That the three-toed tree toad trod.
But the two-toed tree toad tried in vain.
He couldn’t please her whim.
From her tree toad bower
With her three-toed power
The she-toad vetoed him.
Onomatopoeia
• Onomatopoeia is using words that sound
exactly like the sound that they represent.
• Example: Pow, Crash, Moo, Vroom, Tap, Click,
Quack, Plop, Splash, etc.
Example
The rusty spigot
sputters,
utters
a splutter,
spatters a smattering of drops,
gashes wider;
splashes,
splatters,
scatters,
spurts,
finally stops sputtering
and splash!
Gushes, rushes, splashes,
clear water dashes.
--Eve Merriam
Task
• Requirement: Create a poem that uses 2
sound techniques (end rhyme, couplets,
internal rhyme, alliteration, rhythm,
onomatopoeia, repetition).
• Topic: Author’s choice
• Form: Author’s choice