Poetry
What is Poetry?
• It’s a kind of language that says more and says it
more intensely than ordinary language. (Laurence
Perrine)
• A literary composition written with an intensity or
beauty of language.
• It conveys experiences, ideas, or emotions in a vivid
and imaginative way.
• It uses language chosen for its sound and
suggestive power.
Functions
•
•
•
•
•
•
to imitate
to engage attention
to feed imagination
to form one’s cultural identity
to enjoy the sound
to learn metaphors
What is poetry?
• What it is, exactly, is less important than
how it makes us feel.
Poetry by Eleanor Farjeon (1966)
What is Poetry? Who Knows?
Not a rose but the scent of the rose;
Not the sky but the light in the sky;
Not the fly but the gleam of the fly;
Not the sea but the sound of the sea;
Not myself but what makes me
See, hear, and feel something that prose
Cannot, what it is, who knows?
Poetry… by Carl Sandburg
• is the opening
and closing
of a door,
leaving those
who look through
to guess about
what was seen
during a moment
Elements of Poetry
•
•
•
•
Rhythm
Rhyme and sound
Imagery
Figurative language:
– Comparison and Contrast
• Shape
• Emotional force, mood
• Diction
Diction
• Latinate and Germanic Diction
– Poetry is often associated with fancy or elaborate
vocabulary.
– Is French a more poetic language than German?
– This need not be the case. Hesse uses simple, clear,
unpretentious language
– Much more Germanic or Anglo-Saxon than Latinate
GERMANIC
anger, wrath
ask
begin
belief
bodily
brotherly
child
come
deadly
earth
fatherly
first
LATINATE
rage, ire
inquire
commence
creed
corporal
fraternal
infant
arrive
mortal
soil
paternal
primary
GERMANIC
flood
friendly
give
go
god
help
hen
hill
motherly
new
shut
teach
LATINATE
inundate
amicable
provide
depart
deity
assist
poultry
mount
maternal
novel, modern
close
educate
Poetry for children
• Like poetry for adults but
may comment in a different
way
• Poetry that is cute, coy,
nostalgic, or sarcastic might
be about children, but it is
not for them. (Charlotte
Huck)
• Didactic or preachy poems
are usually not insightful or
particularly enjoyable.
Poems can be funny
Eletelephony Laura E. Richards
Once there was an elephant,
Who tried to use the telephant—
No! no! I mean an elephone
Who tried to use the telephone—
(Dear me! I am not certain quite
That even now I've got it right.)
Howe'er it was, he got his trunk
Entangled in the telephunk;
The more he tried to get it free,
The louder buzzed the telephee—
I fear I'd better drop the song
Of elephop and telephong!)
The Burp by Anonymous
• Pardon me for being rude.
It was not me, it was my food.
It got so lonely down below,
it just popped up to say hello.
Poems can be fun
Betty Botter
Betty Botter
bought some butter.
"But," she said,
"the butter's bitter.
If I put it
in my batter,
it will make
my batter bitter.
But a bit
of better butter-that would make
my batter better."
So she bought
a bit of butter,
better than
her bitter butter.
And she put it
in her batter,
and the batter
was not bitter.
So 'twas better
Betty Botter
bought a bit
of better butter!
How good a tongue twister
are you?
40 seconds and over:
Too slow. Your grandparents
could say the poem faster.
30 to 40 seconds:
Not bad. You're probably a
faster talker than the President.
20 to 30 seconds:
Pretty good. You've been gifted
with a fast pair of lips.
15 to 20 seconds:
Excellent. You can out talk
anyone around.
14 seconds or less:
You are a tongue tying
champion!
Swimming Ool by Kenn Nesbitt
Swimming in the swimming pool
is where I like to "B,"
wearing underwater goggles
so that I can "C."
Yesterday, before I swam,
I drank a cup of "T."
Now the pool's a "swimming ool"
because I took a "P."
Poems can be insightful
My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.
The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow-Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
And he sometimes goes so little that there's none of him at all.
My Shadow (cont.)
He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close behind me, he's a coward you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!
One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.
Half
I never finish anything. I leave my work half done.
At breakfast I'm served two fried eggs. I always eat just one.
At school I'm only half awake. I don't stand half a chance.
I like to wear my shorts to school because they're like half pants.
I read no more than half a book and finish half my test.
In class I'm always teased a lot because I'm just half dressed.
This poem is supposed to have exactly fourteen lines.
Poems can express
serious feelings
Which Lunch Table ?
•
Where do I sit?
All my friends
from last year
have changed;
my world is
fractured
lopsided
r e a r r a n g e d.
Where do I fit?
Nothing is clear.
Can already tell
this will be
a jigsaw year.
Swimming Upstream: Middle
School Poems
by Kristine O'Connell George
Clarion Books, 2002
Poems can speak through
their shapes
(Concrete poems)
"Breezes," by Court Smith,
A concrete poem
THE WINDLESS
ORCHARD,
31, p. 12
A
Gentle
Breeze
People are always finding new ways to
create poetry
Arms by Dan Weber
• http://www.vispo.com/guests/DanWaber/
arms.htm
• The poem uses the internet to create poetry
in a new form.
Fun Poems children can create
Alphabet (ABC)
• Each line begins with the next letter of the alphabet.
• Example:
A young girl was walking in the rain.
But her umbrella didn't open.
Couldn't run, couldn't hurry,
Dressed in new shoes,
Entered a house full of dolls.
Found all her friends enjoying them.
Acrostic
• The first
letter of each
line form a
word itself…
• which might
be the
subject of
the poem.
• Example
Crisp and colorful
Adorable and crunchy
Nice and tasty
Delicious and tempting
Yummy and best
Cinquain
•
•
•
•
•
Line 1 = 1 noun, title
Line 2 = 2 adjectives. Description
Line 3 = 3 verbs. Actions
Line 4 = A phrase with 5 words
Line 5 = restate the title in other words
Penguins
Black, white
Swimming, jumping, fishing
They dive into freezing water.
Birds in suits.
“Penguins” ~Kenneth Miller
Diamante
• Similar to a
cinquain, but with
seven lines with top
and bottom lines
mirroring each
other.
• Example
“Winter and Summer”
Winter
Frosty, Bright
Skiing, Snow Ball Fighting, Sledding
Icicles, Snowflakes, Vacation, Family
Swimming, Sun Tanning, Sweltering
Hot, Sunny
Summer
~ Lyndsey M
Haiku
• Japanese origin
• based mainly on nature and rarely rhymes
• Usually three lines with
– the first line containing 5 syllable,
– the second line 7 and
– the third line 5.
• Example
‘Night and Day’
The stars are shining
they will shimmer and they‘ll glow
until the sun shines
~Mattie M.
Limerick
• a poem of 5 lines.
• Lines 1, 2, and 5 have seven to ten syllables and
rhyme with one another.
Lines 3 and 4 have five to seven syllables and also
rhyme with each other.
• Example
There was an Old Man with a flute,
A serpent ran into his boot;
But he played day and night,
Till the serpent took flight,
And avoided that man with a flute.
~ Edward Lear
Next Week
Present your poems in groups similar to the folktale presentations
• You have 5-7 minutes each.
• You want to grab your audience's interest and make them care about
your poem.
• Be as creative and interesting as possible to share your poem.
• Involve your group members as much as possible.
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–
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Ask them to read some parts.
Ask questions about the poem.
Have them do some actions.
Do anything you like, but you want them to enjoy this experience and the
poem.
• Choose one poem from your group to share with the class.