What Poetry Does
 Short stories, essays, plays, poems – all forms
of literature – are composed of words.
 The words a writer uses tell you a story. They
may introduce you to a character or a place.
They may persuade or move you to feel an
emotion.
 In poetry, words can do all of these things. At
the same time, the words of a poem do more –
they chime and rhyme, ring and sing, making
music as well as meaning.
From …
"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more-that's 17,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut, my eyes are blue,
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is brokeMy hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb,
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is –
what? What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is...Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!"
“Sick” by Shel Silverstein
… to:
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sonnet
By listening to the chatter and murmur of words,
the way they dance or drag, quarrel or warble
with each other, poets uncover special
connections and secret beauties in the world.
From “The Princess” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson:
The long light shakes across the lakes,
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
(cataract = waterfall)
Tips for Reading Poetry




Read the poem aloud.
Follow punctuation.
Use your imagination and all of your senses.
Identify the speaker. Every poem is “spoken” by a
certain voice. Use the clues in the poem to
identify the speaker and the situation.
 Paraphrase. Put the poet’s sentences (think of it as
sentences) into your own words, one sentence at a
time. You will understand basic meaning and help
identify what is special in the poet’s way of
expressing that meaning.
 Make connections. Identify and list instances of
repeated or contrasting words, images, rhythms or
ideas. Then develop an interpretation.
“Introduction to Poetry” by Billy Collins
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
To analyze a poem for this class
 Use the SOAPSTone strategy:
Speaker: Who is the speaker? Don’t just give a name. Remember!
The speaker isn’t always the author.
Occasion: What is the occasion? The time and place of the piece of
writing; the situation. It is important to understand the context in
which the writing takes place.
Audience: Who is the audience? The group of readers to whom this
piece of writing is directed? The audience may be one person, a
small group, or a large group; it may be a certain person or a certain
people.
Purpose: What is the purpose behind the piece of writing? Why was
it written?
Subject: What is the subject? The general topic, content, and ideas
contained in the poem. State the subject in a few words or a short
phrase.
Tone: Attitude of the speaker/writer toward the piece of writing. Tone
is stated in single words—adjectives.
“Break of Day” by John Donne
Tis true, ‘tis day; what though it be?
Oh, wilt thou therefore rise from me?
Why should we rise because ‘tis light?
Did we lie down because ‘twas night?
Love which in spite of darkness brought us hither
Should, in despite of light, keep us together.
1572-1631
“As a young man, John
Donne wrote
passionate love poems
and sought the
admiration of
numerous women.
Later in life, Donne
made a notable change.
He married, fathered
12 children, entered the
ministry, and authored
over 160 sermons” (The
Language of Literature 451).
Light hath no tongue, but is all eye;
If it could speak as well as spy,
This were the worst that it could say:
That, being well, I fain would stay;
And that I loved my heart and honor so,
That I would not from him that had them go.
Must business thee from hence remove?
Oh, that’s the worst disease of love;
The poor, the foul, the false, love can
Admit, but not the busied man.
He which hath business and makes love, doth do
Such wrong as when a married man doth woo.
Who is the Speaker? ? (It is NEVER
the poet)
What is the Occasion?
 Speaker: a woman who …
 Occasion: (literal and figurative)
 Literal: two lovers awakening in the
morning
 Figurative: importance of love in one’s
life. It also brings together many aspects
of Renaissance poetry and Donne’s
intellectual approach to writing.
Who is the Audience?
 “Someone who…” based on the following
line(s):
 What is the Purpose?
 What is the Subject?
 What is the Tone? “The tone is xxx, based
on the following …”
Let’s try another! Remember:






Speaker
Occasion
Audience
Purpose
Subject
Tone
Holy Sonnet XIV
Batter my heart, three-personed God; for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurped town, to another due,
Labor to admit you, but O, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
but is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betrothed unto your enemy.
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again;
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor even chaste, expect you ravish me.
http://www.eaglesweb.com/Sub_Pages/donne_poems.htm
“Holy Sonnet XIV”
Batter my heart, three-personed God; for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurped town, to another due,
Who is the
Labor to admit you, but O, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,audience?
but is captive, and proves weak or untrue.
What is
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,the occasion
(theme)?
But am betrothed unto your enemy.
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again;
Where is
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
the shift in
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free, the poem?
Nor even chaste, except you ravish me.
Did you know? Trivia:
The atomic bomb detonated in the New
Mexico desert at 05:29:45 local time on 16
July, 1945, “lit up the entire world.” The
test was code-named Trinity, after this
poem by John Donne
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
HOLY
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so ;
SONNET For those, whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
X
From rest and sleep, which but thy picture[s] be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou'rt slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then ?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
Let’s SOAPSTone this sonnet
http://www.eaglesweb.com/Sub_Pages/donne_poems.htm
Think about images and music
that a poem brings to mind
 I have another student sample to share. 
What now?
 Select a poet and begin planning.
 We will work in the computer lab on the dates I
announce in class.
 You will create a PowerPoint or MovieMaker
presentation with music and images.
 Your SOAPSTone is a 100-point grade!
 You MUST know the poem and its elements in order
to receive full credit for your presentation. (This
doesn’t mean memorization, however.)
 These last projects (poetry and FAQ/TBA) are
GIFTS from me to you. Embrace them. Celebrate the
opportunity for high grades. Follow directions.