• two lines
• rhymed
• can be simple or sophisticated
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend
All losses are restored and sorrows end
-William Shakespeare
The world is so full of a number of things
I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings
-Robert Louis Stevenson
I started the race with the rest of the pack
Though my lungs are on fire, I won’t turn back
-G. Lipson
Write a second line for these beginning lines:
• I cannot stand the color red
• My brother Bob can really bake
• Don’t be sad on this fine day
Make up your own couplets
I had a very nasty scheme
I dreamed it in a wicked dream
To point my trust beam
And turn the villains all to steam
a
ab
b
Fee, fi, fo, fumI smell the blood of an EnglishmanBe he alive, or be he deadI’ll grind his bones to make my bread
aa
bb
• 5 lines
• Unrhymed
Line 1: 1 word topic
Line 2: 2 adjectives for topic
Line 3: 3 action (-ing) words
Line 4: 4 word phrase about topic
Line 5: synonym for line 1
RainHeavy, awesomeDrenching, soaking, penetratingRenewing the earth’s firmamentSoil-soaker
SpaghettiMessy, spicySlurping, sliding, fallingBetween plate and mouthDelicious
Pick a starting line for your own quatrain, then pick a rhyme scheme:
• A friend is someone who• Is wasn’t easy when my pet died• When Miss Piggy is around• He hit the ball so very high• The runner sped around the track• Into the sunset we will sail
• Five line poem
• Usually humorous or silly
• Made popular by Edward Lear
• Rhyme scheme: a
a
b
b
a
• Lines 1,2,5 have 3 beats
• Lines 3 and 4 have 2 beats
Old Man with a Beard
There was on Old Man with a beard
Who said, “It is just as I feared!
Two owls and a hen
Four larks and wren,
Have all built their nest in my beard!”
aa
bb
a
There once was a Young Lady whose Nose
Continually prospers and grows
When it grew out of sight
She exclaimed in a fright
“Oh! Farewell to the end of my Nose!”
aa
bb
a
Pick a starting line for your own limerick:
There once was an athlete named Sam
Some trees grow sideways, I’m told
There once was a mountain too high
• ancient Japanese poetry
• usually about nature
• doesn’t rhyme
• usually illustrated
Line 1 – 5 syllables
Line 2 – 7 syllables
Line 3 – 5 syllables
An old silent pondA frog jumps into the pondSplash, silence again
-BashoInto the darkest woodsA weeping willow tree criesWho made such sadness?
-G. Lispon
Line 1: Topic
Line 2: 2 adjectives for line 1
Line 3: 3 action (ing) words for line 1
Line 4: 2 nouns for line 1 - 2 nouns for line 7
Line 5: 3 action (ing) words for line 7
Line 6: 2 adjectives for line 7
Line 7: Antonym for line 1
LoveWarm, wonderful
Embracing, hugging, laughingParents, relatives – Strangers, enemies
Neglected, frightened, trembling Cold, bitter
Hate
The Dream KeeperBring me all of your dreams, You dreamers, Bring me all of yourHeart melodies,That I may wrap them In a blue cloud-clothAway from the too-rough fingersOf the world
-Langston Hughes
TopicsPick two opposite words to write a diamante
about:
•city/country•clean/dirty•pleasure/pain•truth/lies•old/young•weak/strong•ice/water
• Poetry that visually conveys the poet's meaning through the graphic arrangement of letters, words, or symbols on the page.