ELEMENTS OF POETRY

WHAT ARE THE SOU NDS OF P OETRY?

Rhythm: is a musical quality produced by repeated sound patterns.

All language has rhythm, but it’s especially important in poetry.

Rhyme: when they end in the same vowel or vowel/consonant

sound

• End rhyme

• Internal rhyme

The rumbling, tumbling stones,

And “Bones, bones, bones!”

• Rhyme scheme

WHAT ARE THE SOUNDS OF POETRY?

Free Verse: using a loose grouping of words and phrases

Repetition: the recurrence or repeating of something

Refrain: repetition of a word, phrase, line or group of lines

• Like a songs chorus, may be the part that sticks out in our minds

Alliteration: repetition of consonant sounds that are close

together

Onomatopoeia: the use of a word whose sound suggests its

meaning

HOW DOES P OETRY M AKE YOU SEE?

Poetry comes alive through the power of strong imagery.

Figures of speech/figurative language

1. Metaphor

2. Simile

3. Personification

Imagery/sensory details

Structure & word choice (haiku & sonnets)

Tone (feeling that is expressed by the speaker)

THE SEA B Y J A M E S R E E V E S

The sea is a hungry dog,Giant and gray.He rolls on the beach all day. With his clashing teeth and shaggy jawsHour upon hour he gnawsThe rumbling, tumbling stones,And “Bones, bones, bones!”The giant sea dog moans,Licking his greasy paws.

And when the night wind roarsAnd the moon rocks in the stormy cloud,He bounds to his feet and snuffs and sniffs, Shaking his wet sides over the cliffs, And howls and hollos long and loud.

But on quiet days in May or June,When even the grasses on the dune Play no more their reedy tune,With his head between his pawsHe lies on the sandy shores,So quiet, so quiet, he scarcely snores.

THE SEA

1. Discuss: how could you extend the metaphor in “The Sea” even

further? What might happen when the napping dog wakes up? Or

what if it sees a ship or something that interests him?

2. Which visual images in the poem did you most appreciate, and

why?

3. How many examples of onomatopoeia did you detect in the

poem? List all the words you found.

4. Which poetic device did you feel most contributed to the poem’s

meaning: onomatopoeia, extended metaphor, or rhyme?