Elements of Elements of PoetryPoetry

PoetryPoetryPoetry is a genre of literature that uses the way words look and sound to transmit meaning to the reader. Poetry entertains the reader in sight and sound.

AnthologyAnthologyA collection of poems included in one book is called an anthology. It can be poems from one author, based a central theme or includes the same types of poetry.

Poetry Poetry PartsParts

StanzaStanza – A – A stanza is a stanza is a group of lines group of lines in a poem. in a poem. They can be They can be compared to a compared to a paragraph in a paragraph in a story. story.

A candy bar. A piece of cake.A lollipop.A chocolate shake.A jelly donut.Chocolate chips.Some gummi wormsand licorice whips.

A candy cane.A lemon drop.Some bubblegumand soda pop.Vanilla wafers.Cherry punch.(My mom slept inwhile I made lunch.)

Text © Kenn Nesbitt, reprinted from Revenge of the Lunch Ladies, published by Meadowbrook Press. Illustration © Mike & Carl Gordon. 

A stanza in a poem is like a paragraph in an essay.

Each stanza is usually separated by some blank space.

Common stanza lengths are two, three, four, six or eight lines.

My Lunch

A candy bar. A piece of cake.A lollipop.A chocolate shake.A jelly donut.Chocolate chips.Some gummi wormsand licorice whips.

A candy cane.A lemon drop.Some bubblegumand soda pop.Vanilla wafers.Cherry punch.(My mom slept inwhile I made lunch.)

How many stanzas are in the poem My Lunch?

What is the length of the poem?

Rhyme Rhyme

Repetition of end sounds is called rhymerhyme.

My dog chewed up my homework.He slobbered on it, too.So now my homework’s ripped to shreds,And full of slimy goo. (~Bruce Lansky)

Free Verse or Unrhymed Free Verse or Unrhymed VerseVerseFree verse or unrhymed poems do not rhyme or have regular rhythm.

American Walt Whitman was one of the first poets to publish free verse poems.

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,

Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,

The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,

The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work…

~(From I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman)

RhythmRhythmRhythmRhythm is a regular, patterned repetition of

sounds in a poem (the beat).

RhythmRhythm and rhymerhyme can give poetry a musical quality.

Listen to the Poem, Jake the Snake. See if you can identify the rhythm and rhyme.

Figurative LanguageFigurative Language

Poets and other writers often use figurative language and other poetic devices to make their writing more interesting and expressive.

Examples of Figurative Examples of Figurative LanguageLanguage

AlliterationOnomatopoeia

SimileMetaphor

Idiom

AlliteratioAlliterationn

Down the slippery slide they slidSitting slightly sideways;Slipping swiftly see them skidOn holidays and Fridays. ~by Michael Rosen

Alliteration is the repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of words.

OnomatopoeiaOnomatopoeia

The rusty spigotsputters,

uttersa splutter,

spatters a smattering of drops,gashes wider;

slash,splatters,scatters,spurts,

finally stops sputteringand plash!

gushes rushes splashesclear water dashes.

~by Eve Merriam

Words using onomatopoeia are words which imitate the sounds that it makes.

CombinationCombination

Sometimes a poet will combine two or more literary devices. Can you tell what two devices are used in the verse below?

“ice cubes clinking clatter clink, crazily inside my drink” ~from Ice Cubes by Joan Graham

SimileSimile

“Arithmetic is where numbers fly like pigeons in and out of your head.”

~from Arithmetic by Carl Sandburg

A simile is a comparison of two unlike things using _____ or _____. Can you fill in the blanks?

MetaphorMetaphor

Full Circle

A little girl clops in mommy's heels,her dress, a floppy hat.

The borrowed pearls she's chosendangle halfway down her back.

Her face a shining rainbow,ruby lips, cheeks tinted pink,blue splashes on both eyelids,powder snowflakes in the sink.

- From CJ Heck

A metaphor  is the comparison of two things but doesn't use the word "like" or “as in the sentence or phrase ?

IdiomIdiomAn idiom is a phrase whose words have a different meaning other than its original meaning.

You can't cry over spilled milk! 'my mother always said. 

'Life's not a piece of cake! ' she hammered in my head. 

'That's the way it goes, ' that's the way the cookie crumbles' 

My mother saved her idioms for all my idiotic troubles. 

Jon Randal

PersonificatPersonificationionPersonification gives human

characteristics and qualities to nonhuman things like animals and objects.

GamesChipmunks chatter and scurry,Blue jays scream and scold.Robins talk and gossipdemanding their story to be told.Squirrels skip and box one anotherand rabbits play hop scotch.The games they play, the sounds they makeReally are top notch.

BrainPOPBrainPOP

Enjoy Poetry!Enjoy Poetry!Poetry opens up a whole new world

that is different from prose. Try these things:

Check out a poetry book from the library.Start a collection of poetry by copying your favorites into a poetry journal.

Try your hand at writing some of your own poetry.