• 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

• 4 lines

• has several different possible rhyme schemes:

a-a-a-a

a-a-b-b

a-b-a-b

a-b-c-d

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

Pick a topic for your cinquain:

• Love• Music• An animal• School• Friends• A sport

• 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

1. Pick a season.

2. Imagine a place in nature.

3. Create a haiku describing it.

• uses two opposite words• named after a diamond

because of its shape• 7 lines• doesn’t rhyme

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

• Has no strict patterns or rhyme scheme

• Can be serious or humorous

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

Topic ______________

See Hear Smell Feel Taste

Device Example

Poetic Devices

• Poetry that visually conveys the poet's meaning through the graphic arrangement of letters, words, or symbols on the page.

1. Pick a topic

2. Write a poem about it (at least 6 lines)

3. Turn it into a concrete poem