Rhyme Rhyme is the repetition of terminal sounds in two

or more words.

Rhyme scheme is the pattern of end rhymes in a poem. Each new rhyme in a stanza is represented by a different letter of the alphabet.

For example, in a four-line poem in which every other line rhymes, the rhyme scheme is abab. In a six-line poem with every two lines rhyming, the rhyme scheme is aabbcc.

Types of Rhymes and Devices End rhyme: occurs at the ends of lines of poetry. It is the

most common type of rhyme.

Example: Twinkle, twinkle, little star

How I wonder what you are

Internal rhyme: occurs within a line of poetry. Example: While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping

Slant rhyme: occurs when words include similar, but not identical sounds. Also called near rhyme, half rhyme, or off rhyme.

Example: bone and moon; ill and shell; soul and all

Types of Rhymes and Devices Consonance: words that have similar consonant sounds,

but different vowel sounds.

Example: chitter and chatter; pick and sack; spoil and spill

Assonance: words that have repetition of similar vowel sounds, but are not rhyming words.

Example: all and awful; feed and meal; lake and plain

Alliteration: the repetition of one initial consonant sound, in more than one word.

Example: gray, geese, and grazing; weak and weary

Types of Poetry Forms Form: While poetic devices are important in poetry, the

structure of a poem is often its most distinctive characteristic. Poems are written in stanzas, or groups of lines. Fixed Form: a poem that may be categorized by the pattern

of its lines, meter, rhythm, or stanzas; a style of poetry that has set rules.

Free Form: a poem that has neither regular rhyme nor regular meter. Free verse often uses cadences rather than uniform metrical feet.

Blank verse: a poem written in unrhymed iambic pentameter, a pattern of five iambic feet per line. An iambic foot is one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

Lyric Poetry Usually written in first person point of view, lyric

poems portray the poet’s own feelings, states of mind, ideas, and perceptions.

Does not tell a story, and is often musical.

Narrative Poetry A poem that tells a story.

Usually longer than the lyric styles of poetry because the poet needs to establish characters and a plot.

Sonnet The word sonnet means “a little sound or song.”

A sonnet is a highly-structured 14 line poem that explores deeply felt issues such as the fleeting nature of love and the aching questions or mortality.

A traditional sonnet has 14 lines, each of which is written in iambic pentameter.

Sonnets have a set rhyme scheme based on the last words in each line.

A Shakespearean sonnet ends in a couplet and follows this rhyme scheme: ABABCDCDEFEFGG

Sonnet ExampleShall I compare thee to a summer’s day?Thou art more lovely and more temperate.Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,And often is his gold complexion dimmed;And every fair from fair sometime declines,By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;But thy eternal summer shall not fade,Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st.

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Ballad A narrative poem, often of folk origin and intended to

be sung, consisting of simple stanzas and usually having a refrain.

Refrain: a line or set of lines that repeat at regular intervals in other stanzas or sections of the same poem.

Ballad Example"Let It Be“ by The Beatles

When I find myself in times of troubleMother Mary comes to meSpeaking words of wisdom, let it beAnd in my hour of darknessShe is standing right in front of meSpeaking words of wisdom, let it beLet it be, let it beLet it be, let it beWhisper words of wisdom, let it be

And when the broken hearted peopleLiving in the world agreeThere will be an answer, let it beFor though they may be partedThere is still a chance that they will seeThere will be an answer, let it beLet it be, let it be

Let it be, let it beYeah there will be an answer, let it beLet it be, let it beLet it be, let it beWhisper words of wisdom, let it be

Let it be, let it beAh let it be, yeah let it beWhisper words of wisdom, let it beAnd when the night is cloudyThere is still a light that shines on meShine on until tomorrow, let it beI wake up to the sound of music,Mother Mary comes to meSpeaking words of wisdom, let it beYeah let it be, let it beLet it be, yeah let it beOh there will be an answer, let it beLet it be, let it beLet it be, yeah let it beOh there will be an answer, let it beLet it be, let it beAh let it be, yeah let it beWhisper words of wisdom, let it be

Villanelle A 19 line poem that only uses 2 rhymes, while also

repeating 2 lines throughout the poem.

The first 5 stanzas are triplets, and the last stanza is a quatrain (4 line stanza) with the following rhyme scheme:

aba aba aba aba aba abaa

Villanelle ExampleDo not go gentle into that good night,Old age should burn and rave at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how brightTheir frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sightBlind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.Do not go gentle into that good night.Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Sestina An elaborate verse form of Italian origin, normally

unrhymed, consisting of 6 stanzas of 6 lines each and a concluding tercet.

Tercet: 3 line stanza

The final word of each line in the first stanza is repeated in a different order in each of the remaining 5 stanzas and also in the concluding tercet.

Sestina Example“Sestina”

September rain falls on the house.In the failing light, the old grandmothersits in the kitchen with the childbeside the Little Marvel Stove,reading the jokes from the almanac,laughing and talking to hide her tears.

She thinks that her equinoctial tearsand the rain that beats on the roof of the house were both foretold by the almanac,but only known to a grandmother.The iron kettle sings on the stove.She cuts some bread and says to the child,

It's time for tea now; but the childis watching the teakettle's small hard tearsdance like mad on the hot black stove,the way the rain must dance on the house.Tidying up, the old grandmotherhangs up the clever almanac

on its string. Birdlike, the almanachovers half open above the child,hovers above the old grandmotherand her teacup full of dark brown tears.She shivers and says she thinks the housefeels chilly, and puts more wood in the stove.

It was to be, says the Marvel Stove.I know what I know, says the almanac.With crayons the child draws a rigid houseand a winding pathway. Then the childputs in a man with buttons like tearsand shows it proudly to the grandmother.

But secretly, while the grandmotherbusies herself about the stove,the little moons fall down like tearsfrom between the pages of the almanacinto the flower bed the childhas carefully placed in the front of the house.

Time to plant tears, says the almanac.The grandmother sings to the marvelous stoveand the child draws another inscrutable house.

Elizabeth Bishop

Cinquain Cinquain is a short, usually unrhymed poem

consisting of 22 syllables distributed as 2, 4, 6, 8, 2, in 5 lines.

Line 1: Noun

Line 2: Description of Noun

Line 3: Action

Line 4: Feeling or Effect

Line 5: Synonym of the initial Noun

Cinquain Example

Novel

Written stories

Reading all day and night

Transported to a whole new world

Story

Haiku A haiku is a simple poem typically about nature or

scenery, which uses vivid imagery.

A haiku has 3 lines and 17 syllables:

Line 1: 5 syllables

Line 2: 7 syllables

Line 3: 5 syllables

Haiku Example

An old silent pond...A frog jumps into the pond,splash! Silence again.

Diamante A 7 line poem that is in the shape of a diamond.

Line 1: Noun or subject

Line 2: Two adjectives describing the first noun/subject

Line 3: Three –ing words describing the first noun/subject

Line 4: Four words: two about the first noun/subject, two about the antonym or synonym

Line 5: Three –ing words about the antonym or synonym

Line 6: Two adjectives describing the antonym or synonym

Line 7: Antonym or synonym for the subject

Diamante ExampleRain

Humid, damp

Refreshing, dripping, splattering

Wet, slippery, cold, slushy

Sliding, melting, freezing

Frigid, icy

Snow

Epitaph A short poem, saying or other message on a gravestone

in memory of a deceased person.

An epitaph usually has rhyming lines.

Epitaph ExampleOlivia Susan Clemens (1866-1890)

[Daughter of Mark Twain]

Warm summer sun, shine kindly here;

Warm southern wind, blow softly here;

Green sod above, lie light, lie light --

Good-night, dear heart, good-night, good-night.

Acrostic Acrostic Poetry is where the first letter of each line

spells a word, usually using the same words as in the title

Acrostic ExampleHockey is my favorite sport

On the ice or street

Cool and fun

Keep on playing

Exercise and stronger

You should try

Concrete Concrete poetry uses word arrangement, typeface,

color, or other visual effects to complement or dramatize the meaning of the words used.

Concrete Example Bird # 3 by Don J. Carlson

Poe'sraven told

him nothing nevermoreand Vincent's circlingcrows were a threat to destroy

sunlight. Now I saw a bird, black with a yellowbeak, orange rubber legs

pecking to kill thelawn, storm birdhates with claw,

evil beak,sun

and eye

Limerick A short, humorous poem consisting of 5 anapestic

lines.

Lines 1, 2, and 5 of a limerick have 7 to 10 syllables and rhyme with one another.

Lines 3 and 4 have 5 to 7 syllables and also rhyme with each other.

Limerick ExampleThere was an Old Man with a beard

Who said, ‘It is just as I feared!

Two Owls and a Hen,

Four Larks and a Wren,

Have all built their nests in my beard!

Dramatic Monologue A poem in which a single speaker who is not the poet

utters the entire poem at a critical moment.

The speaker has a listener within the poem, but we too are his or her listener, and we learn about the speaker’s character from what the speaker says.

In fact, the speaker may reveal (unintentionally) certain aspects of his/her character.

Dramatic Monologue ExampleWas courtesy, she thought, and cause enoughFor calling up that spot of joy. She had A heart how shall I say? too soon made glad,Too easily impressed; she liked whate'erShe looked on, and her looks went everywhere.Sir, 'twas all one! My favor at her breast,The dropping of the daylight in the West,The bough of cherries some officious foolBroke in the orchard for her, the white muleShe rode with round the terrace all and eachWould draw from her alike the approving speech,Or blush, at least. She thanked men good! but thankedSomehow I know not how as if she rankedMy gift of a nine-hundred-years-old nameWith anybody's gift. Who'd stoop to blameThis sort of trifling? Even had you skillIn speech which I have not to make your will

“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning

That's my last duchess painted on the wall,Looking as if she were alive. I callThat piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf's handsWorked busily a day, and there she stands.Will't please you sit and look at her? I said"Frà Pandolf" by design, for never readStrangers like you that pictured countenance,The depth and passion of its earnest glance,But to myself they turned (since none puts byThe curtain I have drawn for you, but I)And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,How such a glance came there; so, not the firstAre you to turn and ask thus. Sir, 'twas notHer husband's presence only, called that spotOf joy into the Duchess' cheek: perhapsFrà Pandolf chanced to say "Her mantle laps"Over my lady's wrist too much," or "Paint"Must never hope to reproduce the faint"Half-flush that dies along her throat": such stuff

Quite clear to such an one, and say, "Just this"Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss,"Or there exceed the mark" and if she letHerself be lessoned so, nor plainly setHer wits to yours, forsooth, and make excuse,E'en then would be some stooping; and I chooseNever to stoop. Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,Whene'er I passed her; but who passed withoutMuch the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;Then all smiles stopped together. There she standsAs if alive. Will't please you rise? We'll meetThe company below, then. I repeat,The Count your master's known munificenceIs ample warrant that no just pretenseOf mine for dowry will be disallowed;Though his fair daughter's self, as I avowedAt starting, is my object. Nay we'll goTogether down, sir. Notice Neptune, though,Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity,Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!

Ode A lyric poem of moderate length, with a serious

subject, elevated style, and an elaborate stanza pattern.

The ode often praises people, the arts of music and poetry, natural scenes, or abstract concepts.

Ode ExampleOde to Aphrodite - Sappho (c. 630-570 B.C.)

Deathless Aphrodite, throned in flowers,

Daughter of Zeus, O terrible enchantress,

With this sorrow, with this anguish, break my spirit

Lady, not longer!

Hear anew the voice! O hear and listen!

Come, as in that island dawn thou camest,

Billowing in thy yoked car to Sappho

Forth from thy father's

Golden house in pity! ...

Elegy A mournful and thoughtful poem lamenting the death

of a person

Elegy Example“O Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman

“O CAPTAIN! My Captain! our fearful trip is done;The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:But O heart! Heart! Heart!O the bleeding drops of red,Where on the deck my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! My Captain! rise up and hear the bells;Rise up–for you the flag is flung–for you the bugle trills; 10For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths–for you the shores a-crowding;For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;Here Captain! Dear father!This arm beneath your head;It is some dream that on the deck,You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won; 20Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!But I, with mournful tread,Walk the deck my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.”

Epic An epic is a long story told in verse which tells the

great deeds of a hero

An example is The Odyssey

“Aha!” And “Huh?” INSTRUCTIONS: Look through the

information you have recorded in your notes, and then write the following on a separate piece of paper:

1. One or two “Ahas!”: things you have a complete understanding of after today’s lesson.

2. One or two “Huhs?”: things you still have questions about after today’s lesson.