Understanding Poetry

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In poetry the sound and meaning of words are combined to express feelings, thoughts, and ideas.

The poet chooses words carefully.

Poetry is usually written in lines, NOT sentences.

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Poetry Elements

Rhythm Sound Imagery Form

Writers use many elements to create their poems. These elements include:

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Rhythm Rhythm is the flow of the

beat in a poem. Gives poetry a musical

feel. Can be fast or slow,

depending on mood and subject of poem.

You can measure rhythm in meter, by counting the beats in each line.

(See next two slides for examples.)

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Rhythm Example

The pickety fenceThe pickety fenceGive it a lick it'sThe pickety fenceGive it a lick it'sA clickety fenceGive it a lick it's a lickety fenceGive it a lickGive it a lickGive it a lickWith a rickety stickpicketypicketypicketypick.

The Pickety Fence by David McCord

The rhythm in this poem is fast – to match the speed of the stick striking the fence.

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Rhythm Example

When the night begins to fallAnd the sky begins to glowYou look up and see the tallCity of lights begin to grow –In rows and little golden squaresThe lights come out. First here, then thereBehind the windowpanes as thoughA million billion bees had builtTheir golden hives and honeycombsAbove you in the air.

By Mary Britton Miller

Where Are You Now?

The rhythm in this poem is slow – to match the night gently falling and the lights slowly coming on.

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Sound

Rhyme Repetition Alliteration Onomatopoeia

Writers love to use interesting sounds in their poems. After all, poems are meant to be heard. These sound devices include:

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Rhyme

Rhymes are words that end with the same sound. (Hat, cat and bat rhyme.)

Rhyming sounds don’t have to be spelled the same way. (Cloud and allowed rhyme.)

Rhyme is the most common sound device in poetry.

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Rhyme Scheme

Poets can choose from a variety of different rhyming patterns.

(See next four slides for examples.)

AABB – lines 1 & 2 rhyme and lines 3 & 4 rhyme

ABAB – lines 1 & 3 rhyme and lines 2 & 4 rhyme

ABBA – lines 1 & 4 rhyme and lines 2 & 3 rhyme

ABCB – lines 2 & 4 rhyme and lines 1 & 3 do not rhyme

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AABB Rhyme Scheme

Snow makes whiteness where it falls.

The bushes look like popcorn balls.

And places where I always play,

Look like somewhere else today.

By Marie Louise Allen

First Snow

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ABAB Rhyme Scheme

I love noodles. Give me oodles.

Make a mound up to the sun.

Noodles are my favorite foodles.

I eat noodles by the ton.

By Lucia and James L. Hymes, Jr.

Oodles of Noodles

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ABBA Rhyme Scheme

Let me fetch sticks,

Let me fetch stones,

Throw me your bones,

Teach me your tricks.

By Eleanor Farjeon

From “Bliss”

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ABCB Rhyme Scheme

The alligator chased his tail

Which hit him in the snout;

He nibbled, gobbled, swallowed it,

And turned right inside-out.

by Mary Macdonald

The Alligator

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Repetition

Repetition occurs when poets repeat words, phrases, or lines in a poem.

Creates a pattern. Increases rhythm. Strengthens feelings, ideas

and mood in a poem. (See next slide for example.)

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Repetition Example

Some one tossed a pancake,A buttery, buttery, pancake.Someone tossed a pancakeAnd flipped it up so high,That now I see the pancake,The buttery, buttery pancake,Now I see that pancakeStuck against the sky.

by Sandra Liatsos

The Sun

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Alliteration

Alliteration is the repetition of the first consonant sound in words, as in the nursery rhyme “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”

(See next slide for example.)

The snake slithered silently along the sunny sidewalk.

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Alliteration Example

I jiggled it jaggled it jerked it.

I pushed and pulled and poked it.But –As soon as I stopped,And left it aloneThis tooth came outOn its very own!

by Lee Bennett Hopkins

This Tooth

Assonance

Assonance is the repetition of similar vowel sounds in a line of poetry

Ex: Hear the mellow wedding bells

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Assonance ExampleSpring Kids

The morning was cold with a bold statementThe morning dew was wet and set in the ground

You could taste the spring paste fill the airIt made you feel real, refreshed and lively

Should you go out and play? I wouldYoung girls and boys grab their toys and play

Boys playin' in dirt while girls play with their pearlsThe mom would tap her foot to say "nap time kids"

The kids always enjoy their snack packThe spring melted away the snow and felt like mush

The grass was as brass as a trumpet but was slowing turningThe three trees in the front were a rusty brown

- Bree Christen 19

Consonance

Consonance is the repetition of similar consonant sounds in a line of poetry

Ex: Rap rejects my tape deck, ejects projectile

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Consonance ExampleThe Sleeper

At midnight, in the month of June,I stand beneath the mystic moon.

An opiate vapor, dewy, dim,Exhales from out her golden rim,

And, softly dripping, drop by drop,Upon the quiet mountain top,Steals drowsily and musically

Into the universal valley."

- Edgar Allen Poe21

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Onomatopoeia

Words that represent the actual sound of something are words of onomatopoeia. Dogs “bark,” cats “purr,” thunder “booms,” rain “drips,” and the clock “ticks.”

Appeals to the sense of sound.

(See next slide for example.)

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Onomatopoeia Example

Scrunch, scrunch, scrunch.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Frozen snow and brittle ice

Make a winter sound that’s nice

Underneath my stamping feet

And the cars along the street.

Scrunch, scrunch, scrunch.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

by Margaret Hillert

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