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CHAPTER II. THE KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF POETRY
2.1. Importance of poetry
Poetry is a good way to develop language; not only grammatically, but also cognitively. Poetry has through history been a way to express feelings, contemplate moral and social issues and to give words to a situation, real or surreal. Poetry is different from prose and other literary genres; it can express feelings and situations without explicit explanations. It demands and develops creativity which leads to a confrontation with emotions and values. 11 Thus, poetry is a good tool to talk about life, society and our own values. The History professor and director of Centrum för värdegrundsstudier Bo Andersson argues that poetry in itself encourages discussion about values.
He says that poetry always has to be read as a dialogue between poet and reader where values and background are to be discussed.12 Wolf also argues that poetry is an excellent way to teach values. He gives several reasons. Firstly, poetry helps students to understand other contexts and the lives of other people. Secondly, poetry opens doors to the emotional life and can therefore help students to handle feelings. Thirdly, poetry can help students to handle difficult situations and put words on their own lives and life stories.13 Poetry has the advantage that much can be said in very few words.
Reading a poem can pose questions about life or a situation that confront the reader. Writing poetry can also help a person to express inner feelings without putting it in exact words or long sentences. Thus, poetry can serve many perspectives of teaching values; it is a way to confront values, but also a useful tool to discuss the fundamental values of individuals, institutions or societies.
Reading poetry helps children about voice, pitch, volume, and inflection. While these are mainly functions of speech, they’re also incredibly important for children learning to read. Poetry can teach young readers about speech patterns, which can give them cues to the words on a page.
Additionally, rhyming can help kids identify sounds in words and identify word families. For example, check out this stanza in the poem “The Letter A” by Darren Sardelli:

“Without the A, you couldn’t aim

an arrow in the air.
You wouldn’t ask for apricots
or almonds at a fair.”

This stanza could help young readers practice the short “a” and long “a” sounds and expose them to word families such as “air” and “fair.” For children learning to read, poems that play with sound and rhyme like this one can offer a new perspective on phonetics.

Builds vocabulary
Like any form of reading, poetry can introduce children to new words. Poetry is unique in that it typically follows a rhythm. When children read sentences and phrases that have a cadence, it introduces them to new words in new contexts.
Even though it may not seem like it, a poem that rhymes is the result of certain restrictions a poet followed during the writing process. If they want every other line of a poem to rhyme, there are a limited number of rhyming word pairs that could contextually fit in the first and third lines. For the poet, this results in surprising new connections between words. For the reader, these new connections translate to a larger vocabulary.
In “The Dentist and the Crocodile,” Roald Dahl rhymes common words with new words your young reader may not know:

“The crocodile, with cunning smile, sat in the dentist’s chair.

He said, ‘Right here and everywhere my teeth require repair.’”

While “chair” is a pretty common word, “repair” may be less familiar to your child in the same word family. The fact that these words rhyme creates a connection between them, which may make these specific words and other words with an ending “-air” sound easier to remember. At the very least, this poem would help a young reader add “repair” to their vocabulary.

Imagery
The only thing that will make your poetry powerful and enticing is great imagery. This goes along with the line you always hear “show don’t tell.” Only with poetry, it’s ALL show and NO tell. For the love of god, don’t just say that love hurts, give us a metaphor. Show us a weapon, maybe draw some blood. Make it appeal to the five senses.
Rhythm
Yes, rhythm can include rhyme. No, it doesn’t have to. It’s not even recommended. In fact, the further away you can get from Dr. Seuss, the better. (Of course not all poems that rhyme are obnoxious, but I think you can use fair judgement here.)
There are other ways to make a poem rhythmic without rhyme. Stringing words with similar sounds together in a line works very well.
(this is an example of assonance, the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words)
Simultaneous hate came with the pain (this is an example of consonance, the repetition of consonant sounds at the end or middle of words)
the same rhymes are momentously timed
Sound
The rhythm of a poem goes along with the general sound of it as well as making it easier to remember. There are two sound patterns to know here. One is soft and harmonious, I like to think of it like the sound of angels humming. This is euphony.
In euphony, words are chosen for their soft consonant sounds and melodious quality.
(euphonious letters/sounds: L, O, S, SH, M, N, Y, W, U, PH, A)
Lulled minds like sunny lakes in summertime
The other sounds more like large metal machines clanging about in an empty warehouse. It’s much harsher and the sounds kind of rattle off your tongue. This is cacophony.
In cacophony, words are chosen for their hard sounds and general obnoxiousness.
(cacophonic letters/sounds: K, J, T, Q, V, C, X, G, Z, CH)
Childish tales of gung-ho attitudes never results in progress.
Density
Density is what sets poetry apart from prose (normal speech patterns/ the way fiction and nonfiction books are written) Density is how much is said in how little of space. The ability to use metaphors, not conform to traditional grammar styles, and incorporate sounds and rhythms is unique to poetry. All of these allow for greater density.
As you describe an image, you’re actually underlying a metaphor, which expresses an idea about the human condition, while simultaneously persuading the reader to feel a certain way through the sound and rhythm of the words, and all of this is done in the same space. Pros can’t, and never will, be able to do that.
Line
In traditional poetry, you’re a prisoner to the line. The line owns you, telling you “Four lines there, five there, then four again.” So as a poet in the hipster age, of course you don’t want to conform. Unless you’re so against the grain that you actually want to write traditional poetry. But whatever the case may be, the line is a very important part of poetry. In fact, that’s another thing that makes it unique to pros. In prose, you can format the lines however you want and it has no impact on the writing. However, in poetry, that’s not the case.
In poetry, the line is like one sentence. And since poetry doesn’t conform to grammar rules, and no one is obliged to use a period, the end of a line is like a period would be in pros. It creates a natural pause, making a break in the flow. This is a tool you can use to control the rhythm of your poetry. So keeping the way you break your lines up in mind is crucial to writing great poems.