Forms of Poetry

Poetry

Poetry

What is it?

• a type of literature that expresses ideas, feelings, or tells a story in a specific form

(usually using lines and stanzas)

• A very unique form of literature
• A special way of capturing experiences

or feelings

• Good poetry uses vivid imagery
• Comes in all shapes and forms

• Can be short or long
• Manages to say a lot with just a few carefully chosen words
• Is intended to be read aloud
• Is personal and can be about anything and everything

Poetry is Everywhere!

Line:

Line:

a unit of meaning
(1 word, a phrase, or even a sentence)
Stanza:
lines that are grouped together
(usually each has the same number of lines)
Rhyme:
The repetition of sounds at the end of
lines or with in lines (rhyming pattern)
Rhyme Scheme:
The pattern of rhyme in a poem
(aabb or abab)

Rhyme Scheme

• Uses the letters of the alphabet to represent sounds to be able to visually “see” the pattern
• Are labeled according to their rhyme sounds (aabbcc)
• 1st rhyme sound in a poem is “a” and each time the 1st rhyme sound is heard, it is “a”
• 2nd rhyme sound in a poem is “b” and each time the 2nd rhyme sound is heard, it is “b”
• The pattern continues with “c”, “d”, etc.

Poem:
a piece of writing often having a rhyme
or rhythm which tells a story or
describes a feeling
Free Verse:
poetry that does not have a regular
pattern of rhythm or rhyme
Literal Language:
a way in which you express yourself by saying exactly what you mean
Characters:
the people or animals that act like
people in poems that tell a story
Types of Poems

Free Verse

• Written without rhyme or rhythm
• Is very conversational – sounds like someone talking with you
• Some do not use punctuation or capitalization, or other ways of breaking the rules of grammar.
• A more modern type of poetry
• Use your “senses” when writing

I Dream’d in a Dream
I DREAM’D in a dream I saw a city
invincible to the attacks of the whole of
the rest of the earth,
I dream’d that was the new city of Friends,
Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust love, it led to rest,
It was seen every hour n the actions of the men of that city,
And in all their looks and words.
by Walt Whitman

A Snowy Day

A snowy day is white
A snowy day is snowmen and snow angels
A snowy day is sledding
A snowy day is cold
Cold
Wear your coat, hat, gloves and scarf.
See your breath.
My teeth shiver.
Listen to the wind blow.
The cold smells like frozen snow.
Review

• Name three ways you can describe poetry.

2. What are lines that are grouped together?
3. What do you call the pattern of rhyme in
a poem?
4. What type of poem uses no rhyme or
rhythm?

Figurative Language:
an elaborate way of expressing
yourself in which you don’t say
exactly what you mean
Simile:
a comparison of 2 unlike things that uses a word
of comparison such as “like’ or “as”
(a type of figurative language)
Metaphor:
compares 2 unlike things, but does not use a
word of comparison
(a type of figurative language)
Personification:
gives human qualities to nonhuman things
(a type of figurative language)

Similes

• A comparison of two things using “like” or “as”
• Usually comparing 2 unlike things

Example:

She is as beautiful as a sunrise.

My love is like a red rose.

What’s in a poem?

• A poet paints a picture or expresses a feeling with words.
• Poems are usually written in a brief songlike manner.
• The poet uses unusual combination of words to describe

people, places, and things.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
by William Wadsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.