Elements of PoetryElements of PoetryProf. Miguel A. Arce Ramos

English 8thProf. Miguel A. Arce Ramos

English 8th

What is poetry?

Poetry is the art of expressing one’s thoughts in verse.

It is meant to be read aloud.

Poetry arouses emotions.

Poems use imagery or figures of speech to explain feelings or to create a mental picture or idea.

What is poetry?

Poems will suggest an action or a mood.

Many poems have a specific rhyme scheme.

Some poems rhyme but there are others that do not rhyme.

Parts of a Poem - LinesPoems have lines that are organized.

Lines don’t have to be complete sentences.

Lines in poems are named:

2 lines is a couplet

3 lines a triplet

4 lines a quatrain

Parts of a Poem

Lines in poems are named:

5 lines is a cinquain

6 lines a sestet

8 lines a octet

Parts of a Poem“To a Snowflake”

1. Hello little snowflake!

2. Where are all your friends?

3. Should I expect a lot of them

4. before the morning ends?

5. I love it when you come to me

6. and you all fall down together,

7. and I get dressed to visit you,

8. toasty warm in cold, cold weather.

Parts of a Poem - Stanzas

A stanza is a group of lines. It often has 4, 5, or 6 lines

Two line stanzas are called couplets.

They usually develop an idea and provides poems structure.

Beginning new stanzas often signals the beginning of a new image, thought, or idea.

Parts of a Poem - Rhyme and Rhyme Scheme

Words rhyme when they have the same sound.

Poems often use rhyme at the end of lines.

Rhyme scheme is a pattern of rhymes in a poem.

Poets use rhyme to add a musical sound to their poems.

Parts of a Poem - Stanzas

A million stars up in the sky - A

one shines brighter I can't deny - A

A love so precious a love so true - B

a love that comes from me to you - B

The angels sing when you are near - C

within your arms I have nothing to fear - C

You always know just what to say - D

just talking to you makes my day - D

I love you honey with all of my heart - E

together forever and never to part. - E

Types of Poems -Free Verse

Poetry written without a regular rhyme, rhythm and form.

There is no specific rhyme scheme used.

Types of Poems -Free Verse

Feelings, Now by Katherine Forman

Some kind of attraction that is neither

Animal, vegetable, nor mineral, a power not

Solar, fusion, or magnetic

And it is all in my head that

I could see into his

And find myself sitting there.

Parts of a Poem -Alliteration

Repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of several words, sentences, or lines.

They have the same beginning sounds.

For example,The cheap, charging, Challenger

from the consumate car company

greatness going for this grandioso

gas guzziling car

it sucks that I can’t afford one

because that is a car I love

Parts of a Poem -ImageryImagery is language that appeals to the 5 senses.

These are “word pictures”

For example,

There is a thing

beneath my stairs

with smily face

and oily hair

that does not move

or speak or sing

or do another

single thing

Parts of a Poem - SimileA simile is a comparison between two things using the words like or as.

Poets use comparisons between things to make you think about them in different ways.For example,

She’s like the wind

Something you can’t see

but definitely you can feel

She’s as hot as fire

You touch her

There is nothing more you can desire

Parts of a Poem -MetaphorA metaphor is a direct comparison between two things.

It does not use like or as.

For example, Dreams by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams can die

Life is a broken winged bird

That cannot fly

Hold fast to your dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow

Parts of a Poem -OnomatopoeiaIt is the use of words that sound like the words that they describe.

Poets use these words not by what they mean but with how they sound.

For example, The Fourth by Shel Silverstein

Oh

Crash!

my

Bash!

the

Zang!

Fourth

Whoosh!

of Baroom!

July

Whew!

Parts of a Poem -Personification

Type of figure of speech that gives human qualities to animals, objects or ideas.

For example, Snowy Benches by Aileen Fisher

Do parks get lonely

in winter, perhaps,

when benches have only

snow on their laps?

Surf by Lillian Morrison

Waves want

to be wheels

They jump for it

and fail

fall flat

like pole vaulters

and sprawl

arms outstretched

foam fingers

reaching