1. Poetry

2.  A poem is created by putting words together in an interesting way to express a feeling, create a mental picture, tell a story, or make a sound.  Poetry entertains the ears and the eyes.

3. Poems Everywhere  Poems can be found in many places.  You might have a collection of poems in one book all written by the same author, like this book by Shel Silverstein.  Or, you might find a collection of poems written by various authors but printed in the same book. This is called an anthology.

4. Poetry Parts

5. Stanza  A stanza in a poem is like a paragraph in an essay.  A stanza is usually separated by some blank space.  Common stanza lengths are two, three, four, six, or eight lines. Winter Song by Katherine Mansfield Rain and wind, and wind and rain. Will the Summer come again? Rain on houses, on the street, Wetting all the people's feet, Though they run with might and main. Rain and wind, and wind and rain. Snow and sleet, and sleet and snow. Will the Winter never go? What do beggar children do With no fire to cuddle to, P'rhaps with nowhere warm to go? Snow and sleet, and sleet and snow. Hail and ice, and ice and hail, Water frozen in the pail. See the robins, brown and red, They are waiting to be fed. Poor dears, battling in the gale! Hail and ice, and ice and hail. How many stanzas does this poem have?

6. Line  A line in a poem is like a sentence in a paragraph.  Sometimes, poets use punctuation to mark the end of a line. Sometimes, they do not. Winter Song by Katherine Mansfield Rain and wind, and wind and rain. Will the Summer come again? Rain on houses, on the street, Wetting all the people's feet, Though they run with might and main. Rain and wind, and wind and rain. How many lines does this stanza have?

7. Refrain  A refrain is a line or group of lines in a poem that are repeated. This line is a refrain. Winter Song by Katherine Mansfield Rain and wind, and wind and rain. Will the Summer come again? Rain on houses, on the street, Wetting all the people's feet, Though they run with might and main. Rain and wind, and wind and rain.

8. Elements of Poetry

9. Rhyme  The repetition of end sounds is called rhyme. Winter Song by Katherine Mansfield Snow and sleet, and sleet and snow. Will the Winter never go ? What do beggar children do With no fire to cuddle to, P'rhaps with nowhere warm to go ? Snow and sleet, and sleet and snow. These words rhyme.

10. Rhyme Scheme  The rhyme scheme of a poem can be determined by marking rhyming lines of the poem with a letter of the alphabet. Winter Song by Katherine Mansfield Snow and sleet, and sleet and snow. A Will the Winter never go ? A What do beggar children do B With no fire to cuddle to, B P'rhaps with nowhere warm to go ? A Snow and sleet, and sleet and snow. A So, the rhyme scheme is A-A-B-B-A-A Find the rhyme scheme.

11. Rhythm/Meter  Rhythm is a regular, patterned repetition of sounds in a poem.  Rhythm is like the beat in music, and can give poetry a musical sound.  Poets often use syllables of words to create a rhythm. The Winter Evening Settles Down T. S. Eliot The winter evening settles down With smell of steaks in passageways. Six o’clock. The burnt-out ends of smoky days. And now a gusty shower wraps The grimy scrap Of withered leaves about your feet And newspapers from vacant lots; The showers beat On broken blinds and chimney-pots, And at the corner of the street A lonely cab-horse steams and stamp. And then the lighting of the lamps. How many syllables are in each line? Why do you think the poet changed the rhythm of the last line?

12. Free Verse or Unrhymed Verse  Free verse or unrhymed poems do not rhyme or have regular rhythm. Winter Trees William Carlos Williams All the complicated details of the attiring and the disattiring are completed! A liquid moon moves gently among the long branches. Thus having prepared their buds against a sure winter the wise trees stand sleeping in the cold.

13. Haiku  A haiku is an unrhymed three-line poem with a very specific rhythm.  The pattern of syllables looks like this: Line 1: 5 syllables Line 2: 7 syllables Line 3: 5 syllables Snow upon the Crows’ Nests Rimei The heavy winter snows Have capped with white the pine-tree tops Where sleep the big black crows A Heavy Snowfall Riu Now all the world is white, But where is one to find a spot To view the lovely sight? A Wintry Landscape Issa The trees are frozen deep In snowy garb, and now and then A bird chirps in its sleep. Do these poems follow the pattern of a haiku?

14. Figurative Language Poets and other writers use figurative language to make their writing more interesting and expressive.

15. Onomatopoeia  Onomatopoeia is the imitation of sounds in word form.

16. The Fourth by Shel SIlverstein Oh CRASH! my BASH! it’s BANG! the ZANG! Fourth WOOSH! of BAROOOM! July WHEW!

17. Alliteration  Alliteration is when almost all of the words in the line have the same beginning sound. Winter from a window Robert Arthur Miller With windows we watch winters whispering winds while we wear whatevers warm, while we wait we wonder whether,weather will slow with what was the worst winter storm. Where we were, within warming walls we watched winters weather wind down. without windows we woud'nt see what was winters whitest snow on the ground.

18. Similes  Poets use similes to compare two objects or ideas.  Similes use the words “like” or “as”.

19. Metaphors  Metaphors also compare two objects or ideas, but do not use “like or “as”.