1. Poetry

2. A Poem by Billy Collins Introduction to Poetry
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it was a hose
to find out what it really means.

3. The Basics
“As a poet, exercise the courage to explore your unconventional feelings,” (pg 229). It takes courage to write and share poetry so it is important to keep an open mind during the process.
Poems have as much to do with sound, rhythm and overtones as they do with making statements

4. Sophisticated vs. Simple poetry
Do your best to express true feelings, reflections and emotions.
Be honest with yourself and don’t be afraid to go to a place you have not gone before, or haven’t allowed yourself to go.
We’ve all written the “roses are red, violets are blue…” poem—let’s try on something different here and stay away from greeting card poetry.

5. Differences between prose and poetry
Poetry uses the poetic line rather than the sentence as the primary unit
Poetry relies more on images than on abstractions
Poetry cultivates the sound of words
Poetry develops rhythms of language
Poetry creates density by implying more than is stated

6. Seven Deadly Sins of Poetry
The impenetrable-haze Poem—Yes, you have liberty to be playful with poetry but you still need to have an air of cohesiveness. Random images that do not connect will confuse the reader.
Truth-in-a-nutshell poem—A lot of poems attempt to define truth, beauty, love or evil. Though these abstractions may be interesting places to start, they are often cliché. If you want to write about such abstractions, you must ground it in a specific truth or image (see Stephen Dunn’s poem on page 217 for an example of what I mean).

7. Seven Deadly Sins of Poetry
Oh-Poor-Miserable-Me poem—This is often common with new poetry writers and it’s easy to gravitate toward because we may have a lot to vent about. While at times self pity can be genuine, avoid using it repeatedly in your poetry.
The Marching-band poem—Rhyme is important to poetry and the sound of your words has a great impact on your audience, but predicable rhyming is better suited to greeting cards, nursery rhymes, song lyrics, etc. We want to create something new here
Hark, the antique language poem—This is essentially a poem that draws primarily on “old” language (twixt, oft, etc.). Write in the context of NOW not THEN.

8. Seven Deadly Sins of Poetry
The Wailing Violin poem—This one is a fine line because it tends to go overboard on emotions yet we want emotion in our poetry. Too much sentimentality can irritate a reader, but just the right about of GENUINE emotion will entice the reader.
The “All Them” poem—This poem incorporates sweeping generalizations about “all women,” “all men,” etc. Be careful not to lump ALL individuals into one category.

9. How do I begin Writing Poetry?
Visual impressions—A majority of poetry of all types focuses on an image or images. Don’t limit yourself to visual impressions though, all of your senses can provide critical ideas for poetry.
People in your life—looking at those around you and the important people in your life is a great place to start when beginning poetry. Look at the relationships you have with your friends, parents, siblings, grandparents, etc. Relationships are never easy and almost always a complex dynamic of human interaction—so trust me, there is plenty to write about!

10. How do I begin Writing Poetry?
Freewrite on a topic, image, or idea you have to generate new ideas. Expose all of your thoughts on paper in sentence form then go back and pluck out ideas or words that move you. This could be the start of a poem.
Explore your journal—this one is my favorite and has really helped me to discover interesting topics that have long ago been brewing in my subconscious. Go back and reread all of your journal entries—are there any fires burning?
If you keep a private journal, consider making a list of things you honestly feel but don’t tell anyone. IF you do so, as Dunn recommends, “late at night,” you may understand how such secrets are “like a small fire.” They burn “if you get too close,” but they may also serve as the genesis of new poems,” (pg 229).
Page 234 provides six ways to jump-start a new poem, some of which have been included here. Use this as you begin exploring poetry.

11. Types of Poems we will write
Haikus
3 Stanza object poem
Free Verse (image poem)
Poem of your choice: if you want a challenge, try some of the Stanza poems in Chapter 31 (rhyming couplets, triplets, quatrains, rhyme royal, sonnet, rondeau, pantoom, villanelle)

12. Haiku
A form of Japanese poetry—in English it is typically broken down into three lines
First line has five syllables
Second line has seven syllables
Third line has five syllables
Thus forming a 5,7,5 stanza
Traditionally the haiku draws on some aspect of nature and either states or implies a particular season.

13. 3 Stanza object poem Consists of three stanzas or sections
Each section includes a reference to a specific object the author has chosen
The sections stand alone in story but correlate in theme

14. Image poem/free verse One or multiple images are the focus of the poem
Often written without meter
There is no regular rhyme scheme in free verse
The author is at liberty to play within poetry with free verse—not tied to a specific set of stanzas.

15. Stanza poems You could try one of these for your poem of choice
Rhyming Couplets: two lines that rhyme—this could turn in to a deadly sin if not careful. It can become boring after awhile.
Triplets: A poetic stanza with three lines, often rhyming
Quatrains: A poetic stanza with four lines
Rhyme royal: A seven line stanza in iambic pentameter
Sonnet: A metered and rhymed poem of 14 lines usually in iambic pentameter.
Rondeau: Consists of three stanzas—first has five lines, second four lines and last has six lines.
Pantoum: A verse formed in quatrains (stanzas of four lines). Lines 2 and 4 in each stanza repeat as lines 1 and 3 in the next stanza.
Villanelle: A French verse form of 19 lines in iambic pentameter divided into five tercets (same as a triplet, stanza with three lines) and a final four-line stanza.

16. Poetry buzz words
Stanza: In metered poetry a regularly recurring group of lines usually separated by spaces and unified by line length, metrical system, and often by a rhyme scheme.
Iambic pentameter: is a type of meter that is used in poetry and drama. It describes a particular rhythm that the words establish in each line. That rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables; these small groups of syllables are called 'feet'. The word 'iambic' describes the type of foot that is used. The word 'pentameter' indicates that a line has five of these 'feet'.
Image: An item that can be perceived by one of the five senses. The most common are visual details.
Meter: A system of stressed and unstressed syllables that creates rhythm in certain types of verse.
Rhyme scheme: A recurring pattern of rhymed endings repeated regularly in each stanza of a poem.

17. Now let’s look at some examples
Hakiu—pg 204
3 Stanza poem—handout
Image poem—pg 207
Stanza Choice—pg 205

18. Reading Poetry
In small groups, read at least six poems from Chapter 26—you can choose which ones interest you.
Read following the guidelines on page 199 of Three Genres: Slow down, give it multiple readings, return to puzzling lines or phrases, use a pencil and mark it up!
Next, answer the questions following each poem and the following questions: What moved you about the poem? What images stand out to you and why? Please write you answers down and be ready to share with the class your discoveries