1. Poetry Forms
Power Point #5

2. Epics have 6 main characteristics:
A long narrative poem – that tells an exciting story
Serious tone
Usually doesn’t rhyme
Many lines and stanzas
Usually begins with an appeal to a muse (Greek origins) for inspiration
Epics have 6 main characteristics:
-the hero is of imposing stature, of national or international importance, and of great historical or legendary significance
-the setting is vast, covering many nations, the world, or the universe
-the action consists of deeds of great valor or requiring superhuman courage
-supernatural forces--gods, angels, demons--interest themselves in the action
-a style of sustained elevation is used
-the poet retains a measure of objectivity

3. Epic - Sample Examples: The Faire Queene by Edmund Spencer
Paradise Lost by John Milton
Gilgamesh
The Iliad & The Odyssey by Homer
Beowulf
The Faerie Queene: Book I (1596)
Gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine,
Y cladd in mightie armes and siluer shielde,
Wherein old dints of deepe wounds did remaine,
The cruell markes of many' a bloudy fielde;
Yet armes till that time did he neuer wield:
His angry steede did chide his foming bitt,
As much disdayning to the curbe to yield:
Full iolly knight he seemd, and faire did sitt,
As one for knightly giusts and fierce encounters fitt.

4. Sonnet A 14 line poem Has specific rhyme pattern
Usually written to praise
Many are written about love
Formal/serious tone
Iambic pentameter (rhythm)
Two Kinds of Sonnets
Petrarchan (Italian)
Two stanzas: one of eight lines, followed by a six line stanza
Abbaabba / cdecde
Shakespearean (English)
Four stanzas: three four line stanzas, followed by one couplet
Abab / cdcd / efef / gg

5. By William Shakespeare
Sonnet – Sample
Sonnet 18
By William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? a Thou art more lovely and more temperate: b Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, a And summer's lease hath all too short a date: b Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, c And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; d And every fair from fair sometime declines, c By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; d But thy eternal summer shall not fade e Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; f
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, e When in eternal lines to time thou growest: f So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, g So long lives this, and this gives life to thee g

6. Ode Celebrates a single object or idea
“Ode To Cheese” Ode To Cheese, Which Makes Us Smile, When Cameras go Clack. Ode To Cheese, Which make us taste, The greatest of flavors,
the wackiest of whack. Ode To Cheese, Blue, Gorgonzola, American and Cheddar. Ode To Cheese, Beja and Feta, In all types of weather. Ode To Cheese, For those on a diet, or trying to get fatter. Ode To Cheese, with crackers and wine, with grapes can flatter. Ode To Cheese, when you're sad and happy, Cheese just fits. Ode To Cheese, Mountains and Mountains, or bits and bits. Ode to the Cheese, To appreciate, eat, and take pictures.
Celebrates a single object or idea
Single purpose and deals with a single subject
Can be written on just about anything
May or may not rhyme
Lines and stanzas can vary
Elaborate tone
Is there rhyme here?
How many stanzas?

7. “She Dwelt Among Untrodden Ways”
Elegy
A formal poem that reflects on
death or another solemn theme
Written to memorialize
someone
Formal & serious tone
May or may not rhyme
Lines and stanzas vary
“She Dwelt Among Untrodden Ways”
By William Wordsworth
She dwelt among the untrodden ways Beside the springs of Dove, A Maid whom there were none to praise And very few to love: A violet by a mossy stone Half hidden from the eye! Fair as a star, when only one Is shining in the sky. She lived unknown, and few could know When Lucy ceased to be; But she is in her grave, and, oh, The difference to me!
What is the poet reflecting on in this poem?
Who is he memorializing?

8. Epitaph
Do Believe I’ll Never Leave You
Do believe I’ll never leave you: Always I’ll be in your heart. Don’t forget my soul is near you, And so we’ll never be apart.
Do believe I’ll never leave you: Always I’ll be in your heart. Don’t forget my soul is near you:
Death might take my presence from you, Yet we’ll never be apart. ~Nicholas Gordon
text honoring the deceased, most commonly inscribed on a tombstone or plaque.
Traditionally an epitaph is in verse, but there are exceptions.
Many poets have been known to compose their own epitaphs prior to their death.
A good epitaph is considered to be one that is memorable, or at least makes one think.
A wry trick of many successful epitaphs is to 'speak' to the reader and warn them about their own mortality.
Do not stand at my grave and weep
Do not stand at my grave and weep; I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there, I did not die. ~Mary Frye

9. Epitaph - continued
Here lies Ann Mann, Who lived an old maid But died an old Mann. ~Dec. 8, 1767
Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake Stepped on the gas Instead of the brake.
"I told you I was sick!"
I knew if I waited around long enough something like this would happen — George Bernard Shaw
Pardon me for not getting up — Ernest Hemingway

10. Concrete
Poetry in which the typographical arrangement of words is as important in conveying the intended effect as the conventional elements of the poem, such as meaning of words, rhythm, rhyme and so on.
It is sometimes referred to as visual poetry
May or may not rhyme
Subject can be just about anything
Tone is usually playful or light-hearted
The arrangement of lines and stanzas depends on the shape the poet wishes to make

11. Concrete - Samples