Poetic Devices The Sounds of Poetry

Poetic Devices Poetry is the kind of thing poets write. — Robert Frost Man, if you gotta ask, you’ll never know. — Louis Armstrong

Poetic License “The freedom given to poets to ignore standard rules of grammar or proper diction in order to create a desired artistic effect.”

Introduction to Poetry Poetry is the most misunderstood form of writing. It is also arguably the purest form of writing. Poetry is a sense of the beautiful; characterized by a love of beauty and expressing this through words. It is art. Like art it is very difficult to define because it is an expression of what the poet thinks and feels and may take any form the poet chooses for this expression.

Onomatopoeia When a word’s pronunciation imitates its sound. Examples Buzz , Fizz, Woof, Hiss, Clink, Boom, Bee, Vroom, Zip He crashed into the car as he heard the screech of the wheels.

Repetition Repeating a word or words for effect. Example Nobody No, nobody Can make it out here alone. Alone, all alone Nobody, but nobody

Rhythm When words are arranged in such a way that they make a pattern or beat. Example There once was a girl from Chicago Who dyed her hair pink in the bathtub I’m making a pizza the size of the sun. Hint: hum the words instead of saying them.

Rhyme When words have the same end sound. Happens at the beginning, end, or middle of lines. Examples Where Fair Air Bear Glare

Alliteration When the first sounds in words repeat. Example Peter Piper picked a pickled pepper. We lurk late. We shoot straight. Silently seeking the silky sounds.

Consonance When consonants repeat in the middle or end of words. Vowels: a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y. Consonants: all other letters. Examples Mammals named Sam are clammy. Curse, bless me now! With fierce tears I prey.

Assonance Assonance - The repetition of vowel sounds in a line of poetry. Vowels: a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y. Consonants: all other letters. Examples Hear the mellow wedding bells from Edgar Allen Poe Try to light the fire Elaine waited in plain train

Imagery Imagery - These are the mental pictures that are created by the poet. The poet makes use of the five senses (see, touch, taste, smell and hear). Used to create sense impressions of actual experiences. Examples The hot July sun beat relentlessly down, casting an orange glare over the farm buildings, the fields, the pond. Even the usually cool green willows bordering the pond hung wilted and dry.

Practice Quiz I’ll put some lines of poetry on the board. Write down which techniques are used: Alliteration, consonance, rhythm, rhyme, and onomatopoeia. Some poems use more than one technique.

1 The cuckoo in our cuckoo clock was wedded to an octopus. She laid a single wooden egg and hatched a cuckoocloctopus. Options: Onomatopoeia Consonance Alliteration Repetition Rhythm Rhyme

2 They are building a house half a block down and I sit up here with the shades down listening to the sounds, the hammers pounding in nails, thack thack thack thack, and then I hear birds, and thack thack thack, Options: Onomatopoeia Consonance Alliteration Repetition Rhythm Rhyme

3 very little love is not so bad or very little life what counts is waiting on walls I was born for this I was born to hustle roses down the avenues of the dead. Options: Onomatopoeia Consonance Alliteration Repetition Rhythm Rhyme

4 The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy. Options: Onomatopoeia Consonance Alliteration Repetition Rhythm Rhyme

5 Homework! Oh, homework! I hate you! You stink! I wish I could wash you away in the sink. Options: Onomatopoeia Consonance Alliteration Repetition Rhythm Rhyme

Answers 1. Repetition, rhythm, rhyme, consonance, and light alliteration. 2. Onomatopoeia, consonance, repetition Alliteration, repetition Rhythm, rhyme, light alliteration Repetition, rhyme, rhythm