Poetry Vocabulary

Poetry Poetry is literature that uses the fewest words to express the most meaning. Poems may or may not rhyme.

Pieces of a poem: Bad Hair Day I looked in the mirror line with shock and with dread to discover two antlers had sprung from my head. Stanza Rhyming words

Lines The lines may or may not be sentences. When reading a poem, read for punctuation first. Line breaks don’t always help understanding.

Stanzas Groups of lines in traditional poetry, often separated by a space. A poetic paragraph. What Bugs Me When my teacher tells me to write a poem. When my mother tells me to clean up my room. When my sister practices her violin while I’m watching TV. When my father tells me to turn off the TV and do my homework. When my brother picks a fight with me and I have to go to bed early. When my teacher asks me to get up in front of the class and read the poem I wrote on the school bus. Stanza

Free Verse Poems that do not usually rhyme and have no fixed rhythm or pattern. Popular during the Modern Period (WWI & II) We will be focusing on older, more structured poetry

Sound Devices The way a poem sounds often helps discover its meaning. Elements of poetry that use one type of sound related characteristic. Meter Rhyme

Meter The RHYTHM of the poem – how it sounds in beats. A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. Meter occurs when the stressed and unstressed syllables of the words in a poem are arranged in a repeating pattern. “To be or not to be, that is the question.”

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary. Rhyme Sounds that are alike at the end of words, such as snow and crow. End rhyme - at end of lines Internal rhyme such as: Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary. Slant Rhyme- words that do not exactly rhyme such as “rose and lose.”

Sample Rhyme scheme A mighty creature is the germ, A The Germ by Ogden Nash A mighty creature is the germ, A Though smaller than the pachyderm. A His customary dwelling place B Is deep within the human race. B His childish pride he often pleases C By giving people strange diseases. C Do you, my poppet, feel infirm? A You probably contain a germ. A A scheme is noted in capital letters

Alliteration Consonant sounds repeated close together, usually at the beginnings of words We usually refer to them as soft or hard sounds “Tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day. . . “

“Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep.” Assonance Repeated VOWEL sounds in a line or lines of poetry Examples of ASSONANCE: “Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep.” - William Shakespeare

Consonance Like assonance, consonance appears in the middle of words as repeated consonant sounds. Ex. "And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain“ Ex. Pitter patter of little feet on the stairs.

Tone The writer's attitude toward his readers and his subject; his mood or moral view. A writer can be formal, informal, playful, ironic, and especially, optimistic or pessimistic.

Diction Diction refers to both the choice and the order of words. It has typically been split into vocabulary and syntax. It might help to think of diction as a iceberg rather than a level: There's typically something deeper than a surface meaning to consider.

Diction (Vocabulary) Notice the differences between these three sentences: She picked up a fruit from the ground, where it lay. She pilfered an apple that had fallen from its tree. The lovely woman stooped and grabbed the fallen apple. In all three versions we have the basic elements—a woman, an apple, a tree—but they are given different emphasis.

Diction (Syntax) How can you rewrite the following sentence: She took an apple from under the tree. First, let’s alter the order, or syntax: From under the tree she took an apple. She, from under the tree, took an apple. From under the tree, an apple she took. What does each one change?

Diction (Syntax) They all make sense; we haven’t altered the basic meaning. But all three of these altered versions change something: From under the tree she took an apple. The first brings the rhyme (she/tree) closer together. She, from under the tree, took an apple. The second plays on our notion of suspense.

Diction (Syntax) From under the tree, an apple she took. The third sounds like it belongs in a ballad or some other form where the “took” at the end of the sentence is there either for emphasis, or to set up a rhyme.

Figurative Language and other poetic devices Simile Metaphor Hyperbole Idiom Personification

Imagery Words or phrases that appeal to the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Imagery is what helps you paint a picture or imagine what is happening or what the poet is feeling. Example: “The hamburgers sizzled on the grill……”

Simile A comparison of two things using the words like or as. Her smile was bright like the sun! The peach was as delicious as a kiss. My dog is as mean as a snake.

Metaphor A comparison of two things WITHOUT using “as or like” His face is a puzzle to me, I can never figure out what he is thinking.

Personification Giving an animal or an object human qualities. My dog smiles at me. The house glowed with happiness. The car was irritated when she pumped it full of cheap gas.

Symbolism When a person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself also represents, or stands for, something else. = Innocence = America =Peace

Idiom An expression where the literal meaning of the words is not the meaning of the expression. It means something other than what it actually says. Ex. It’s raining cats and dogs.

Hyperbole Obvious and intentional exaggeration that must be founded on a small amount of truth. There are a million people in here! I could sleep for a year! I have a ton of homework tonight!

No Where Near the End!!! There is so much more to poetry....we have only scratched the surface.....

Poems to know! You will need copies of the following poems in class – either you lit book or a copy! For each poem – read it the night before and look up words you don’t know.

Poem List Pg 222 “Sonnet 116” Pg 223 “Sonnet 130” Pg 400 “Holy Sonnet 10” Pg 414 “To His Coy Mistress” Pg 448 “To Lucasta on Going to the Wars” Pg 768 “My Last Duchess”

How to Read a Poem Read it once Define new words Read it again Summarize the surface meaning Read it out loud Look for lit devices Ask why they are there Look at the other aspects (diction etc) Try and determine theme