1. Unit 2
Poems
乌海市第十中学：王莉华

2. Quiz in Chinese traditional poems
Can you recite the Chinese traditional poems according to their English translation?

3. If you would ask me how my sorrow has increased,
Just see the over-brimming river flowing east!
《虞美人》
问君能有几多愁，恰似一江春水向东流。
———李煜

4. 明月几时有？把酒问青天。 不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年？
How long will the bright moon appear? Wine-cup in hand, I ask the sky.
I do not know what time of year, It would be tonight in the palace on high.
水调歌头
明月几时有？把酒问青天。 不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年？
——— 苏轼

5. When all at once I turn my head,
I look for her in vain.
When all at once I turn my head,
I find her there where lantern light is dimly shed.
众里寻他千百度， 蓦然回首， 那人却在， 灯火阑珊处。
青玉案. 元夕
--- 辛弃疾

6. Till, raising my cup, I asked the bright moon, To bring me my shadow and make us three.
举杯邀明月，对影成三人。

7. Wildfire never quite consumes them -- They are tall once more in the spring wind.
野火烧不尽，春风吹又生。

8. Rhyme and rhythm are essential to poetry.
Can you find something like a poem?
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Rhyme like a poem!
Rhyme and rhythm are essential to poetry.
Without rhythm, there wouldn’t be poems.

9. poem 诗歌 诗人
诗歌（总称）
韵, 压韵的词 (n.)
压韵 (v.)
节奏 (n.)
有节奏的 (adj.)
poet
poetry
rhyme
rhythm
rhythmic

10. Reading
A Few Simple Forms of English Poems

11. √ √ √ √ √ √ √ Scanning: Scan the poems and fill in the following form.
Which poem A B C D E F G H
Describes a person?
Tells a story
Describes an aspect of a season?
Is about sport?
Is about things that don’t make sense? √ √ √ √ √ √ √

12. √ √ √ √ √ √ √ Which poem A B C D E F G H Is recited to a baby?
Describes a river scene?
Has rhyming words at the end of lines?
Repeats words or phases? √ √ √ √ √ √ √

13. ? Fast reading 1. Why do people write poetry?
2. How many kinds of poems does the text mention? What are they? A
B&C
D&E
F&G H

14. Simple forms of poems Para 1: Brief introduction
Para 2: Nursery rhymes
Para 3: List poems
Para 4: Cinquain poems
Para 5: Haiku poems
Para 6: Tang poems

15. Why do people write poems?
to tell a story
to express feelings
to recall an enjoyable or unpleasant incident
to make others laugh
to tell the life or friendship
to delight the kids
to describe the seasons or scenes
for entertainment
as the lyrics of a song

16. Nursery rhymes
Read Para 2 and find out the characteristics of nursery rhymes.
strong rhythm strong rhyme a lot of repetition
Listen to it and try to clap the beat.
Underline the pair of rhyming words.

17. A Nursery rhyme(童谣) Hush, little baby, don’t say a word,
Papa’s going to buy you a mockingbird.
If that mockingbird won’t sing,
Papa’s going to buy you a diamond ring.
If that diamond ring turns to brass,
Papa’s going to buy you a looking glass.
If that looking-glass gets broke,
Papa’s going to buy you a billy-goat.
If that billy-goat runs away,
Papa is going to buy you another today.
[ə:d]
[in]
[a:s]
[əu]
[ei]

18. List poems
Read Para 3 and answer the following question.
What are list poems like?
repeat phrases
Some have rhyme while others do not.
Listen and underline the pair of rhyming words in Poem B.

19. B List poem (清单诗) I saw a fish-pond all on fire,
I saw a house bow to a squire,
I saw a person twelve-feet high,
I saw a cottage in the sky,
I saw a balloon made of lead,
I saw a coffin drop down dead,
I saw two sparrows run a race,
I saw two horses making lace,
I saw a girl just like a cat,
I saw a kitten wear a hat,
I saw a man who saw these too,
And said though strange they all were true.
List poem
(清单诗)

20. C Our first football match We would have won…
if Jack had just scored that goal,
if we’d had just a few more minutes,
if we had trained harder,
if Ben had passed the ball to Joe,
if we’d had thousands of fans screaming,
if I hadn’t taken my eye off the ball,
if we hadn’t stayed up so late the night before,
if we hadn’t taken it easy,
if we hadn’t run out of energy,
if we’ve been better! C

21. POEM C : Answer the following questions
1. Did his team win the game?
2. How many excuses did they make to explain why they didn’t win?
3. Does the speaker really believe his own excuse? No
Nine No
The reason why they are fail is that they are not good enough.
If no, what is the reason for their failure?

22. Cinquain poems
Read Para 4 and answer the following question.
How many lines is the cinquain made up of?
five lines
Listen and observe Poem D and E carefully. Try to find out the characteristics of the two poems.

23. Five lines D Cinquain (五行诗) (poem D and E) Brother Beautiful ,athletic
Teasing, shouting ,laughing
Friend and enemy too
mine
---one word (topic)
---two adjs
---three verbs with –ing
---four words
---one word

24. E
Summer
Sleepy, salty
Drying, drooping, dreading
Week in, week out
Endless
Does the speaker like the topic?
E: No. The reader gets the feeling that the speaker cannot wait. The words drooping, dreading, week in, week out and endless convey this feeling.

25. Haiku poems
Read Para 5 carefully and find out the similarity and difference between Cinquain and Haiku .
Similarity:
easy to write
a clear picture
convey a special feeling
Difference:
5 lines
17 syllables
Enjoy two poems

26. F G 17 syllables A fallen blossom 雪儿融化了, Snow having melted,
Haiku (俳句诗 ) F
A fallen blossom
is coming back to the branch.
look, a butterfly!
(by Moritake)
17 syllables
落下的花朵
回到了树枝上。
瞧啊，是个蝴蝶！
雪儿融化了,
整个村庄充满着
欢乐的儿童。 G
Snow having melted,
The whole village is brimful
of happy children
(by Issa)

27. Poem H: Tang Poem
Read this poem and answer the following questions.
What is the story that the poem tell? Tell the story in your own words.

28. H A.蝶恋花 B.竹枝词 C.望夫石 D.一剪梅 Where she awaits her husband,
1. What’s the title ?
A.蝶恋花
B.竹枝词
C.望夫石
D.一剪梅
Where she awaits her husband,
On and on the river flows
Never looking back,
Transformed into stone.
Day by day upon the mountain top,
wind and rain revolve.
Should the journeyer return,
this stone would utter speech.
(by Wang Jian)
　　望夫石
　　　　王健
望夫处，江悠悠。
化为石，不回头。
山头日日风复雨，
行人归来石应语。 H

29. ? Which of the following words can convey the woman’s feelings
loneliness B. joy C. love
D. trust E. anger F. hate
G. sorrow ?
A. loneliness
C. love
D. trust
G. sorrow

30. The woman may have the feelings of :
loneliness:
she was alone watching her husband on the mountain top.
love:
she waited year after year despite wind and rain.
trust:
she believed her husband would come back one day.
year after year, she waited and waited without seeing any hope of her husband’s coming back, she was very sad.
sorrow:

31. Characteristics Form They have strong rhyme and a lot of repetition.
Nursery Rhymes
They are made up of 17 syllables, and give a picture and a special feeling.
Haiku
They repeated phrases and some rhyme, and easy to write.
List Poems
They are made up of 5 lines, and convey a strong picture, and easy to write.
Cinquain
Their translations have a free form.
Tang Poems

32. Discussion : which poem do you like best? Give reasons.

33. Can you write a simple poem?
Choose one of these forms, and try to write a poem in groups, and tell why you write the poem.
Nursery rhyme
List poem
Cinquain
Haiku
Tang poem

34. Homework:
1 Reread the text after class.
2 Try to find more English poems and read them to your classmates next class.

35. Good-bye!