1. Poetry

2. Introduction What comes to mind when you hear the word “poetry”?
What is your attitude towards poetry?

3. Rhyme and Rhyme Scheme
A rhyme has the repetition of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or more words most often at the ends of lines.
The pattern of rhymes in a poem. The rhyme scheme is indicated by a different letter of the alphabet for each new rhyme of the stanza.

4. Robert Frost “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”
Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.
For Monday:
Write an 8-line poem using a rhyme scheme.

5. Emily Dickinson “There Is No Frigate Like a Book”
Simile: Comparison of 2 unlike things using “like” or “as”.
Metaphor: comparison of 2 unlike things directly. (Saying one thing IS another.)
What are the two similes in this poem?
What is the one metaphor?
There is no frigate like a book  
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page  
Of prancing poetry.  
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot  
That bears a human soul!

6. Poetry using Simile and Metaphor
Write an 8 line poem using at least 2 similes and/or metaphors.

7. Which poem uses a rhyme scheme. What is the pattern of rhyme?
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Sympathy
I KNOW what the caged bird feels, alas!
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,
And the river flows like a stream of glass; When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals —
I know what the caged bird feels!
I know why the caged bird beats his wing Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
For he must fly back to his perch and cling
When he fain would be on the bough a-swing; And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting —
I know why he beats his wing!
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,—
When he beats his bars and he would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings —
I know why the caged bird sings!
Langston Hughes
Mother to Son
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor –
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now –
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
Which poem uses a rhyme scheme. What is the pattern of rhyme?
What is the metaphor in each of the poems?
Which poem do you like best? Why?