1. Tools for Making Great Poems

2. Structure  Difference from Prose  The Stanza  Stanza:Poem = Paragraph:Prose  The Line  The Meter  The rhythm of the stress syllables and the number of syllables in a line.  Difference from Prose  The Stanza  Stanza:Poem = Paragraph:Prose  The Line  The Meter  The rhythm of the stress syllables and the number of syllables in a line.

3. The Meter  Poetry emerged as an oral tradition and needed to be remembered  Humans “get” rhythm; it’s natural  Iambic pentameter: SUSUSUSU  Approximate length of a human breath  Almost a rocking rhythm; soothing and natural  Poetry emerged as an oral tradition and needed to be remembered  Humans “get” rhythm; it’s natural  Iambic pentameter: SUSUSUSU  Approximate length of a human breath  Almost a rocking rhythm; soothing and natural

4. The Line  Line length is a tool  to complete or not complete a thought on a line: a reader needs to concentrate when a thought is broken unnaturally between two lines  The breath  Enjambing: jumping the ditch: speeding the reader to the next and creating urgency  Long lines (beyond the breath create stress and the sense of being dragged through something prolonged)  The look: Poetry is NOW a visual tradition  Line length is a tool  to complete or not complete a thought on a line: a reader needs to concentrate when a thought is broken unnaturally between two lines  The breath  Enjambing: jumping the ditch: speeding the reader to the next and creating urgency  Long lines (beyond the breath create stress and the sense of being dragged through something prolonged)  The look: Poetry is NOW a visual tradition

5. Word Choice  Rhyme  Sounds  Alliteration  Assonance  Onomatopoeia  Hard consonants versus soft Rock versus Stone  Rhyme  Sounds  Alliteration  Assonance  Onomatopoeia  Hard consonants versus soft Rock versus Stone

6. RhymeRhyme  End rhymes: occur at the end of a line  The “scheme” is the pattern in which the rhymes occur For example: Whose woods these are I think I know (a) His house is in the village though (a) He will not see me stopping here (b) To see his woods fill up with snow (a)  Rhyme Scheme = a, a, b, a  End rhymes: occur at the end of a line  The “scheme” is the pattern in which the rhymes occur For example: Whose woods these are I think I know (a) His house is in the village though (a) He will not see me stopping here (b) To see his woods fill up with snow (a)  Rhyme Scheme = a, a, b, a

7. Other Kinds of Rhymes  Internal rhymes: occur within a line  “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,”  Slant or soft rhymes: “heart” and “star”  Eye rhymes: “rough” and “bough”  Internal rhymes: occur within a line  “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,”  Slant or soft rhymes: “heart” and “star”  Eye rhymes: “rough” and “bough”

8. Alliteration  Alliteration: Several words begin with the same sound For example: Softly Sally snores on the sand  Build on your alliteration by putting that same sound in other parts of words too.  Alliteration: Several words begin with the same sound For example: Softly Sally snores on the sand  Build on your alliteration by putting that same sound in other parts of words too.

9. Assonance  Assonance: Several words contain the same primary vowel sound: For example: The rolling stone knows no home.  Assonance: Several words contain the same primary vowel sound: For example: The rolling stone knows no home.

10. Sounds Can Create Feeling  In general, hard consonants like “K” or hard “G” feel harsher  In general, soft consonants like “S” or “R” have a quieter feeling (“S” can also be used to create a sense of wind or a sinister feeling)  In general, hard consonants like “K” or hard “G” feel harsher  In general, soft consonants like “S” or “R” have a quieter feeling (“S” can also be used to create a sense of wind or a sinister feeling)

11. Vowels Also Create Feeling  Long vowel sounds can make things feel more soothing, open and soft  Short vowel sounds can feel disruptive and, again, a little harsher  Notice the difference both in the vowel and consonant sounds between the feeling embedded in the word “ROCK” versus the word “STONE”  Long vowel sounds can make things feel more soothing, open and soft  Short vowel sounds can feel disruptive and, again, a little harsher  Notice the difference both in the vowel and consonant sounds between the feeling embedded in the word “ROCK” versus the word “STONE”

12. Allusion  Cultural reference points: poems, songs, myths, stories, movies… “So it goes with my Phoenix heart.”  Cultural reference points: poems, songs, myths, stories, movies… “So it goes with my Phoenix heart.”

13. Personification  Giving something non-living the qualities of a person or something living. For example: “The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window panes”  Giving something non-living the qualities of a person or something living. For example: “The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window panes”

14. Playing with Words  One of the fun things about writing is playing with words and inventing new words or phrases that create a fuller more original image  Gerard Manly Hopkins is the master of creating new nouns with hyphens:  “ Through the cobbled foam-fleece.”  Ogden Nash is the master of smooshing words together to create a new meaning (often just to get them to fit his rhyme scheme)  “waspitality”  One of the fun things about writing is playing with words and inventing new words or phrases that create a fuller more original image  Gerard Manly Hopkins is the master of creating new nouns with hyphens:  “ Through the cobbled foam-fleece.”  Ogden Nash is the master of smooshing words together to create a new meaning (often just to get them to fit his rhyme scheme)  “waspitality”

15. Practice  Use “Whose Woods These Are” to test yourself  Make some observations about the sound choices: what content do they go with  What’s the rhyme scheme?  Use “Whose Woods These Are” to test yourself  Make some observations about the sound choices: what content do they go with  What’s the rhyme scheme?

16. 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. 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.