What is poetry?
Poetry is a type of literature that uses the sounds, rhythms, and meanings of words
to describe the world in striking imaginative ways. A type of literature that
expresses ideas, feelings, or tells a story in a specific form (usually using lines and
stanzas). The poet chooses words carefully. Poetry is usually written in lines.
POINT OF VIEW IN POETRY:
POET: The poet is the author of the poem.
SPEAKER: The speaker of the poem is the “narrator” of the poem. Just like
fiction, the poem is written in a specific point of view: First-person (I, me, my, we,
us, our) Second-person (you, your) Third-person (he, she, it, him, her, his, hers, its,
they, them, theirs).
Elements of Poetry:
Lines and Stanzas
1. Poetry is divided into lines, or groups of words.
2. Lines are organized in units of meaning called stanzas. The lines in a stanza
work together to express one key idea.
3. A blank line, called a stanza break, signals that one stanza has ended and a new
stanza is beginning.
Lines and Stanzas – Example:
Tone and Mood:
Although many times we use the words mood and tone interchangeably, they do
not necessarily mean the same thing.
Mood – the feeling or atmosphere that a poet creates. Mood can suggest an
emotion (ex. “excited”) or the quality of a setting (ex. “calm”, “somber”) In a
poem, mood can be established through word choice, line length, rhythm, etc.
Tone – a reflection of the poet’s attitude toward the subject of a poem. Tone can
be serious, sarcastic, humorous, etc.
Poetic Devices (Figurative ones):
Metaphor: A figure of speech that directly compares two unrelated things,
suggesting a similarity between them without using “like” or “as.”
Simile: A comparison between two unlike things using “like” or “as” to
highlight similarities.
Here are some common metaphors and similes found in poetry:
Metaphors Similes
Love is a rose Her hair was like a golden waterfall
Time is a thief The moon is like a silver coin in the sky
Life is a journey His voice was smooth as butter
Hope is a bird The wind howled like a pack of wolves
Personification: Attributing human characteristics to non-human objects,
animals, or abstract ideas. Example:
The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done –
“It’s very rude of him,” she said,
“To come and spoil the fun.”
Imagery: Descriptive language that appeals to the senses, creating vivid
pictures in the reader’s mind. Most images are visual, but they can also
appeal to the senses of sound, touch, taste, or smell.
Type of
Imagery Description and Examples
Visual Descriptions that create mental pictures in the reader’s mind. Examples: “The
Imagery sun sank low in the sky,” “The moon was a silver sliver in the sky.”
Auditory Descriptions that create sounds in the reader’s mind. Examples: “The leaves
Imagery rustled in the wind,” “The waves crashed against the shore.”
Descriptions that create smells in the reader’s mind. Examples: “The scent of
Olfactory fresh-cut grass filled the air,” “The aroma of baking bread wafted through the
Imagery house.”
Descriptions that create a sense of touch in the reader’s mind. Examples: “The
Tactile rough bark of the tree scraped against my skin,” “The soft fur of the kitten
Imagery brushed against my cheek.”
Descriptions that create a sense of taste in the reader’s mind. Examples: “The
Gustatory sweet taste of honey on my tongue,” “The bitter flavor of coffee lingered in my
Imagery mouth.”
Hyperbole: Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken
literally, used for emphasis or effect.
Allusion: A brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of
historical, cultural, literary, or political significance. Allusion comes from
the verb “allude” which means “to refer to”. An allusion is a reference to
something famous.
Example:
A tunnel walled and overlaid
With dazzling crystal: we had read
Of rare Aladdin’s wondrous cave,
And to our own his name we gave.
From “Snowbound”
John Greenleaf Whittier
Repetition: The deliberate use of the same word, phrase, or structure
multiple times, enhancing rhythm or emphasizing a particular idea. For
example:
Someone tossed a pancake,
A buttery, buttery, pancake.
Someone tossed a pancake
And flipped it up so high,
That now I see the pancake,
The buttery, buttery pancake,
Now I see that pancake
Stuck against the sky.
Symbolism: When a person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself
also represents, or stands for, something else.
Sound Devices
Sound devices are literary techniques used in poetry (and often in prose) to
emphasize the auditory qualities of language, enhancing the musicality, rhythm,
and overall aesthetic appeal of a text. Here are some key sound devices, explained
in points:
Alliteration: The repetition of the same consonant sounds at the beginning
of closely situated words or syllables to create a sonic effect. Examples of
alliteration include:
“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”
“Sally sells seashells by the seashore”
“She sells sea-shells on the sea-shore”
Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds within non-rhyming words,
close to each other in a line or verse, to add musicality. Examples of
assonance include:
“The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain”
“I rose and told him of my woe”
“The light of the fire is a sight”
Consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds within or at the end of
words in close proximity, differing from alliteration in that the repeated
sound can occur anywhere in the words. Examples: “silken, sad, uncertain,
rustling.”
Onomatopoeia: The use of words that mimic the sound they represent,
making the description more expressive and interesting (e.g., “buzz,”
“crash”).
Rhyme: The correspondence of sound between the ends of words, often
used at the end of lines in poetry. Rhymes can be perfect (exact match of
sounds) or slant (partial match). Rhyme: Words sound alike because they
share the same ending vowel and consonant sounds. Rhyme Scheme: The
pattern of rhyme in a poem (aabb or abab).
Rhythm: Rhythm is the flow of the beat in a poem. Gives poetry a musical
feel. Can be fast or slow, depending on mood and subject of poem. You can
measure rhythm in meter, by counting the beats in each line. Rhythm
Example:
The Pickety Fence by David McCord
The pickety fence
The pickety fence
Give it a lick it's
The pickety fence
Give it a lick it's
A clickety fence
Give it a lick it's a lickety fence
Give it a lick
Give it a lick
Give it a lick
With a rickety stick
pickety
pickety
pickety
pick.
The rhythm in this poem is fast – to match the speed of the stick striking the
fence.
Where Are You Now? (By Mary Britton Miller)
When the night begins to fall
And the sky begins to glow
You look up and see the tall
City of lights begin to grow –
In rows and little golden squares
The lights come out. First here, then there
Behind the windowpanes as though
A million billion bees had built
Their golden hives and honeycombs
Above you in the air.
The rhythm in this poem is slow – to match the night gently falling and the
lights slowly coming on.
Types of Poetry
In this section, we will explore four main types of poetry: Narrative Poetry, Lyric
Poetry, Descriptive Poetry, and Reflective Poetry.
Narrative Poetry
Narrative poetry tells a story, often in verse form. It can be long or short, and
it often includes elements of fiction, such as characters, plot, and setting.
Some examples of narrative poems include:
“The Odyssey” by Homer
“Beowulf” by Unknown
“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe
Lyric Poetry
Lyric poetry is a type of poetry that expresses personal feelings or emotions.
It is often written in the first person and has a musical quality to it. LYRIC:
A short poem, usually written in first person point of view, expresses an
emotion or an idea or describes a scene, do not tell a story and are often
musical (Many of the poems we read will be lyrics.)
Some examples of lyric poems include:
“Ode to a Nightingale” by John Keats
“Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot
Descriptive Poetry
Descriptive poetry is a type of poetry that uses language to create vivid
images in the reader’s mind. It often focuses on the natural world or sensory
experiences. Some examples of descriptive poems include:
“The Waste Land” by T.S. Eliot
“Ode to Autumn” by John Keats
“The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams
Reflective Poetry
Reflective poetry is a type of poetry that explores the poet’s thoughts and
feelings about a particular subject. It often includes introspection and self-
reflection. Some examples of reflective poems include:
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas
“When I Consider How My Light is Spent” by John Milton
