Introduction to Poetry

What is Poetry?
Elements of Poetry

What is Poetry?
literary work in which the expression of feelings
and ideas is given intensity by the use of
distinctive style and rhythm
Wordsworth defined poetry as "the spontaneous
overflow of powerful feelings".
Poetry is language that tells us, through a more
or less emotional reaction, something that can
not be said.
Edwin Robinson (1869-1935)

What is Poetry?
Poems are a form of writing that use not only
words but also form, patterns of sound, imagery
and figurative language to convey the message.
Poetry is meant to be read aloud
People use poems to describe their emotions so
that others can feel them, too
Poems can rhyme, but they do not have to.

Elements of Poetry
Meter
The measured arrangement of words in
poetry, the rhythmic pattern of a stanza

Rhythm
The pattern of beats or stresses in a poem
Used to create a regular rhythm, like music
She was a child and I was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love
I and my Annabel Lee

Elements of Poetry
Stanza
a unit of lines grouped together
Similar to a paragraph in prose
Usually (but not always) of the same length
Follow the same pattern of meter and rhyme
The type of stanza is based on the number of
lines.
Couplet (2)
Tercet (3)

Quatrain (4) Sestet (6)

Cinquain (5) Septet (7)

Octave (8)

Elements of Poetry
Rhyme
The repetition of the same or similar sounds,
usually in stressed syllables at the ends of lines,
but sometimes within a line.
Poems are NOT required to rhyme!
There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee

Elements of Poetry
Rhyme scheme
The rhyming pattern that is created at the end of
lines of poetry.
If the poem does not have a rhyme scheme it is
considered to be a Free Verse poem.
Mary had a little lamb
Its fleece as white as snow
And everywhere that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go.

A
B
C
B

Elements of Poetry
Theme
This is what the poem is all about.
The central idea that the poet wants to convey
To identify a poems theme, ask yourself what
ideas or insights about life or human nature you
have found in the poem
I will not play at tug owar
Id rather play at hug owar
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug

Where everyone kisses

And everyone grins
And everyone cuddles
And everyone wins.

Elements of Poetry
Tone/Mood
The feelings the authors word choices give the
poem
What feelings to the words evoke in the reader?
Examples: fear, sadness, peace, love, pride
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.