1

Elements of Poetry:

Structure and Forms

2

Lines

May be short or long.

Are NOT necessarily complete

sentences or even complete thoughts!

The arrangement of lines, spacing,

and whether or not the lines rhyme in

some manner, can define the FORM

of a poem.

3

Stanza

A group of lines whose rhyme scheme is usually followed throughout the poem.

A division in poetry like a paragraph in prose.

Common stanza patterns include couplets, triplets, quatrains, etc.

Free-verse poems follow no rules regarding where to divide stanzas.

4

And now several forms

of poetry…

5

Couplet

Two lines that rhyme.

A complete idea is usually

expressed in a couplet, or in a long

poem made up of many couplets.

Couplets may be humorous or

serious.

6

Couplet continued…

Twinkle, twinkle little star,

How I wonder what you are,

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

7

Narrative Poems

Tell a story. It is a story told in verse, by a speaker or narrator.

There is a plot … something happens; because of this, something else happens.

Can be true or fictional.

Poems vary in treatment of character and setting.

Forms of narrative poetry include:

ballad

epic

8

Narrative Poems: Ballad

A narrative, rhyming poem or song.

Characterized by short stanzas and simple words, usually telling a heroic and/or tragic story (although some are humorous).

Can be long.

Usually rich with imagery (emotionally charged visual images).

Originated from folk songs that told exciting or dramatic stories.

9

Ballad continued…

Example from John Henry, a traditional American ballad in ten stanzas.

When John Henry was a tiny little baby

Sitting on his mama’s knee,

He picked up a hammer and a little piece of steel

Saying, “Hammer’s going to be the death of me, Lord, Lord,

Hammer’s going to be the death of me.”

John Henry was a man just six feet high.

Nearly two feet and a half across his chest.

He’d hammer with a nine-pound hammer all day

And never get tired and want to rest. Lord, Lord,

And never get tired and want to rest.

10

Narrative Poems: Epic

Very long narrative (story) poem that tells of the adventures of a hero.

Purpose is to help the reader understand the past and be inspired to choose good over evil.

Usually focuses on the heroism of one person who is a symbol of strength, virtue, and courage in the face of conflict.

11

Narrative Poems: Epic continued

Some are VERY long – for example,

The Odyssey by Homer, (written as 12

books) has over 6,213 lines in the first

half alone!

12

Lyric Poetry

Always expresses some emotion.

Poems are shorter than epic poems.

Tend to express the personal feelings

of one speaker (often the poet).

Give you a feeling that they could be

sung.

13

Lyric Poetry: Sonnet

Most sonnets are in a fixed form of 14

lines of 10 syllables, usually written in

iambic pentameter.

The theme of the poem is summed up

in the last two lines.

Can be about any subject, but usually

are about love and/or philosophy.

14

Lyric Poetry: Sonnet continued…

Example from Sonnet 18 by Shakespeare:

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou growest:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

15

Lyric Poetry: Ode

A tribute to someone or something.

Often uses exalted language in praise

or celebration.

Can be serious or humorous.

16

Lyric Poetry: Ode continued…

Example from Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes by Gary Soto

They wait under Pablo's bed,

Rain-beaten, sun-beaten,

A scuff of green

At their tips

From when he fell

In the school yard.

He fell leaping for a football

That sailed his way.

But Pablo fell and got up,

Green on his shoes,

With the football

Out of reach.

Now it's night.

Pablo is in bed listening

To his mother laughing

to the Mexican novelas on

TV.

His shoes, twin pets

That snuggle his toes,

Are under the bed.

17

Elegy

to express grief or mourning for someone

who has died

somber, serious, ending on a peaceful

note

18

Elegy for Anne Frank by Jessica Smith

You blossomed and grew

between the quiet gray walls

of your attic home.

A sidewalk-surrounded flower

pushed up through the cracks,

petals straining for

the light, but your

roots held you down.

In the dim light of your room

you made family trees,

the continuing lives

comforting you in ways

your mother could not.

While concentration camps

built bonfires with the

bones of your neighbors,

you dreamed of the sun and

the love you’d find when the doors

of your prison were unlocked.

When I took your short life from your diary,

I could feel your heartbeat

pulse with my own,

and every breath you took

went into my own lungs,

every desire you felt,

I felt, too.

Your life was held by four silent years,

surrounding you as the four walls did.

And before the last bomb fell,

destroying the last of your love and light,

you died.

And I am thankful.

Elegy example…

19

Limerick

A FUNNY 5-line poem, written with one

couplet (two lines of poetry that rhyme) and one triplet (three lines of poetry

that rhyme).

Always follows the same pattern.

The rhyme scheme (pattern) is – a a b b a.

The last line contains the “punchline” or “heart

of the joke”.

Often contain hyperbole, onomatopoeia,

idioms, and other figurative language.

20

Limerick continued…

You will soon hear the distinctive beat pattern

of all limericks.

eg: “A fly and a flea in a flue

Were caught, so what could they do?

Said the fly, “Let us flee.”

“Let us fly,” said the flea.

So they flew through a flaw in the flue.”

21

Limerick continued…

By Edward Lear, who made limericks very popular.

22

Free Verse

Is just that – free!

Lines of poetry written without rules; no

regular beat or rhyme.

Unrhymed poetry.

23

Haiku

A Japanese form of poetry; one line of five

syllables; one line of seven syllables; and a

final line of five syllables.

Fragments (not usually complete sentences)

About everyday things; written in the present

tense.

Much is left unsaid.

24

Haiku continued…

Examples:

Little sparrow child

plays in the road. “Oh, watch out!

Watch out! Horse tramps by!”

Soft, summer twilight,

suddenly a sound; Frog leaps

in the old pond – Splash!

25

Cinquain

A Cinquain is a poem that resembles a diamond.

It has 5 lines and begins with one word.

The 2nd line has two adjectives that describe that word.

The 3rd , three verbs.

The 4th line is a phrase that goes deeper into the topic.

The 5th line gives either a synonym for the first word, or a word that encompasses the whole poem.

26

Sister

Smart, Outgoing

Loving, playing, Laughing

Always in for some fun

Friend

“Tucson Rain”

The smell

Everyone moves

To the window to look

Work stops and people

start talking

Rain came

Cinquain examples…

27

Interesting poetry forms…

28

List Poem

One of the oldest forms of poetry Polynesians used list poems to form an inventory of all of their

islands!

a.k.a Catalog Poem

Can be long or short, rhymed or unrhymed

29

List Poem continued…

Example: Things a Pigeon Knows

What does a pigeon know? Who throws cracker crumbs the

Eaves and ledges, thickest,

Rafter edges, How thin cats are often

Gutter streams, quickest.

Steel beams, Tennis courts. Trees in parks.

Cars and busses, The highest steeple.

A bridge, with its delightful Swarms

trusses, of people.

Sidewalks,

Culverts,

Popcorn vendors, - Patricia Hubbell

Taxis and their yellow

fenders.

30

Poetry in which authors use

both words and physical

shape to convey a message.

Poetry in which authors use

both words and physical

shape to convey a message.

31

Another Concrete Poem