POETIC DEVICES IN SONGS

Activities, vocab, and examples of some important common elements

POETIC DEVICES

• Rhyme Scheme?• Alliteration?• Allusions?• Metaphor/Similes?• Irony?• Moral of the story?

1/8/14 – RHYME SCHEME• DO - Write down a nursery rhyme or children’s song (as much of it

as you can) on your own sheet of paper. We will use these to identify rhyme schemes.• Rhyme Scheme - the ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of

the lines of a poem or verse.• Some poems have specific rhyme schemes, making them qualify

as certain types of poems, e.g., sonnets, ballads, limericks.• Philology is the study of language in written historical sources.

• Some modern songs are just retellings of very old songs, e.g., “Henry Lee” was “Young Hunting” - http://www.metrolyrics.com/henry-lee-lyrics-nick-cave.html http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch068.htm

AN EXAMPLE…AND A POPULAR MYTH• The first line ALWAYS gets an “A” – it being the first ending

sound of the poem; the second ending sound get a “B”, as it does not rhyme with “A”. The next new ending sound gets a “C” and so on….

Ring around the rosie Aa pocket full of posies A

Ashes, ashes B We all fall down! C

• FYI – this song was NOT based on the bubonic plague. http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/rosie.asp

1/9/14 - ALLITERATION• 1/9/14 – DO – Write down a tongue-twister in your

notebook. Then write the following:• Alliteration (noun) –The repetition of an

initial consonant sound, as in "a peck of pickled peppers." Adjective: alliterative.• As J.R.R. Tolkien observed, alliteration "depends

not on letters but on sounds”; the phrase know-nothing is alliterative, but climate change is not.

EXAMPLE: JESSE CLAY AND THE 12:05HTTP://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=ILWOMGL63OY

• In a two room trailer down by the tracks on the edge of a Tennessee town,

• Jessie Clay lived with his lady and a one-eyed redbone hound.

• And every night at 12:05, he’d hear that whistle whine

• And Jessie knew the train from Chattanooga was coming by on time.

• And we all knew ol’ Jessie Clay got mean when he drank too much,

• And Jessie’s lady wore the scars of his not-too gentle touch.

• Jessie knocked her down one night just for busting a bottle of Jim;

• She hit her head when she hit the floor, and she never got up again.

• Jessie Clay was crazy scared when he saw her lying still,

• He took his lady in his arms and he carried her up the hill.

• He laid her down on the railroad tracks just an hour ahead of the train

• And Jessie knew that soon the 12:05 would take the blame.

• So, he went to town and he waited around til he thought the time was right

• And he told the law how the 12:05 had taken his lady’s life

• The sheriff just looked at Jessie hard, said

• “You’d better tell the truth this time,

• Because the 12:05 just jumped the tracks about ten miles up the line.”

• And no one knows what caused the train to leave the tracks that night.

• It’s never happened before or since, but it served ol’ Jessie right.

• And you can still the train whistle whine as it passes by this way,

• But the 12:05 won’t ever take the blame for Jessie Clay.

1/10/14 - ALLUSIONS

• In your notes, write down the following phrases:• “…chopped down the cherry tree.”• “I’mma let you finish, but…”• “...a bottle of Jim.”• “…odds be ever in your favor.”

• Now, beside each one, write down where this phrase comes from, what it means, what it may be referring to.• Allusion (noun) - an expression designed to call something to mind without

mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference. Verb: allude

EXAMPLE: “BE CAREFUL OF STONES THAT YOU THROW”

A tongue can accuse and carry bad news;The seeds of distrust it will sow. But unless you have made no mistakes in your life, Be careful of stones that you throw.

A neighbor was passing my garden one time; She stopped and I knew right awayThat it was gossip, not flowers, that she had on her mind, And this is what I heard my neighbor say:

“That girl down the street should be run from our midst. She drinks and she talks quite a lot. She knows not to speak to my child or to me." My neighbor then smiled, and I thought:

The car speeded by, the screaming of brakes A sound that made my blood chill, For my neighbor's one child had been pulled from the pathAnd saved by a girl lying still. Her child was unhurt and my neighbor

cried out, "Oh, who is that brave girl so sweet?" I covered the crushed, broken body and said, "The ‘bad girl’ who lived down the street." A tongue can accuse and carry bad news;The seeds of distrust it will sow. But unless you have made no mistakes in your life, Be careful of stones that you throw.

POP QUIZ TIME!1. Identify the Rhyme Scheme of the

passage below:Hey Diddle DiddleThe cat and the fiddleThe cow jumped over the moon.The little dog laughedTo see such sportAnd the dish ran away with the spoon.

2. ______________ is the study of language in written historical sources.

3. ______________ is the repetition of an initial consonant sound in a phrase.

4. Write an alliterative phrase using

your own first name.5. What is the one thing all the songs

I’ve played for you this week (and most ballads throughout history) have in common?

6. What important historical text is being referenced – or alluded – to in the phrase “Be careful of the stones that you throw.”

7. In what state does the story of Jesse Clay take place? Hint: “In a two-room trailer down by the tracks…”

1/13/14 – FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE – METAPHORS AND SIMILES

• DO – Complete the prompts:• My mother/father/guardian was a _________________ (noun) when she/he saw

my report card.• My report card was like a _______________________ in my backpack, just

waiting to be revealed.• Figurative Language - language used by writers to produce images in readers'

minds and to express ideas in fresh, vivid, and imaginative ways.• Metaphor – a comparison of two unrelated things; one is said to be the

other, with the shared characteristics illustrating the object in a creative way.• Simile – same as metaphor, only the two things are compared using “like”

or “as”.

“FIDDLE AND THE DRUM”• And so once again,

My dear Johnny, my dear friend,And so once again you are fighting us all,And when I ask you why,You raise your sticks and cry, and I fall,Oh, my friend,How did you come?,To trade the fiddle for the drum?You say I have turned,Like the enemies you've earned,But I can remember,All the good things you are,

And so I ask you please,Can I help you find the peace and the star?,Oh, my friend,What time is thisTo trade the handshake for the fist?

And so once again,Oh, America my friend,And so once again,You are fighting us all,And when we ask you why,You raise your sticks and cry and we fall,Oh, my friend,How did you come,

To trade the fiddle for the drum

You say we have turned,Like the enemies you've earned,But we can remember,All the good things you are,And so we ask you please,Can we help you find the peace and the star?,Oh my friend,We have all come,To fear the beating of your drum.

1/14/2014 - TONE AND THEME

• Identify your “sign” and choose 5 adjectives from the next screen that you feel accurately describe you. You may notice that these set a particular tone and recurrent theme in your own life. • Songs have particular tones and themes that affect listeners, causing

positive/negative reactions.• Most people (myself included) prefer music that has a positive connotation, or is

associated with positive events in their own lives. The opposite is also true.• Look up definitions/discuss any unknown descriptors. Also, note that nearly

all are adjectives - they describe people, which are nouns.

SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC• Do you believe in the signs

of the zodiac?Haven't you found that the systems for planning always fail?Can you avoid what gave daddy his heart attack?Have you tried everything, anything, all to no avail?

• I know what you needThis will really workIn ancient times, if you were sickThey make you bleedOh, honey I know it hurts

• Look all around you and notice you're not aloneWe want to give you the courage to go a different wayThink of the love and attention we all have shownWhat did we do when we heard? Well, we all came right away

• I know what you needThis will really workIn ancient times, if you were sickThey make you bleedOh honey, I know it hurts

• Do you believe in the signs of the zodiac?

• I know what you needThis will really workIn ancient times, if you were sickThey make you bleedOh honey, I know it hurts

• Do you believe in the signs of the zodiac?

•

Read more: Rasputina - Sign Of The Zodiac Lyrics | MetroLyrics 

“THE ROSE” – REVIEW OF TERMS• Some say love, it is a river

That drowns the tender reed.Some say love, it is a razorThat leaves your soul to bleed.Some say love, it is a hunger,An endless aching need.I say love, it is a flower,And you its only seed.

It's the heart afraid of breakingThat never learns to dance.It's the dream afraid of wakingThat never takes the chance.It's the one who won't be taken,

Who cannot seem to give,And the soul afraid of dyin'That never learns to live.

When the night has been too lonelyAnd the road has been too long,And you think that love is onlyFor the lucky and the strong,Just remember in the winterFar beneath the bitter snowsLies the seed that with the sun's loveIn the spring becomes the rose.