Poetry““The difference between the The difference between the right word and the almost right right word and the almost right word is the difference between word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”lightning and a lightning bug.”-Mark Twain-Mark Twain

Concrete vs. Abstract

• Poetry is concerned with the concrete, the specific, the particular

• Concrete terms- sensory language

• “The poet is a professor of the five bodily senses.”

• Concrete- violet, bread, sunlight, surf and blond

Abstract

• refer to ideas or concepts; they have no physical references.

• Examples of abstract terms include love, success, freedom, good, moral, democracy, and any -ism ( Communism, feminism, racism). These terms are fairly common and familiar, and because we recognize them we may imagine that we understand them—but we really can't, because the meanings won't stay still.

Abstract Ideas Concrete Images

We mean you no harm. To you our swords have leaden points,

Mark Antony…

We cannot trust anyone. Where we are, there’s daggers in

men’s smiles…

I often change my mind. I am a feather for each wind that blows.

In a Station of a Metro

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;

Petals on a wet, black bough.

-Ezra Pound

Types of Poems

Ballad: A poem that uses simple language and a great deal of repetition to tell a sensational story of tragedy or adventure.

Lyric Poem: A poem that expresses a writer’s thoughts and feelings on a given subject.

Narrative Poem: A poem that tells a story or relays a sequence of related events.

Alliteration

Alliteration: The repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together.

It is used to create musical effects, speed or slow the pace of the meter, or cause an image to “stick” in the mind of the reader.

Assonancerepetition of vowel sounds but not

consonant sounds

Examples: Try to light the fire. He gave a nod to the officer with

the pocket.

“The Eagle”by Alfred Lord Tennyson

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;

Close to the sun in lonely lands,

Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;

He watches from his mountain walls,

And like a thunderbolt he falls.

Alliteration and Consonance

Alliteration: The repetition of thesame or similar consonantsounds at the beginning of wordsThat are close together.Consonance: The repetition oflike consonant sounds in themiddle and end of words.Assonance: The repetition ofsimilar vowel sounds.

Alliteration, Consonance, andAssonance are used to createmusical effects and to establishMood and tone.

From “Song of Myself #1”by Walt Whitman

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

I loaf and invite my soul, I lean and loaf at my ease, observing a spear of summer grass…”

Diction = Word Choice

A poet communicates through the words he

uses. He often draws on the Connotative

meaning of words to reveal his attitude or

tone. The Connotation of a word is the

emotional attachment or association with its

meaning. The Denotative meaning is the

word’s Dictionary definition.

Let’s Explore Connotation!

What is the dictionary or denotative meaning of the word “loser”?

What does the word “loser” imply connotatively?

What is the dictionary or denotative meaning of the word “gifted.”

What is the connotation of the word?

HyperboleA figure of speech which is an

exaggeration or overstatement.Examples: expressions such as "I

nearly died laughing," "I was hopping mad," and "I tried a thousand times,” “I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.”

Such statements are not literally true, but people make them to sound impressive or to emphasize something, such as a feeling, effort, or reaction.

ImageryPainting a picture with words, sensory language, and imagesExample: The bright yellow Flowers swayed in the light

afternoon breeze.

Simile and Metaphor

Simile: Making a comparison between two unlike things using “like,” “as,” or “than.”

Metaphor: Making the same comparison without the comparative language.

“Dreams”

by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

Onomatopoeia

• The use of words whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning like buzz, bang, pow, zoom, clomp, etc.

• This form of imagery appeals to the sense of hearing.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines opposites or expresses a seemingly contradictory idea.

Examples:

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

The room held a deafening silence.

PersonificationGiving humanqualities toanimals ornonliving things

Example: Time stood still.

The car hugged the road.

Symbolword or object that stands for

another word or object

Example: The object or word can be seen with the eye or not visible. For example a dove stands for Peace. The dove can be seen and peace cannot.

Rhyme SchemePattern of rhymes in a poem. Rhyme

scheme is usually referred to by letters representing the rhyming words, so that one can refer to an abab rhyme scheme.

Example: Roses are red, aViolets are blue, bSugar is sweet cAnd so are you! b

Internal Rhyme:

Rhyme that occurs within a line of poetry or within consecutive lines.

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,…

Ah distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December…”

“The Raven”

Poetic FormsStanza: unit of a

poem often repeated in the same form throughout a poem; a unit of poetic lines ("verse paragraph")

Free verse: lines with no prescribed pattern or structure

Couplet: a pair of lines, usually rhymed

“Heart! We will forget him!”by Emily Dickinson

Heart! We will forget him!You and I – tonight!You may forget the warmth he gave –I will forget the light!

When you have done, pray tell meThat I may straight begin!haste! Lest while you’re laggingI remember him!

Who Is the Poet?Identifying the VOICE, or literary

personality, and TONE of the

poet is very important in

understanding his message.

The TONE is the author’s

attitude about the subject and

can be determined by the

words, phrases, and images he

uses. TONE is expressed in

emotions, such as angry, joyful, sad, etc.

Note: Often a poet’s TONE shifts or changes through the poem

Ink runs from the corners of my mouthThere is no happiness like mine.I have been eating poetry.~Mark Strand

Tonewriter's attitude toward the material

and/or readers.

Tone may be playful, formal, intimate, angry, serious, ironic, outraged, baffled, tender, serene, depressed, etc.

“Apparently with no Surprise”

Apparently with no surpriseTo any happy FlowerThe Frost beheads it at its play –In accidental power – The Blonde Assassin passes on – The Sun proceeds unmovedTo measure off another DayFor an Approving God.

~ Emily Dickinson

“A Dream Deferred”by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry upLike a raisin in the sun?Or fester like a sore ----And then run?Does it stink like rotten meat?Or crust and sugar over ---Like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sagsLike a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Poetry:Reflect on one of the following quotes in your notes

Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.

  ~Kahlil Gibran

A poem is never finished, only abandoned. ~Paul Valéry

To see the Summer SkyIs Poetry, though never in a Book it lie –True Poems flee.

~Emily Dickinson