What Do You Need to Know About Poetry?

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Sounds of Poetry

Word Choice

Rhythm

Rhyme

Repetition

Onomatopoeia

A song’s lyrics need music to bring them to life.

Sounds of Poetry

Poetry is different: Poets use words to create music.

Listen to the beginning of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “Kubla Khan.”

Which lines or phrases seem particularly musical?

Sounds of PoetryPoets create music through the written word in several ways:

word choice repetition rhythmonomatopoeia

One way poets create music in their poems is through the words they choose.

Sounds of Poetry

Think about the different sounds these word choices make. [End of Section]

Word Choice

stroll pace

walk

Rhythm, the repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables, provides the poem’s beat.

Sounds of Poetry

Like many other languages, English is accented, which means that certain syllables get a stronger beat than others.

Rhythm

Sounds of PoetrySaying words aloud can help you hear the natural beats in words.

Stressed syllables are marked ′ , and unstressed syllables are marked ˘.

ex-CITE-ment

FRIEND-ship ’ ˘

˘ ’ ˘

Rhythm

Sounds of Poetry

Read the following limerick aloud and listen to its beat.

A gentleman dining at CreweFound quite a large mouse in his stewSaid the waiter, “Don’t shout,And wave it about,Or the rest will be wanting one, too!”

A poem’s beat comes from the patterns made by the stressed and unstressed syllables.

Rhythm

A gentleman dining at Crewe

Found quite a large mouse in his stew

Said the waiter, “Don’t shout,

And wave it about,

Or the rest will be wanting one, too!”

To see the beats in a poem, mark the syllables as stressed or unstressed.

˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’

˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’

’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ’

˘ ’ ˘˘ ’

A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables is called meter.

Sounds of Poetry

Rhythm

When words sound the same at the end, they rhyme. The chiming effect of rhyme adds to the music of a poem.

Sounds of Poetry

wraps

scraps

wince

prince

Rhyme

Most rhymes in poetry are end rhymes. The rhymes appear at the end of the lines.

Read, then listen to, the following lines from Longfellow’s “Paul Revere’s Ride.” Identify the end rhymes.

Sounds of Poetry

He said to his friend, “If the British marchBy land or sea from the town tonight, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry archOf the North Church tower as a signal light—”

He said to his friend, “If the British marchBy land or sea from the town tonight, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry archOf the North Church tower as a signal light—”

Rhyme

a

ab

b

When a line rhymes with the one immediately before it, that pair of lines is called a couplet.

Identify the couplets in this excerpt from the poem “Blueberries” by Robert Frost.

"You know where they cut off the woods—let me see— It was two years ago—or no!—can it be No longer than that?—and the following fall The fire ran and burned it all up but the wall." "Why, there hasn't been time for the bushes to grow.That's always the way with the blueberries, though:

"You know where they cut off the woods—let me see— It was two years ago—or no!—can it be No longer than that?—and the following fall The fire ran and burned it all up but the wall." "Why, there hasn't been time for the bushes to grow.That's always the way with the blueberries, though:

Sounds of PoetryRhyme

a

ba

bcc

Rhymes can also occur within lines; these are called internal rhymes.

Read, then listen to, these lines from Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.” Identify the internal rhymes.

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of someone gently rapping—rapping at my chamber door.

Sounds of Poetry

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of someone gently rapping—rapping at my chamber door.

Rhyme

Many modern poets prefer approximate rhymes, sounds that are similar but not exactly the same.

Approximate rhymes are also called near rhymes, off rhymes, imperfect rhymes, or slant rhymes.

misswhisk calm

arm

Sounds of PoetryRhyme

Some people think approximate rhymes sound less artificial than exact rhymes, more like everyday speech.

Some poets use approximate rhymes because they feel that all the good exact rhymes have already been used too many times.

Sounds of PoetryRhyme

Read, then listen to, the following lines from “Maiden-Savin’ Sam.” Identify the approximate rhymes.

Sam, Sam, Maiden-Savin’ Sam,Greatest maiden saver in all of the landSaved all the short ones, all the tall ones, tooWith his hat on his head and spurs on his shoes.

Although neither pair rhymes exactly, Sam and land sound similar, as do too and shoes.

Sam, Sam, Maiden-Savin’ Sam,Greatest maiden saver in all of the landSaved all the short ones, all the tall ones, tooWith his hat on his head and spurs on his shoes.

Sounds of Poetry

Rhyme

Sounds of PoetryPoets also make music in their poems by using repetition, using the same words, sounds, or images more than once.

Give me the splendid silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling,

Give me juicy autumnal fruit ripe and red from the orchard,

Give me a field where the unmowed grass grows,Give me an arbor, give me the trellised grape . . .

How does Walt Whitman create rhythm in “Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun”?

Repetition

Whitman creates rhythm in his poem by repeating sentence patterns.

Give me the splendid silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling,

Give me juicy autumnal fruit ripe and red from the orchard,

Give me a field where the unmowed grass grows,Give me an arbor, give me the trellised grape . . .

The repetition of “Give me” creates a sound pattern.

Sounds of Poetry

Repetition

In the same way that poets repeat words, they also repeat sounds.

The repetition of the same consonant sound in several words that are close together is called alliteration.

snake snack

Sounds of PoetryRepetition

Listen for the alliteration in this line from Poe’s “The Raven.”

Do you hear the rustling of a curtain in all those s sounds?

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

Sounds of Poetry

Repetition

Repeated vowel sounds are called assonance.

Listen to these lines from Billy Collins’s “Introduction to Poetry.” Notice the long i sounds.

Sounds of Poetry

wrap cash

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Repetition

Sounds of Poetry

Poets also may use onomatopoeia, which is the use of words with sounds that imitate or suggest their meaning.

Onomatopoeia helps poets bring sound and sense together.

quack screech

Onomatopoeia

Using your knowledge of onomatopoeia, try to label the photographs below. The first one has been done for you.

rustle

sizzle

slurpthump or bang

Sounds of Poetry

Onomatopoeia