POETRY TERMSMs. Mathews

English 9H

TYPES OF POEMS

VERSE

Rhymed Verse the most commonly used form of verse generally has an end rhyme

Blank Verse generally identified by a regular meter, but no

end rhyme Free Verse

usually defined as having no fixed meter and no end rhyme

EXAMPLE OF RHYMED VERSE

     I wandered lonely as a cloud:    That floats on high o'er vales and hills    When all at once I saw a crowd,    A host, of golden daffodils;    Beside the lake, beneath the trees    Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.                                     -William Wordsworth

EXAMPLE OF BLANK VERSE

     In Mathematics, Woman leads the way:    The narrow-minded pedant still believes    That two and two make four! Why, we can prove,    We women-household drudges as we are-    That two and two make five-or three-or seven;    Or five-and-twenty, if the case demands!

-Anonymous

EXAMPLE OF FREE VERSE

   I remember the days of dreamings,  From where in the world so much knowledges,  And thoughts of wonderful and funs.  But however life walks ahead,  And ideas are unavailing aloud,  When around so many flies.  Concealed after the masks of sorrow.

-Anonymous  

NARRATIVE

Tells a story Includes the following elements:

Characters Setting Plot Point of View

All the elements combine to form a theme Example: The Odyssey

BALLAD

Tells a story Meant to be sung or recited Typically depict ordinary people in the midst

of tragic events or adventures of love and bravery

Example: “The Ballad of Birmingham”

LYRIC

A short poem in which the speaker expresses personal thoughts and feelings

Most poems, with the exception of narratives, are lyric poems

Cover many subjects, from love to death to everyday experiences

Example: “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes

EPIC

A long narrative poem about the adventures of a hero whose actions reflect the ideals and values of a nation or race

Address universal concerns, such as: Good and evil Life and death Sin and redemption

Example: The Odyssey

SONNET

A lyric poem of 14 lines Most common is the Shakespearean sonnet

made up of three quatrains (four line units) and a final couplet

has a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg Example: “Sonnet 140” by William

Shakespeare

POETIC ELEMENTS

ANALOGY

A point-by-point comparison between two things that are alike in some respect

Are often used in nonfiction, when an unfamiliar subject or idea is explained in terms of a familiar one

RHYME

The occurrence of a similar or identical sound at the ends of two or more words

Example: suite, heat, complete Internal rhyme

Occurs within the line End rhyme

Occurs at the end of the line Slant rhyme

Also called approximate or near rhyme Occurs when the sounds are not quite identical Example: care and dear

RHYME EXAMPLES

Internal Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered

weak and weary While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there

came a tapping External

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.All the King's horses, And all the King's menCouldn't put Humpty together again!

Slant I sat in the dark nursing my broken heart.

METER

The regular pattern of accented and unaccented syllables in a line of poetry

RHYTHM

Refers to the pattern or flow of sound created by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry

TONE

The attitude a writer takes towards a subject Reflects the feelings of the writer

OXYMORON

A figure of speech that combines contradicting words

Examples: Bitter sweet Forward retreat Serious joke Deafening silence

ALLITERATION

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words

Example using the h sound:“The angels, not half so happy in Heaven, Went envying her and me;”

-Edgar Allan Poe, from “Annabel Lee”

HYPERBOLE

The use of exaggeration May be used to evoke strong feelings or to

create a strong impression Not meant to be taken literally Examples:

I’m so hungry that I could eat a horse! That bag weighs a ton.