A poetic lesson if you take the time,You’ll understand better through nursery rhymes.Mother Goose wrote them long ago,Now through this lesson you’ll be in the know.

Poetic DevicesThrough Nursery Rhymes

Mrs. McManus’ English 7

Identifying poetic devices isn’t as hard as it sounds. In fact, if you learn some examples, you may find it easy to identify the poetic devices in just about any poem! Rather than trying to learn the various devices and new poetry all at once, I thought we would look at some poems that most of us already know so well – nursery rhymes!

This lesson will help you to identify these 10 poetic devices…

Alliteration Imagery

Metaphor Onomatopoeia

Personification

Assonance

Repetition Rhyme Scheme

Simile Stanza

Let’s begin…

Betty Botter

Betty Botter bought some butter,But she said, “The butter’s bitter.If I put it in my batter,It will make my batter bitter;But a bit of better butterThat would make my batter better.”So she bought a bit of butterBetter than her bitter butter,And she put it in her batterAnd the batter was not bitter.So ‘twas better Betty BotterBought a bit of better butter.

AlliterationAlliteration

The repetition

of initial consonant

sounds.

AssonanceAssonanceThe repetitionof vowel sounds.

Handy-Pandy

Handy-Pandy, Jacky dandy,Loves plum cakeand sugar candy.He bought some at a grocer's shop,And please away wenthop, hop, hop.

ImageryImageryWords or phrases

that appeal to

any sense or any

combination of

senses.

Winter

Cold and raw the north winds blowBleak in the early morning.All the hills are covered with snow,And winter’s now come fairly.

Can you imagine the chilly winds? Can you see the hills covered with snow?

MetaphorMetaphor

A comparison

between two

objects with the

intent of giving

clearer meaning

to one of them.

Mary, Mary

Mary, Mary, ,quite contrary.How does your garden grow?With silver bells and cockleshellsAnd pretty maids all in a row.

The metaphor here is comparing flowers to “pretty maids”. Metaphors can be tough to see sometimes.A metaphor is an implied simile. It does not, like a simile, state that one thing is like another or acts as another. Often forms of the “to be” verb are used, such as “is” or “was”, to make the comparison in a metaphor.For example:“He fought as fiercely as a lion” is a simile (compares using the word “as”.)“He was a lion in the fight” is a metaphor.

Onomatopoeia

OnomatopoeiaThe use of words which imitate sound

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Baa, baa, black sheepHave you any wool?Yes sir, yes sir,Three bags full;One for the master,And one for the dame,And one for the little boyWho lives down the lane.

Personification

Personification

A figure of speech which

gives inanimate

objects human

traits or abilities.

Hey Diddle Diddle

Hey diddle diddle,The cat and the fiddle,The cow jumped over the moon;The little dog laughedTo see such a sport,And the dish ran away with the spoon.

Can a dish and a spoon run? Of course not.

RepetitionRepetition

The repeating of

words, phrases,

lines or stanzas.The Little Bird

Once I saw a little birdCome hop, hop, hop;So I cried, “Little bird,Will you stop, stop, stop?”

And was going to the windowTo say, “How do you do?”But he shook his little tail,And far away he flew.

Rhyme Scheme

Rhyme Scheme

The sequence in

which the rhyme

occurs. The first

end sound is

represented as

the letter “a”, the

second is “b”, etc.

Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory, dickory, dock,The mouse ran up the clock.The clock struck one,And down he run,Hickory, dickory, dock.

aabba

They rhyme scheme for this poem is aabba.

Simile

SimileA grouping of two or comparison between two objects using a specific word or comparison such as “like” or “as”.

Mary Had a Little Lamb

Mary had a little lambWith fleece as white as snow.And everywhere that Mary wentThe lamb was sure to go.

StanzaStanzaA grouping of

two or more

lines of a poem

in terms of length, metrical

form, or thyme

scheme.

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty DumptySat on a wall.Humpy DumptyHad a great fall.

All the king’s horsesAnd all the king’s menCouldn't put HumptyTogether again.

FirstStanza

SecondStanza

The Clock

There’s a neat little clock –In the schoolroom it stands –And it points to the timeWith its two little hands.

And may we, like the clock,Keep a face clean and bright,With hands ever readyTo do what is right.

Poetic Devices QuizMany poems contain multiple poetic devices. See if you can answer three questions about poetic devices in “The Clock.” Click on this slide to show each answer.

How many stanzas arein “The Clock”?

What is the rhyme schemein the first stanza?

Can you identify one example of personification in “The Clock”?

TwoFirstStanza

SecondStanza

ABCB

ABCB

(referring to the clock)…it points to the time

With its two little hands.

Bibliography● Clarita pulgarcita. (2008, March 6). Retrieved from http://claritapulgarcita.blogspot.com/2008/03/trabalenguas-betty-botter.html

Many of the graphics used in this lesson were taken from this website.

● Glossary of poetic devices. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.kyrene.org/schools/brisas/sunda/poets/poetry2.htm

This website was used to retrieve the definitions of the various poetic devices.

● Hey diddle diddle nursery rhyme window. (2003-2011). Retrieved from http://www.walldecorshops.com/KA5815070RHYMES.html

The graphic associated with the poem “Hey Diddle Diddle” was found on this website.

● Mother goose: a classic collection of children's nursery rhymes. (2008). Atlanta, GA: Dalmatian Publishing Group.

This book contained the Mother Goose poems used throughout this PowerPoint presentation.

● Nursery rhymes online. (2007-2011). Retrieved from http://www.nurseryrhymesonline.com/mary_had_a_little_lamb-2395.php

Many of the graphics used in this lesson were taken from this website.

● Yannucci, L. (2011). Mama lisa's world. Retrieved from http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=hes&p=1731&l=O

Many of the graphics used in this lesson were taken from this website.