Name__________________________Hour____________

Poetry Unit IntroductionNotes and Terms

Guidelines for understanding poetry (and liking it more):

1) Read poems ____________ ____________.

2) Read poems ____________, following ____________ rather than lines

3) Look for ________ ________ and ideas you don’t ________.

4) Write a ______________ of the poem.

5) State the ____________ _________ or __________ in one or two sentences.

TERMS:

Poetry: _______________________________________________________________

Stanza: _______________________________________________________________

Refrain: ______________________________________________________________

Speaker: _____________________________________________________________

Diction: ______________________________________________________________

Denotation: __________________________________________________________

Connotation: ________________________________________________________

Figurative Language: ________________________________________________

Imagery: ________________________________________________________

Simile: __________________________________________________________

Metaphor: ______________________________________________________

Hyperbole: _____________________________________________________

Personification: _______________________________________________

Allusion: _______________________________________________________

Apostrophe: ___________________________________________________

Symbolism: _____________________________________________________

Sound Devices: ______________________________________________________

Rhythm: ________________________________________________________

Meter: _________________________________________________________

Rhyme: _________________________________________________________

Rhyme Scheme: ________________________________________________

Internal Rhyme: _______________________________________________

Onomatopoeia: ________________________________________________

Alliteration: __________________________________________________

Consonance: __________________________________________________

Assonance: ____________________________________________________

Basic Types of Poetry

Narrative: ___________________________________________________________

Dramatic: ____________________________________________________________

Lyric: ________________________________________________________________

Totally Fun Poetry ProjectTotally Fun Poetry Project

POET at LARGE

Choose one of the poets on the following page and complete the research and work assigned below.

Biography1. Conduct extensive research on the poet of your choice, and write a one page

paper discussing the poet’s life and background. After discussing the poet, ask and answer the following: 1.) How do his/her poems reflect his/her life? 2.) What do these poems tell about life in general?

Formal Analysis2. Take one of your poet’s poems and write a short analysis of the poem.

Discuss what the overall theme of the poem is and what it is trying to convey to the audience. Then ask the following questions and discuss them in paper format: Is there a rhyme scheme? Metaphor? Simile? Personification? Imagery? Allusion? Symbolism?

Creative Analysis

3. Choose another poem from the same poet and create an alternative interpretation of this poem.

a. Draw an illustrate the poemb. Choose a musical melody that fits and discuss why that music should

go with this poem. Submit the melody with your written explanation.c. Create a response poem of your own in answer or inspired by this

poem.

Poet List Poet at Large Project

W H AudenRobert BlyRupert BrookeGwendolyn BrooksSterling BrownElizabeth Barrett BrowningRobert BrowningMargaret T.G. BurroughsSandra CisnerosLucille CliftonSamuel Taylor ColeridgeEmily DickensonHilda DoolittlePaul Lawrence DunbarThomas Sterns EliotNikki GiovanniGeorge Gordon, Lord ByronThomas HardyLangston HughesTed HughesJohn KeatsRudyard KiplingHenry Wadsworth LongfellowEdna St. Vincent MillayWilfred OwenDorothy ParkerSylvia PlathAdrienne RichTheodore RoethkeSiegfried SassoonAnne SextonAlfred, Lord Tennyson

Dylan ThomasEdward ThomasMargaret WalkerWalt WhitmanWilliam WordsworthWilliam Butler Yeats

Poet Project RubricBiography of Poet (30 points)

This work must be written by the student in his or her own words, not copied from an internet source. The biography must follow the directions of the assignment and be at least one page in length. This will include specifics about the poet’s life and what affect his or her life has had on the poetry he or she created.

Formal Analysis (35 points)The first poem chosen of the author’s will be analyzed in a critical way. The

student will give a summary of what the poem expresses as well as what figurative language and rhyme scheme are used in the poem (if any). This must be done in paragraph form, and the poem being analyzed should be included in the final draft that is handed in.

Creative Analysis (35 points)The second poem is the poem done in an alternative form of analysis. This

poem is to be analyzed in a creative way as discussed on the assignment sheet and should be complete, detailed, and logical in its creative assessment.

Overall Grading Analysis of ProjectA Shows substantial depth, fullness, and complexity of thought

Demonstrates clear, focused and coherent organization Is fully developed and detailed May have very few minor mechanical errors, which do not distract the reader

B Clearly addresses the topic and explores issues Shows some depth and complexity of thought Is effectively organized with developed and supporting detail Has a few mechanical errors

C Adequately addresses the topic Shows clarity of thought but may lack complexity Is organized and adequately developed, with some detail Has some mechanical errors, which at times distract the reader

D May distort or neglect parts of the topic May be simplistic in thought

Demonstrates problems in organization Generalizes without supporting detail, is undeveloped Consistent mechanical errors that are distracting

F Demonstrates serious inadequacy in one or more areas

Writing so incompletely developed as to suggest or demonstrate incompetence Writing wholly incompetent mechanically

Ain’t I a Woman?(adapted from a speech)

That man over there saya woman needs to be helped into carriagesand lifted over ditchesand to have the best place everywhere.Nobody ever helped me into carriagesor over mud puddlesor gives me a best place…And ain’t I a woman?Look at meLook at my arm!I have plowed and plantedand gathered into barnsand no man could head me…And ain’t I a woman?I could work as muchand eat as much as a man-when I could get to it-and bear the lash as welland ain’t I a woman?I have born 13 childrenand seen most all sold into slaveryand when I cried out a mother’s griefnone but Jesus heard me…and ain’t I a woman?That little black man in black there saya woman can’t as much rights as a mancause Christ wasn’t a womanWhere did your Christ come from?From God and a woman!Man had nothing to do with him!If the first woman God ever madewas strong enough to turn the worldupsidedown, all alonetogether women ought to be able to turn itrightside up again.Sojourner Truth

Nice Day for a Lynching

The bloodhounds look like sad old judgesIn a strange court. They point their nosesAt the Negro jerking in the tight noose;His feet spread crow-like above theseHonorable men who laugh as he chokes.

I don’t know this black man.I don’t know these white men.

But I know that one of my handsIs black, and one is white. I know thatOne part of me is being strangled,While another part horribly laughs.

Until it changes,I shall be forever killing, and be killed

-Kenneth Patchen

The Surrender Speech of Chief Joseph

I am tired of fighting.Our chiefs are killed.Looking Glass is dead.Toohulhulsote is dead.The old men are all dead.It is the young men who say no and yes.He who led the young men is dead.It is cold and we have no blankets.The little children are freezing to death.My people, some of them, have run awayto the hills and have no blankets, no food.No one knows where they are-perhaps they are freezing to death.I want to have time to look for my childrenand see how many of them I can find.Maybe I shall find them among the dead.Hear me, my chiefs, I am tired.My heart is sad and sick.From where the sun now stands.I will fight no more forever.--Chief of the Nez Perce tribe

Nikki-Rosachildhood remembrances are always a dragif you’re blackyou always remember things like living in Woodlawnwith no toiletand if you become famous or somethingthey never talk about how happy you were to have your motherall to yourself andhow good the water felt when you got your bath from one of thosebit tubs that folk in Chicago barbecue inand somehow when you talk about homeit never gets across how much youunderstood those feelingsas the whole family attended meetings about Hollydaleand even though you rememberyour biographers never understandyour father’s pain as he sells his stockand another dream goesand though you’re poor it isn’t poverty thatconcerns youand though they fought a lotit isn’t your father’s drinking that makes any differencebut only that everybody is together and youand your sister have happy birthdays and very good Christmasesand I really hope no white person ever has cause to write about mebecause they never understand Black love is Black wealth and they’llprobably talk about my hard childhood and never understand thatall the while I was quite happy--Nikki Giovanni

StormThe picnic at roots apple orchardWhen I was twelve/vandal stageThe last hurrah before the blood cameAnd the whole class thereWith miss phelon/the meanest strictestScariest teacher in the schoolAnd the storm begins/and we have to find shelter/it’s thunderingAnd lightning/so we find this barn whereApples are stored and we swarmInto it like fruit flies/before miss phelonCan stop us/the storm has releasedOur real anarchic selves, we feel itAnd for the first time/we challengeHer authority/we run up the stairsShouting and laughing/rolling barrels downWe climb out on the roof/ I shinny down aPole/and splat arrive at her feetAnd she’s yelling/and I’m afraidAnd it’s exciting and pleasurableAnd I run inside again/and she yells for us toCome downWe pay no attention we are upWe keep rolling barrels down/and two boysRun into the woods/and she’s sayin’ she’sGonna call the policeAnd then the storm starts to fadeAnd we round ourselves up/andShake ourselves out of a tranceAnd walk silently back to schoolBut inside/we are shoutingAnd aroused and happy and freeAnd when we sit down in our chairsShe says/looking at us so mean and strictI have decided not to tell the principleAnything about this little incidentAnd I trust that no one will repeatTo anyone else what happenedThis afternoon/and we all knowShe’s covering her ass/and giving usA reprieve/and no one snitchesAnd no one has to stay afterAnd all my life I bless the class picnicAt roots apple orchardWhen the storm came upAnd the barrels went downAnd the strong scent of freedomCarried us far in its perfect powerAnd sudden spell--Elizabeth McKim

Poetry NotebookAssignment #1Biopoem

Line 1: First Name

Line 2: Four traits that describe character

Line 3: Relative of …(brother, sister, daughter, etc)

Line 4: Lover of…(list 3 things or people)

Line 5: Who feels…(list 3 feelings)

Line 6: Who needs…(list 3 things)

Line 7: Who fears…(list 3 things)

Line 8: Who gives…(list 3 things)

Line 9: Who would like to see…(list 3 things)

Line 10: Resident of…

Line 11: Last Name

Example of a Biopoem:

SarahFriendly, happy, curious, helpfulSister of MaryLover of kittens, books, and gymnasticsWho feels joyful, happy, and creativeWho needs love, understanding, and friendsWho fears tornadoes, darkness, and snakesWho gives hugs, kisses, and loveWho would like to see a shooting star, the ocean, and a whaleResident of Wichita, KansasMason

Imagery~that which appeals to the reader’s senses of smell, touch, taste, sight, and

sound.

Writers will use sensory details to create vivid imagery. Sensory details are specific details that help to illicit a strong response in the reader. Instead of writing that something is “beautiful” or smells “wonderful,” the poet will give the details that make something beautiful –describe the scene so the reader can see it in his/her mind’s eye or know what was “wonderful” about the smell…

It is useful to know that imagery is often figurative as well as descriptive. In other words, it can be literal and also mean something beyond the literal, also serving as a metaphor or symbol.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow woodAnd sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that, the passing thereHad worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden back.Oh, I kept the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

-- Robert Frost

I Ask My Mother to Sing

She begins, and my grandmother joins her.Mother and daughter sing like young girls.If my father were alive, he would playHis accordion and sway like a boat.

I’ve never been in Peking, or the Summer Palace,Nor stood on the great Stone Boat to watchThe train begin on Kuen Ming Lake, the picnickersRunning away in the grass.

But I love to hear it sung;How the waterlilies fill with rain untilThey overturn, spilling water into the water,The rock back, and fill with more.

Both women have begun to cry.But neither stops her song.

Li-Young Lee

Icicle

I smacked you in the mouth for no good reasonExcept that the icicle had broken offSo easily and that it felt like a clubIn my hand, and so I swung it, the softPad of your lower lip sprouting out a drop,Then gushing a trail onto the snow even Though we both squeezed the place with Our fingersI’d give a lot not to be the swingerOf that icicle. I’d like anotherMorning just like that, cold, windy, and brighterAs Russia, you glasses fogging up, your faceTurning to me again. I tell you I might Help both our lives by changing that act to this,By handing you the ice, a gift, my brother.

-- David Huddle

New Year

This is the old way,The whole clan gathered,The rice steaming over the charcoal.The women in the room, talking, A layer of potato starch on the table.

This is the old way,The father watching his son lift the mallet,Pound the rice, pound mochi,The children watching or playing,The run of the dough to the women,The rolling of the round cakes.

This is the old way,Eating ozoni, new year’s soup:Mochi for longevity,Daikon, long white radishRooted firmly like families;Eating burdock, also deeply rooted,Fish for general good luck,The lotus root, wheel of life.

This is the old way, setting off firecrackersTo drive away evil spirits,Leaving the driveways red for good fortune.

The new year arrives,Deaf, smelling of gunpowder.

-- Gail Harada

Fredrick Douglass

When it is finally ours, this freedom, this liberty, This beautifulAnd terrible thing, needful to man as air,Usable to earth; when it belongs at last to all,When it is truly instinct, brain matter, diastole, systoleReflect action; when it is finally won; when it is moreThan the gaudy mumbo jumbo of politicians:This man, this Douglass, this former slave, this NegroBeaten to his knees, exiled, visioning a worldWhere none is lonely, none hunted, alien,This man, superb in love and logic, this manShall be remembered. Oh, not with statues rhetoric,Not with the lives grown out of his life, the livesFleshing his dream of the beautiful needful things.

-- Robert Hayden

From Blossoms

From blossoms comesThis brown paper bag of peachesWe bought from the boyAt the bend in the road where we turned downSigns painted Peaches.

From laden boughs, from hands,From sweet fellowship in the bins,Comes nectar at the roadside, succulentPeaches we devour, dusty skin and all,Comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.

O, to take what we love inside,To carry within us an orchard, to eatNot only the skin, but the shade,Not only the sugar, but the days, to holdThe fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite intoThe round jubilance of peach.

There are days we liveAs if death were nowhereIn the background; from joyTo joy to joy, from wing to wing,From blossom to blossom toImpossible blossom, to sweet impossible Blossom

-- Li-Young Lee

The Race

When I got to the airport I rushed up to the deskAnd they told me the flight was cancelled. The Doctors hadSaid my father would not live through the nightAnd the flight was cancelled. A young man with a Dark blond mustache told meAnother airline had a non-stopLeaving in seven minutes—see that Elevator over there well goDown to the first floor, make a right you’ll

See a yellow bus, get off at the Second Pan Am terminal—I Ran, I who have no sense of directionRaced exactly where he’d told me, like a fishSlipping upstream deftly against the Flow of the river. I jumped off that bus with myHeavy bags and ran, the bags Wagged me from side to side as if toProve I was under the claims of the material, IRan up to a man with a white flower on His breast,I who always go to the end of the line, I saidHelp me. He looked at my ticket, he said make aLeft and then a right go up the moving stairs And thenRun. I raced up the moving stairsTwo at a time, at the top I saw theLong hollow corridor andThen I took a deep breath, I saidGoodbye to my body, goodbye to comfort, IUsed my legs and heart as if I wouldGladly use them up for this, toTouch him again in this life. I ran and the Big heavy dark bagsBanged me, wheeled and swam around me likePlanets in world orbits—I have seenPictures of women running down roads

With theirBelongings tied in black scarvesGrasped in their fists, running under seriousGray historical skies—I blessed my Long legs he gave me, my strongHeart I abandoned to its own purpose, IRan to Gate 17 and they wereJust lifting the thick whiteLozenge of the door to fit into theSocket of the plane. Like the man who is notToo rich, I turned to the side andSlipped through the needle’s eye, and then IWalked down the aisle toward my father. The Jet wasFull and people’s hair was shining, they wereSmiling, the interior of the plane was filled with a Mist of gold endorphin light,I wept as people weep when they enter heavenIn massive relief. We lifted upGently from one tip of the continent andDid not stop until we set down lightly on theOther edge. I walked into his room andWatched his chest rise slowly andSink again, all nightI watched him breath

-- Sharon Olds

Poetry Notebook Assignment #2

Emotion Poem(Imagery)

(an emotion) seems (a color)

Like (a comparison)

I see…

I hear…

I smell…

I touch…

I taste…

Here is an example of an emotion poem:

Loneliness seems golden yellow, Like the hazy colors fall days bring.I see leaves of red and orange. I hear birds announce themselves.I smell burning leaves that signal the end of something.I touch no one for I am alone. I taste the salt of my tears.

Poetry NotebookAssignment #3

Imagery Poem

Choose a memorable moment or event from your own life and write a Poem about it, using imagery to create a main impression.

Is your main impression of the event one of joy, fear, pride, or awe? Whatever it is, use imagery that contributes to that main impression. Use your senses to help you. (what do you see, hear, taste, feel, and smell?) Organize your details in order of time, space, or importance so your reader can follow your description.

Simile & MetaphorSimile and Metaphor are commonly studied together because of a key

similarity” both are comparisons between two unlike things. The difference? A Simile achieves that comparison by using words “like’ or “as” to make the connection between two unlike things, whereas in a metaphor the comparison is implied, or suggested.

Song

You’re wondering if I’m lonely:OK then, yes, I’m lonelyAs a plane rides lonely and levelOn its radio beam, aiming across the RockiesFor the blue-strung aislesOf an airfield on the ocean.

You want to ask, am I lonely?Well, of course, lonelyAs a woman driving across countryDay after day, leaving behindMile after mileLittle towns as she might have stoppedAnd lived and died in, lonely.

If I’m lonelyIt must be the lonelinessOf waking first, of breathingDawn’s first cold breath on the cityOf being awakeIn a house wrapped in sleep.

If I’m lonelyIt’s with the rowboat ice-fast on the shoreIn the last red light of the yearThat knows what it is, that knows it’s neitherIce nor mud nor winter light

But wood, with a gift for burning.

--- Adrienne Rich

The War God’s Horse Song-Navajo

I am the Turquoise Woman’s son

On top of Belted Mountain beautiful horsesslim like a weasel

My horse has a hoof like striped agatehis fetlock is like fine eagle plume

his legs are like quick lightening

My horse’s body is like an eagle-feathered arrow

My horse has a tail like a trailing black cloud

I put flecible goods on my horse’s back

The Holy Wind blows through his mane his mane is made of rainbows

My horse’s ears are made of round corn

My hrose’s eyes are made of stars

My horse’s head is made of mixed waters (from the holy waters) (he never knows thirst)

My horse’s teeth are made of white shell

The long rainbow is in his mouth for a bridle with it I guide him

When my horse neighs different colored horses follow

When my horse neighs different colored sheep follow

I am wealthy from my horse

Before me peacefulBehind me peacefulUnder me peacefulOver me peacefulAround me peacefulPeaceful voice when he neighsI am everlasting and peacefulI stand for my horse ~adapted by Dane & Mary Roberts Coolidge

Poetry NotebookAssignment #4

Metaphor & Simile

Write a poem that includes metaphor and simile…

First, choose a subject that you care/like/are passionate about. Wild about motorcycles? I mean a “hog?” What about basketball? Baseball? Snowboarding? Shopping? Karate? Horses? Your pet frog? Whatever you like/enjoy/care about should be the subject of your poem.

Second, make a list of characteristics about the thing you love. Describe its features, its use, explain why you like it, etc. I love chocolate. But there are many types of chocolate, so I’ll narrow it down to my favorite; milk chocolate.

Milk chocolate: tastes sweetMood enhancerVelvety brown to creamy whiteSmoothTakes different shapes and sizes

Then, make a list of what gives you the same feelings/experience as the thing about which you feel passionate, yet is very different. A few tips: don’t choose something that is too similar. For example, since this item is food, I would not want to compare another food. Also, the two things you compare do not have to be similar in every way. Focus on one or two main characteristics that are similar.

The sun/sun setting/sun rise Exercise Angels Music

Next, make a list (mentally or in writing) of the similarities between the two. I will choose music, since it is one of my loves. But music is vast, so to make a better comparison, I’ll choose one genera of music that I enjoy: jazz music

Milk chocolate: Smooth to taste jazz music: smooth to hear Sweet sweet melodies Velvety brown deep, velvety Creamy white sounds Mood enhancer smooth, light Different shapes sounds

mood enhancerdifferentinstruments

Finally, put your comparison into words. It’s up to you to decide which type of comparison you’ll use. Remember, your poem does not have to rhyme or have rhythm or form. It only has to use two of the three types of figurative language described in this lesson. Here’s an example of a metaphor poem comparing jazz music to milk chocolate. The personification is in bold type.

“Truffles” by Jana Andrews

Mmmmmmmm. The creamy, smooth sounds,Taste heavenly.A velvety note melts between my tongue and teethAnd slide-with the mellow slide of the trombone-Until I am satisfied with the longing from that sweet melody.

ReachingGraspingBitingIndulging in another and another and another and anotherEffortless drop of musicUntil I am satisfied

Try to capture the experience of what you care about in words (which could be a “being” experience instead of a “doing” experience). Remember that less is more (not in length, but in words). Above all, HAVE FUN!!!!

SymbolismWhat is a symbol?~ Compressing a complex idea into one image or word.~A figure of speech in which something (object, person, situation, or action) means more than what it is. A symbol, in other words, may be read both literally and metaphorically.

Caged BirdA free bird leaps on the back of the windAnd floats downstreamTill the current endsAnd dips his wingIn the orange sun raysAnd dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalksDown his narrow cageCan seldom see throughHis bars of rageHis wings are clipped andHis feet are tiedSo he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird singsWith fearful trillOf things unknownBut longed for stillAnd his tune is heardOn the distant hillFor the caged birdSings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breezeAnd the trade winds soft through the sighing treesAnd the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawnAnd he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

His shadow shouts on a nightmare screamHis wings are clipped and his feet are tiedSo he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird singsWith a fearful trillOf things unknownBut longed for stillAnd his tune is heardOn the distant hillFor the caged birdSings of freedom.

--- Maya AngelouThe Negro Speaks of Rivers(to W. E. B. Du Bois)

I’ve known rivers:I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and

older than the flow of human blood in

human veinsMy soul has grown deep like the rivers.I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns

were young.I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me

to sleep.I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids

above it.I heard the singing of the Mississippi when

Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, andI’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset

I’ve known rivers.My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

--- Langston Hughes

Dear Anne Frank(Excerpts)

I.It began with the banning of your bicycles,Banning you from going out after eight at night,Restricting you to only buying goods in certainShops for Jews,To only walking down certain avenuesWith a gold star between your open, blossomingArms.Your streets were filled with the thirsty andFear-stricken.Your feet quit crossing through windsweptPastures,And yetYou loved life,The butterflies,Dawns filled with all those wanderingIn no particular direction,The Star of David illuminating them.

II.Anne Frank,Aglow and small,Destitute and brave,Walking with your gold star,With the sadness of those who ask:Why were you, Anne Frank,Tattooed with history’s awful afflictions?Why weren’t you carrying a sunflowerAgainst your breastInstead of aLacerating star?

--Marjorie Agosin

Poetry NotebookAssignment #5

Symbolism

Write a symbol poem choosing some aspect of human nature to represent an emotion, a human trait, or a global issue. Discuss how natural phenomena, such as a river, valley, rock, flower, seedpod, shell, mountain, wind, drought, or tornado, might stand for anger or joy (emotion), greed or compassion (human trait), or war and peace (global issue). Using wind as an example, a morning breeze could represent peace and harmony, hurricane winds could represent the combat of war, and tornadoes could symbolize nuclear explosions.

Focus on one or two natural images, developing figurative language that allows the similes or metaphors to work at both a literal and symbolic level.

Personification

~ When an idea, object, or animal is represented (given human traits or form) as a person. Personification is figurative language because non-human things cannot literally have the human qualities they are given.

The Eagle

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 the thunderbolt he falls.

~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Night Gives Old Woman the World

Dark whispers

Behind the echoOf the wind. MindIs trapped by patternsIn the sound.Night works a spell—Moon spills her naked light.Reflected fire illuminatesThe ground. The pullOf night words makes Earth-WomanGive off heat. Soil glistensDampened by her sweat.Corn seed feels the planet’s turnUnrolls her foot,Prepares to send a shootAbove the dirt. MoonAttracting water in the veinsMakes corn leaves uncurlAnd probe nocturnal air.The leaves stretch outTo catch the coming dew.Clan mother, watching,Hears the planets move.Old, clan mother listensTo the words—all natureSpeaks as slowly seasonsTurn—marked by the waxing,Waning moon; messagesBecome imprinted on old bones.Earth words in darkAs well as light. LifeMoves through the sky. We plant;We harvest, and, at last,We feast. Clan mother listensAnd is filled with thanks.Night murmurs and plantsGrow in the fields.Old woman hears darkSpeak the ancient word.

--Gail Tremblay

Poetry NotebookAssignment #6

Personification

Choose an animal to stand for an abstract idea. You might choose one animal and concentrate on one idea, such as peace or war, freedom or oppression, hunger, greed, hatred, love. Or you might choose, as Maya Angelou did, one animal in two different conditions to symbolize two opposite ideas such as freedom and oppression, war and peace, wealth and poverty. You may even choose two different animals to symbolize opposite ideas such as the eagle (power) and the mouse (timidity).

Once you have chosen an animal that stands for a more abstract idea, think about specific words that will convey its condition. Brainstorm a list of these works to be used in later in the draft of the poem. Are there similes and metaphors that will help the reader make the connection between your animal and your abstract idea? Perhaps you would like to use a refrain…

Poetry NotebookAssignment #7

Personification

Consider the animals of our planet. Choose one that attracts you and seems to share some characteristic of behavior or personality. If you are a shy person, you share some characteristics with a deer; if you like to hang out in groups, you might feel drawn to a dolphin; if you are a person who likes to have an overview of things, you might identify with an eagle or a hawk; if you are athletic, perhaps a cheetah; and if you are sly, you might take on the persona of the fox.

Now try writing a poem using the persona of the animal you have chosen; in other words, speak in its voice about your like, what you look like, what you fear and love. Try to speak about the actual animals while revealing something significant about yourself.

How Do I Love Thee?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.I love the to the depth and breadth and heightMy soul can reach, when feeling out of sightFor the ends of Being and Ideal Grace.I love thee to the level of everyday’sMost quiet need, by sun and candle-light.I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

I love the purely, as they turn from Praise.I love thee with the passion put to useIn my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.I love thee with a love I seemed to loseWith my lost saints,--I love thee with the breath,Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,I shall but love thee better after death.

-- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Mother to Son

Well, son, I’ll tell you:Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.It’s had tacks in it,And splinters,And boards torn up,And places with no carpet on the floor—Bare.But all the timeI’se been a climbin’ on,And reachin’ landin’sAnd turnin’ corners,And sometimes goin’ in the darkWhere there ain’t been no light.So, boy, don’t you turn back.Don’t you set down on the steps“Cause you find it’s kinder hard.Don’t you fall now—For I’se still goin’, honey,I’se still climbin’,And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

--Langston Hughes

My Daughter Approaches Adolescence

You danceOn the dizzy edge of things

Already you dream departureAs years agoI dreamed divorce

When I was whereYou areMy momma saidGo slowShe saidThe water has holes in itAnd the fish fall throughShe saidNo one should swimNot nowWith the sun on the water

Little guest of the gardenMy brown and downy mouseI know you can swim

I remember when you came to meFrom the watery placeAnd all I could doWas get out of your wayGive you upTo the pale roomAnd the gloved hands

And now you will swimThrough coves and bays and open

seasYou will wear water proudlyAnd I like a well-used anchor will

bear Witness to your shining tides.

--Elizabeth McKim

Poetry Notebook Assignment #8

Hyperbole

Choose a sport or any skill that you do well or wish you excelled in. Using repetition and parallel structure in the style of “The War God’s Horse Song” and bragging in the style of “a heavy rap,” write a

boasting poem. Make use of exaggerated physical or mental prowess. Don’t be afraid to use fantastic imagery; push out the limits of your expression.

JABBERWOCKYLewis Carroll

(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves  Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,  And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!  The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun  The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:  Long time the manxome foe he sought --

So rested he by the Tumtum tree,  And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,   The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,   And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through  The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

He left it dead, and with its head  He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?  Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'  He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves  Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,  And the mome raths outgrabe.

What is Rhyme and Rhyme Scheme?

Rhyme Scheme is the pattern of rhymes used in a verse, usually indicated with letters. When indicating the scheme using letters, a different letter of the alphabet is used to identify each new end-of-the-line sound (note that it is sound that counts in assigning letters, not spelling).

For instance, the spelling of “align” and “line” create the same “ine” sound though they are spelled differently, so they rhyme. “Fathom” and “rhythm,” though spelled differently, both makes an “um” sound, so they rhyme. However, “hear” and “pear”, though they have the same end spelling, do not make the same sound, so they do not end rhyme. They could be considered close to rhyme, and when words that end lines of poetry nearly rhyme, they achieve slant rhyme, “rhyme in which there is a close but not exact correspondence of sounds” (Webster’s New World Dictionary). Words like “hid” and “lad” could create slant rhyme.

Now it is time for an example to illustrate the above ideas. Bwloe is a list of words we will assume came from the ends of lines in a poem. Letters will be assigned to them to indicate the rhyme scheme.

Purple (A)Friend (B = “end” sound)

Toss (C)Mend (B = “end” sound)

Couple (A = slant rhyme with line one)Rap (D)Moss (C)Nap (D)

Try it for yourself.

So the rhyme scheme would be indicated by writing ABCB, ADCD. If these were from the first two stanzas of a three-stanza poem, and the poet continued with the same scheme in the third stanza, what would the letters for that stanza be? Figure it out then check your conclusion.

The Long and Winding Road

The long and winding road that leads to your door,Will never disappear,I’ve seen that road beforeIt always leads me here,Leads me to your door.

The wild and windy night the rain washed away,Has left a pool of tears crying for the day.Why leave me standing here, let me know the way.Many times I’ve been along and many times I’ve cried.Anyway you’ll never know the many ways I’ve tried, butStill they lead me back to the long and winding road.You left me standing here a long, long time ago.Don’t leave me waiting here, lead me to your door.

O Captain! My Captain!

O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won;The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:

But O heart! heart! heart!O the bleeding drops of red,Where on the deck my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;Rise up--for you the flag is flung--for you the bugle trills; 10For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths--for you the shores a-crowding;For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;Here Captain! dear father!This arm beneath your head;It is some dream that on the deck,You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won; 20Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!But I, with mournful tread,Walk the deck my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.

~Walt Whitman

The Weary Blues

Droning a drowsy syncopated tune, Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon, I heard a Negro play. Down on Lenox Avenue the other night By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light He did a lazy sway .... He did a lazy sway .... To the tune o' those Weary Blues. With his ebony hands on each ivory key He made that poor piano moan with melody. O Blues! Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool. Sweet Blues! Coming from a black man's soul. O Blues! In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan-- "Ain't got nobody in all this world, Ain't got nobody but ma self. I's gwine to quit ma frownin' And put ma troubles on the shelf."

Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor. He played a few chords then he sang some more-- "I got the Weary Blues And I can't be satisfied. Got the Weary Blues And can't be satisfied--

I ain't happy no mo' And I wish that I had died." And far into the night he crooned that tune. The stars went out and so did the moon. The singer stopped playing and went to bed While the Weary Blues echoed through his head. He slept like a rock or a man that's dead.

~Langston Hughes

Edgar Allan Poe

Annabel Lee It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of ANNABEL LEE; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea; But we loved with a love that was more than love- I and my Annabel Lee; With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago, In this kingdom by the sea, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee; So that her highborn kinsman came And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven, Went envying her and me- Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know, In this kingdom by the sea) That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we- Of many far wiser than we- And neither the angels in heaven above, Nor the demons down under the sea, Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride, In the sepulchre there by the sea, In her tomb by the sounding sea.

The Conqueror Worm

Lo! 'tis a gala night Within the lonesome latter years! An angel throng, bewinged, bedight In veils, and drowned in tears, Sit in a theatre, to see A play of hopes and fears, While the orchestra breathes fitfully The music of the spheres.

Mimes, in the form of God on high, Mutter and mumble low, And hither and thither fly- Mere puppets they, who come and go At bidding of vast formless things That shift the scenery to and fro, Flapping from out their Condor wings Invisible Woe!

That motley drama- oh, be sure It shall not be forgot! With its Phantom chased for evermore, By a crowd that seize it not, Through a circle that ever returneth in To the self-same spot, And much of Madness, and more of Sin, And Horror the soul of the plot.

But see, amid the mimic rout

A crawling shape intrude! A blood-red thing that writhes from out The scenic solitude! It writhes!- it writhes!- with mortal pangs The mimes become its food, And seraphs sob at vermin fangs In human gore imbued.

Out- out are the lights- out all! And, over each quivering form, The curtain, a funeral pall, Comes down with the rush of a storm, While the angels, all pallid and wan, Uprising, unveiling, affirm That the play is the tragedy, "Man," And its hero the Conqueror Worm.

Spirits of the Dead Thy soul shall find itself alone 'Mid dark thoughts of the grey tomb-stone; Not one, of all the crowd, to pry

Into thine hour of secrecy.

Be silent in that solitude, Which is not loneliness- for then The spirits of the dead, who stood In life before thee, are again In death around thee, and their will Shall overshadow thee; be still.

The night, though clear, shall frown, And the stars shall not look down From their high thrones in the Heaven With light like hope to mortals given, But their red orbs, without beam, To thy weariness shall seem As a burning and a fever Which would cling to thee for ever.

Now are thoughts thou shalt not banish, Now are visions ne'er to vanish; From thy spirit shall they pass No more, like dew-drop from the grass.

The breeze, the breath of God, is still, And the mist upon the hill Shadowy, shadowy, yet unbroken, Is a symbol and a token. How it hangs upon the trees, A mystery of mysteries!

Poetry NotebookAssignment #10

Rhyme Poem

Write a poem using rhyme scheme and rhythm. The poem must have at least three stanzas and must be at least 12 lines long.

It doesn’t matter what the subject is, or whether the tone is serious or humorous. The trick is to find words that rhyme. The rhythm may be more difficult to fashion Here’s a tip: natural speech is in an iambic rhythm. Many poets of old played with the word order in order to create a unifying sound (or switched up the rhythm in order to make a point). No matter which rhythm you choose, you decide what type (iambic, etc) of rhythm you’ll use and how many feet you will place in each line. Then, follow that pattern throughout your poem. Just be consistent.

Create your own poems

Notebooks assignments #11 and #12

These poems can be about anything, using any of the poetic elements we have used. However, you cannot do more “formula poems,” in other words you may NOT do another bio poem or another poem like the first imagery poem.