Language of Poetry

Part A.   Imagery : Literal images & Figurative images

Part B.   Sound Patterns : Rhythm & Rhyme

Part A.  Imagery

Imagery refers to mental pictures created by words.

← Literal Images: the words are used to describe something directly by appealing to

one or more of our sensory faculties.

1. Visual images: they consist of things we can see.

 

The sun was shining on the sea,Shining with all his might: He did his very best to makeThe billows smooth and bright -And this was odd, because it wasThe middle of the night.         (Lewis Carroll)          

2. Tactile images: they appeal to our sense of touch.

 

Through the green twilight of a hedge,I peered with cheek on the cool leaves pressed     (Walter de la Mare)

3. Auditory images: they suggest the sounds of things, usually resulting in an effect onomatopoeia (Words that imitate sounds or sounds that are linked with objects).

 

Bow-wow, says the dog,Mew, mew says the cat,Grunt, grunt, goes the hog,And squeak goes the rat.Tu, whu, says the owl,Quack, quack, says the duck,And what the cuckoo says you know.    (Mother Goose)

4. Olfactory images: they suggest the smells of things.

 

As Mommy washed upand the children played,smell of warm butter filled the air.    (Anonymous)

5. Kinesthetic images: they refer to actions or motions.

 

A poem once stopped me on the street. I've got a poem stuck on my feet. A poem attacked me in the shower. I find a poem most every hour!     (Mark Stansell)

6. Gustatory images: they suggest the tastes of things.

 

A mouse found a beautiful piece of plum cake,The richest and sweetest that mortal could make:

'Twas heavy with citron and fragrant with spice,And covered with sugar all sparkling as ice.     (Iona and Peter Opie)

←

← Figurative images: the words are used to describe one thing by comparing it to

something else with which we are more familiar. The poet uses figurative language

to bring us new experiences, new visions, new ways of looking at the world.

1. Simile: a stated comparison, employing a connective such as "like" or "as".

"My love is like a red, red rose"     (Robert Burn)

2. Metaphor: an implied comparison, not directly stated with words such as "like" and "as".

In the morning the citySpreads its wingsMaking a songIn stone that sings.    (Langston Hughes) 

3. Personification: human qualities are given to an inanimate object, an abstract idea, or a force of nature.

  

"The Night was creeping on the ground!She crept and did not make a sound"    (James Stephens)

Part B.   Sound Patterns

Most poems are written to be read aloud, and how they sound is as important as what

they mean. Sound patterns consist of two elements: rhythm and rhyme.

← Rhythm: the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in language.

1. `Rhythmical pattern in poetry is called meter. The smallest unit of rhythmical

pattern is called a foot. Much poetry combines more than one rhythmical pattern to

achieve a particular effect.

2. Nursery rhymes tend to have very predictable rhythms. For example, "Mary had

a little lamb", "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" (regular trochees; i.e., two syllables

with the emphasis on the first)

3. When reading poetry to children, we need to be aware of the rhythm pattern(s) a

poem contains so that we can gain good effect from our reading.

← Rhyme: the repetition of similar sounds in the two or more words.

1. End rhyme: the repetition of  the ending sounds in two or more lines.

One, two, buckle my shoe;

Three, four, shut the door; Five, six, pick up sticks;

Seven, eight, lay them straight; Nine, ten, a big, fat hen.

2. Alliteration: the repetition of initial sounds in two or more words.

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

3. Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds within words.

  

Hickory Dickory Dock,The mouse ran up the clock, The clock struck one, The mouse ran down,Hickory Dickory Dock!

4. Consonance: the repetition of consonant sounds within words, often with a variation in adjoining vowels.

A flea and a fly Flew up in a flue.Said the flea, "Let us fly!"Said the fly, "Let us flee!"So they flew through a flap in the flue.

Types of Poetry

Part A.   Narrative Poetry Part B.   Lyric Poetry

Part A.  Narrative Poetry

← Narrative poems tell stories in verse. A number of them are very old and were

originally intended to be recited to audiences, such as Homer's "The Iliad" and "The

Odyssey".

← For children, perhaps the most accessible narrative poems are ballads. Traditionally,

a ballad contains four lines, each with eight syllables and with the second and fourth

lines rhyming.

← Not all ballads follow this scheme, but all include a setting, character, and events with

a climax. The stories are often tragic and plaintive.

Examples:  "The Broken-legg'd Man" by John Mackey Shaw,

                    "The Ballad of a Bachelor" by Ellis Parker Butler

Part B.   Lyric poetry

← Lyric poetry typically describes the poet's innermost feelings or candid observations

and evokes a musical quality in its sounds and rhythms.

← Lyric poems exhibit an endless variety of forms. Below are some popular lyric forms.

1. Haiku: a lyric, unrhymed poem of Japanese origin with seventeen syllables

divided into three lines.  It is usually on the subject of nature and humans'

relationship to nature. Successful haiku uses metaphor to give us a fresh and

imaginative look at something we may view as quite ordinary.

The moon is a week old -A dandelion to blowScattering star seed.        (Ruby Lytle)

2. Cinquain: a five-line stanza apparently of medieval origin, often with two, four,

six, eight, and two syllables respectively in the five lines.

Listen...With faint dry sound,Like steps of passing ghosts,The leaves, frost-crisp'd, break from the treesAnd fall.                              (Adelaide Crapsey's "November Night")

3. Sonnet: a very old form of poetry, having gained prominence during the

Renaissance, but not found much in poetry for children. It contains fourteen

lines, each line with five iambic feet (or ten syllables).

Example: "The Children of the Night " by Edwin Arlington Robinson

4. Limerick: a five-line humorous poem, the first, second, and fifth lines rhyming

and the third and fourth lines rhyming. It is one of the most popular poetic forms

among children, The fun of the limerick lies in its rollicking rhythm and its broad

humor.

Imagine a skunk who proposes,To his true love, surrounded by roses.It may turn out just fine,When she falls for his line,But I wonder if flowers have noses?             (Sarah Fanny)

5. Free Verse: adhering to no predetermined rules, but usually with its own

intricate patterns of rhyme and rhythm. It requires the same thoughtful choice

of words and rhythmical patterns as the more rigid stanza forms.

Example: "My Shadow" from Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of

Verses

                 "Homework! Oh, Homework!" by Jack Prelutsky

6. Concrete Poetry: The words of a poem are arranged to form a pictorial

representation of the poem's subject.

Example: "Easter Wings " by George Herbert (1633), designed to suggest angel

wings.

"The Mouse's Tale" by Lewis Carroll (1865), from Alice's Adventures in

Wonderland

Mother Goose Rhymes

Part A.  Historical Perspective

Original Mother Goose books share the characteristics of two types of literature: folktales

and rhymes.

1)  Folktales

1697 - Charles Perrault’s "Tales of Mother Goose" ("Contes de ma

mère l'Oye") or called "Histories and Tales of Long Ago, with Morals"

was published in France. This book contained none of the rhymes

associated with Mother Goose, but a collection of eight famous folk

tales, including "The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood ", "Little Red Riding

Hood" , “Blue Beard”, “The Master Cat; or, Puss in Boots”, “The

Fairies”, “and "Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper”, “Ricky of the Tuft”, and “Little

Thumb”.

1729 - Perrault's tales were translated into English by Robert Samber. The words on the

frontispiece were "Mother Goose's Tales".

2)  Nursery Rhymes

1744 - The earliest known collection of nursery rhymes called "Tommy Thumb's Song

Book" was published in London by Mary Cooper

1765 - The single most important promoter of the designation of Mother Goose as writer

of children's rhymes was John Newbery (1713-1767). He adopted this name for a

collection of mostly traditional rhymes: "Mother Goose's Melody" or called "Sonnets for

the Cradle." The date for publication of this important edition is agreed by scholars to be

about 1765 (1760-1766). It was a little volume, described as a compilation of traditional

English nonsense songs and rhymes. It contained 52 rhymes each with its own black and

white illustration.

 

1786 - Isaiah Thomas published the first authorized American edition of "Mother

Goose's Melody".

 

3)  The Term "Mother Goose"

 "Mother Goose" was associated with a mythical teller of nursery rhymes for young

children. No one is sure where Perrault found this name. It may be given to a woman

who, in early times, kept the village geese and who was the traditional community

storyteller.

  

Part B.  Characteristics of Mother Goose Rhymes

 1)  Sources:

Mother Goose rhymes are derived from war songs, romantic lyrics, proverbs, riddles,

political jingles and lampoons, and street cries (the early counterparts of today’s

television commercials). Few of these rhymes were initially intended for children.

 

2)  Protagonists:

The heroes of Mother Goose rhymes typically come from the lower walks of life.

Examples: “Old Mother Hubbard”, “Simple Simon”, “Solomon Grundy” and “Tom Tom

the Piper’s Son”.

← Those that include kings and queens are often comical and irreverent.

Examples: “Sing a Song of Six Pence”, “Old King Cole” and “The Queen of Hearts (1,

2)”

 

3)  Violence or Fun?

  Mother Goose rhymes are often criticized for their share of violence.

Examples: “Rock a Bye Baby” , “Three Blind Mice” , “There was an Old Woman

who Lived in the Shoe”, and “Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater”.

 

However, the violence in nursery rhymes is not sensationalized. There are no

terrifying elements and the context of the violence is not only fictional but absurd.

It can be argued that this verbal expression of aggressive behavior may help children to

vent natural hostilities and pent-up anxieties.

 

In fact, it is fun to read Mother Goose rhymes. Their delightful nonsense and

eccentric characters remain with us long beyond childhood.

Part C.  Mother Goose Rhymes and Child Development

 

1)  Cognitive Development

← Learning Numbers and Counting

Examples: “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe” , “One, Two, Three, Four, Five/Once I

caught a fish alive”, “Ten Little Monkeys”, “Ten Green Bottles” and “As I was going to

St. Ives Rhyme”.

← Learning Alphabet  

Examples: “Alphabet Rhyme”, “A Picture Alphabet Rhyme”, and “The Alphabet in

Rhyme and Song”.

← Developing Reading Skills (including word-recognition skills, vocabulary and

structural knowledge, and content knowledge)

← Developing a Sense of Humor (appreciation of nonsense)

2)  Aesthetic Development

← Nurturing a Love of Sounds and Rhythms

Examples: “Hickory Dickory Dock”, “Humpty Dumpty” , “Diddle Diddle Dumpling,

My Son John”, and “Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle” For tongue twisters,

see examples: “How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck?”, “Peter Piper”, and

“Betty Botter”.

← Developing Sensitivity to Pattern

← The idea of pattern forms the basis of much art, for pattern results in order and

beauty.

**Listen to rhymes at Educational Activities Inc.

 

3)  Social and Physical Development

← Many nursery rhymes are based on cooperative play. They require physical

coordination and social interaction.

Examples: “Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake”   (a clapping rhyme), “Bingo” (a clapping

rhyme), and “London Bridge is Falling Down” (an action rhyme).

 

** See more “Chants, Clapping Games, and Jump Rope Rhymes”.

 

Part D.   Illustrators of Mother Goose Rhymes

← Alexander Anderson:  

He designed and wood engraved the book “Illustrations of Mother Gooses Melodies”

published by Evert Duyckinck and Charles Moreau in 1873. See “There was an old

woman, she liv'd in a shoe”, “Jacky, come give me your fiddle” and “Two Blind Men”.

← Walter Crane:

Between 1867 and 1876, Crane produced over thirty so-called "toy books". He took

these books so seriously that he worked over every page, including the typography, so

that it came out a well-composed whole. His "Baby’s Opera"  and "Baby's Bouquet"

(1877) were a series of English nursery songs with words, music, and pictures.

← Randolph Caldecott:

Around 1878 he began to work on the picture storybooks. He transformed the world of

children's books in the Victorian era. His illustrated Mother Goose rhymes in paper-

covered book form are among his loveliest and most original creations.

1. He is often described as the father of the modern picture book, being the first

to really explore and experiment with the relationship between text and image.

Before Caldecott, illustration generally duplicated the story conveyed by the

words, but the two became fused together, making complete sense only when

viewed as a whole.

2. His art is characterized by an economy of line and a playfulness of manner that

make his work appealing even today, more than a century after his death.

3. The American Library Association annually awards the Caldecott Medal, which

began in 1938 and was named in his honor, to the illustrator of the most

distinguished children’s picture book published in the United States.

← Kate Greenaway: 

She illustrated the book “Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes” published in London in 1881.

1. She is best known for sugar-sweet pictures of innocent children and girls in

bonnets. Her light, sketchy style was uncommon at the time, with the traditional

illustrators trying to get as much detail and "verisimilitude" into their drawings as

possible.

2. The Kate Greenaway Medal, sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Library

and Information Professionals in the U.K., has been given annually to the

illustrator of the most distinguished children’s book published in the U.K. since

1957.

← Blanche McManus:

She illustrated the book “The True Mother Goose - Songs for the Nursery” or called

“Mother Goose's Melodies for Children” published in Boston in 1895. Her works have a

comic touch. See “Jack Sprat”, “Little Miss Muffet”, “Sing a Song of Sixpence” and “Pat-

A-Cake”.

 

← Arthur Rackham: 

He illustrated the book "The Nursery Rhymes of Mother Goose" for St. Nicholas

Magazine in 1913. In his illustrations, there are earthy old witches and eerie creatures.

His pictures are very alive with details and some of them are surrealistic. See “Little

Miss Muffet”, “Hey! Diddle, Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle” and “As I Was Going to St.

Ives”.

  Blanch Fisher Wright:

She illustrated the book “The Real Mother Goose” in 1916 and 1944. The lines in her

works are clean and sharp and the characters are well-defined. See “Jack Sprat”,

“Humpty Dumpty”, “The Queen of Hearts”, “Pat-A-Cake”, and “Sing a Song of

Sixpence” (find more at Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes at byGosh.com).

 

← Bob Staake:

He used the digital technology to illustrate “Modern Mother Goose”. See “Humpty

Dumpty”, “Little Miss Muffet”, and “Sing a Song of Sixpence”at BobStaake.com.

   

Teaching Poetry to Children

"Lovers of poetry are not born, but made through patient and careful nurturing."

 Russell (2005, p. 188)

Part A.   Children's Poetry Preferences

Part B.   Strategies of Teaching Poetry to Children

Part A.  Children's Poetry Preferences

According to Fisher & Natarella's (1982) and Terry's (1974) studies on children's poetry

preferences, they found that

← Most children preferred narrative poems over lyric poems.

← Limericks were the favored poetic form; free verse and haiku were not well liked.

← Children preferred poems that had pronounced sound patterns of all kinds, but

especially enjoyed poems that rhymed.

← Children preferred poems with regular, distinctive rhythm.

← Children liked humorous poems, poems about animals, and poems about

enjoyable familiar experiences.

(cited in Lynch-Brown, C. & Tomlinson, C. 2005. Essentials of Children’s Literature, 5th edition, p. 49)

Such studies, however, can be dangerous if we rely on them entirely to determine what

poetry we will share with children. We should try to broaden children's experience by

providing them with a wide variety of poetry, but these findings can be used as a good

starting point to select poems for children who have little experience with poetry.

Part B.  Strategies of Teaching Poetry to Children

1. Reading Poetry Aloud to Children

← Poetry should be introduced first and frequently to children in an oral form. Most

poetry is best read aloud. Moreover, children's oral language is the basis for

their later acquisition of literacy.

← Teachers need to practice reading the poems ahead of time and frequently. Keep

in mind that poetry should be read for its meaning and enunciated words

clearly. Pay attention to the poet's punctuation and slow down your normal reading

pace to give full value to each sound.

← Some poems need to be performed and dramatized. Using your voice to make

special effects, such as variations of volume, pitch, and speech rate, and even a

dramatic pause.

← Brief encounters with one to three poems at a time are best. Too many poems in

one sitting may overwhelm students or make the reading tedious.

← After reading the poem, be sure to announce the name of the poet so that

children discover the writers they especially enjoy.

← Some poems warrant discussion. Children can take the opportunity to tell how the

poem made them feel or what it make them think about.

2. Choral Poetry

← Choral poetry consists of interpreting and saying a poem together as a group

activity. Children enjoy this way of experiencing poetry because they have a

participatory role in the activity.

← Short, humorous narrative poems are good first choices.

← Options for reading a poem chorally include unison, two- or three-part, solo voices,

cumulative buildup, and simultaneous voices.

← Poetry selected and arranged for dramatic choral readings on a particular theme

infuses an interesting variation into choral poetry.

← Incorporating action, gestures, body movements, and finger plays can produce

more interesting and enjoyable presentation.

3. Learning to Write Poetry

← Children need to be very familiar with poetry of many kinds before they should be

expected to compose poems.

← Teachers often start the writing of poetry as a collaborative effort. The class

brainstorms for ideas and then composes the poem in groups or pairs.

← Children's poetry follows no absolute rules; perfection of form should not be a

goal. They should be reminded that poetry is a form of communication and that

they should think of an idea, feeling, or event to write about in their poems.

← Teachers can encourage children to compile personal and class anthologies of

their own poems or their favorite poems.

← Teachers can encourage children to model the works of professional poets by

attempting imitation of a whole poem or of specific techniques.

← Teachers can read aloud many poems of one poetic form, and then analyze the

form to reveal the characteristics of its structure. See some poetry writing websites

for children:

-  Poetry writing with poets from Scholastic.com

-  Fern's Poetry Club from PBS Kids

-  Poetry writing from CanTeach.ca.com

-  How to write poems from Poetry Zone