| "We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion." These lines from the film Dead Poets' Society explain part of the importance of poetry. Use this page to explore more about poetry, its importance & beauty. 
What is Figurative Language? Figurative language is meant to be interpreted imaginatively, not literally. For example, if we write that the sun is like a golden eye, if we call a famous person an institution, or if we say that the summer night seems to whisper- then we are using figurative language. Imagery - the use of vivid language to describe people, places, things and ideas. It describes something so that a mental picture, or image is created in your mind. This is achieved through the use of sensory language and captures the reader’s attention by appealing to the five senses (touch, taste, sight, sound & smell). Simile - a comparison between two basically unlike things, using the words like or as. Example: “musical as a sea-gull” OR “eyes like the dark night sky” Metaphor – a comparison between two things, not using the words like or as. Example: “her eyes are glistening stars” OR “he is a cold winter day” Symbol - any person, place or thing that has a meaning in itself and that also stands for something else. A symbol can be another living thing, an object, a situation, or an action. Symbols stand for ideas or qualities. Example: dove = peace, heart = love, lion = courage Personification – a figure of speech in which an animal, idea or inanimate object is given human characteristics. Example: “the wind whispered to me softly” OR “the trees danced under the moonlight” Alliteration – the repetition of the same or very similar consonant sounds in words that are close together. Example: “and the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain” OR “peter piper picked a peckle of pickled peppers” Rhyme - the repetition of all sounds following in words close together in a poem. Example: mean and screen, rumble and tumble, jelly and belly Onomatopoeia – the use of words with sounds that echo their sense. Example: buzz, rustle, boom, tick tock, clang, bang Refrain – a group of words repeated at intervals in a poem, song or speech. Repetition – the use of repeated words, phrases or sounds. Stanza – a group of lines that forms a single unit (paragraphs). Speaker – the voice talking in the poem. It is the poet or a character the poet has created. Free Verse – poetry that does not follow any pattern or form Lyric poetry – expresses the poet’s thoughts and feelings; creates a mood through vivid images, descriptive words and musical quality. Originally, it was intended to be sung and accompanied by a lyre. (Songs are considered lyrical poetry without the beat) Concrete Poetry – a poem that takes the shape of the subject Haiku - 3 line poem; relating to a simple, natural image; with 17 syllables divided as such: 5-7-5 Cinquain – 5 line poem with 22 syllables divided as such: 2, 4, 6, 8, 2 Limerick – 5 line, rhyming, funny poem: line 1,2, 5 rhyme / line 3-4 rhyme, are shorter Tanka – 5 line poem similar to Haiku with 31 syllables divided as such: 5-7-5-7-7 Narrative – tells a story, including plot, characters, setting, dialogue & themeBallad – a narrative poem that tells a simple & dramatic story; intended to be sungPoems to Enjoy & Study Consider how each of these poets used Figurative Language to express themselves. “Lyric 17”by Jose Garcia Villa First, a poem must be magical, Then musical as a sea-gull. It must be a brightness moving And hold secret a bird’s flowering. It must be slender as a bell, It must have the wisdom of bows And it must kneel like a rose. It must be able to hear The luminance of dove and deer. It must be able to hide What it seeks, like a bride. And over all I would like to hover God, smiling from the poem’s cover. | “The Great Figure” by William Carlos Williams Among the rainand lights I saw the figure 5 in gold on a red fire truck moving tense unheeded to gong clangs siren howls and wheels rumbling through the dark city | “Dreams” by Langston Hughes Hold fast to dreamsFor if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow. | “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold, Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. | “Fog” by Carl Sandburg The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on. | |
“The Road not Taken” by Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To 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 there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. 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 sigh Somewhere 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. | “O Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman 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, For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths – for you the shores a-crowding, For you the 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; Exult O shores, and ring O bells! But I with mournful tread, Walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. |
Cinquain:
Pink Sky turns to purple As the sun slides behind The mountains and day slowly turns To night. | Limerick: There once was a girl named Maureen
who wished she were skinny and lean But she loved pizza pie, Pastrami on rye, And ate till her plate was clean. | Tanka: Along the beach footprints fill with the sea fill with the sea until they disappear Leaving only sand, only sea. | Haiku: now the swinging bridge
is quieted with creepers
like our tendrilled life
~ Basho (1644 ~ 1694)
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