Poetic Forms

• Limericks
• The Haiku
• The Cinquain
• Parody
  

Poetic Devices

• Exercise A: Figurative and Literal Language
• Exercise B: Figures of Speech
• Exercise C: Interpreting Poetry 

Poetic Forms: 

There are many forms of poetry. The forms we are going to study are:

Limerick
Haiku
Cinquain
Parody

The Limerick:

A limerick is a five line poem with the rhyme scheme a a b b a .

Usually the third and fourth lines are shorter (and contain fewer syllables) than lines one, two and five.

There was an old dame of Nantucket
Who kept all her cash in a bucket;
Her daughter, named Nan
Ran off with a man;
And as for the bucket, Nantucket.

1. Which words from the poem correspond to the rhyme pattern?

a __________________
a __________________
b __________________
b __________________
a __________________


2. Write a limerick using the above format.

The Haiku:

The haiku is a seventeen-syllable verse of Japanese origin. It is written in three line based upon a syllable count of 5 7 5.

Before the sunrise
For the fishermen waiting
The wind has shark teeth.

1. Show the syllables for each line.

Before the sunrise 5
For the fishermen waiting 7
The wind has shark teeth. 5

2. Write a Haiku using the above format.


The Cinquain:

A five line poem with the following pattern:

Line 1: One word which is also the title.

Line 2: Two adjectives (describing words) describing the title.

Line 3: Three words, all verbs, which describe typical actions of the subject.

Line 4: A four word phrase describing your reactions to the subject

Line 5: One word which can be a repetition of line 1 or a synonym of that line.


Spring
Sunny, happy
Growing, blooming, singing
A brand new beginning
Spring



Home
Peaceful, cheerful
Loving, caring, sharing
Helping when we can
Family


Exercise:

1. Complete the table:

Adjectives Verbs

Poem 1


Poem 2


2. Write a Cinquain using the above format.



The Parody:

A parody is a piece of writing in which the author imitates the form, language, metre, or style of a selection, which is usually well known. Parodies are often humorous, and frequently express an idea different from the selection bing parodied.

For example, in the two parodies that follow, the form and language of well-known nursery rhymes has been imitated to express a different idea.


Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder where you are.
Through the dirty, smog-filled sky,
You cant be seen by the naked eye.


Old Mother Hubbard went to a stream
To get some fresh water to drink.
Alas! And Alack! The water was black
And a sign said, Pollution, we think.

Write a parody. It can be based on a nursery rhyme other than the two above, or it may be based on another poem of your choice.


POETIC FORMS TEST

Read each poem. In the space provided, label the poem as one of the following.

Limerick haiku parody cinquain
1. _________________

Roaring through the blue,
Silver streak from coast to coast,
Might airliner.

2. _________________

There once was a boy in Quebec
Who was buried in snow to his neck.
When asked Are you friz?
He replied, Yes, I is.
But we dont call this cold in Quebec.

3. __________________

hat
Fuzzy, warm
Protects, covers, cuddles
My one true love
Hood

4. _________________
Jack Sprat could eat not fats,
His wife could eat no leans.
They might have lived to a rigpe old age,
But for mercury in canned sardines.

Poetic Devices:

A poem can say a great deal in a few words. All the emotions and ideas a poet wants you to understand and to feel can be condensed into a few statements. Therefore, the choice of words, the sound of words, and even the way the words are placed on the page become important.

The poet uses two poetic devices to make a poems meaning clear. These include:

1. imagery and figures of speech
2. sound patterns and parallelism

Imagery and Figures of Speech:

These devices help the reader to understand the poem through taste, sight, smell, sound or touch. For example, look at the two different ways a writer could describe a mans beard:


His beard was rough.
His beard was like blond sandpaper.


The first sentence gives a literal description, which you can understand. The second sentence uses a figure of speech or imagery, which helps you to actually see and feel the beard. Like blond sandpaper creates a vivid image or picture in your mind.


Five Figures of Speech:

• Simile 
• metaphor
• personification
• symbol
• hyperbole
  
  
  The Simile:
  
  A simile is when two things are compared using like or as.
  
  Examples
  
  The woman was as calm as a bay on a sunny summers day.
  
  (By comparing the woman to a bay, the poet helps us to see the woman as calm.)
  
  
  The employers heart was like steel.
  
  (Since steel is cold and hard, the poet helps us to see the employer as cold hearted.)
  
  
  The Metaphor:
  
  A metaphor is when two or more things are compared without using like or as.
  
  Examples
  Joan is a shelter in a time of distress.
  
  (Joan is compared to a shelter. When you think about a shelter being a safe place, you can see that the poet is telling us what type of person Joan is during hard times.)
  
  You are a flower.
  
  (If a flower is delicate, sweet-smelling, and beautiful, so is the you in the sentence.)
  
  
  Personification: 
  
  Personification is when something which is not a person (an object, idea, or animal) is treated as though it were a person.
  
  Examples
  
  In autumn, I watched the leaves jump off the tree with tears in their eyes.
  
  (Here the leaves were personified because leaves cannot jump or cry.)
  
  The floor dances with his step.
  
  (Here the floor is personified as dancing.)
  
  
  
  Symbols:
  
  A symbol is a word used to represent an idea.
  
  Examples
  
  They lived the life of a dove in those turbulent times.
  
  (The dove symbolizes peace, therefore the people lived peaceful lives)
  
  
  Some Common Symbols / Symbol Representation
  
  owl / wisdom
  eagle / liberty
  white/ purity,virginity
  black / evil, mystery, death
  red / anger, stop, danger
  green / envy, jealousy, hope
  mule / stubbornness
  tortoise / slowness
  season of the year /fall aging, dying
  winter / old age, death
  spring / rebirth, youth
  summer / life at its fullest
  
  Hyperbole:
  
  Hyperbole is an exaggeration to get the point across.
  
  Examples
  
  
  I am so hungry that I could eat an elephant.
  I ran so hard that I thought my heart was going to explode.
  
  
  Sound Patterns and Parallelism: 
  Most poetry contains rhyme and sound patterns which help us to understand the tone and mood of a poem. Rhyme and sound patterns are used in poems in the same way they are used in music. For example, if the beat of the poem is slow and the sound of the words is long, a sad and serious mood is created. If the beat is fast and the sound of the words light, a happier mood is created.
  
  Three sound patterns:
  
  1. alliteration
  2. rhyme
  3. parallelism
  
  
  Alliteration:
  
  Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of two or more words in one line.
  
  Example
  
  flower
  beautifully blooming, budding
  with a succulent sweet scent
  colorfully here today
  gone tomorrow
  withering forever
  
  (the letters (b) and (s) are alliterated in the second and third lines.)
  
  
  Rhyme:
  
  Rhyme is the repetition of the final word or sylables of a word in a line.
  
  Example
  
  Birds popping up and down a
  Squirrels bounding all aroun a
  Spring is in the air. b
  Trees with buds about to burst c
  Flower gardens by April first! c
  Love is everywhere; b
  Someone to care. b
  
  In the rhyme scheme aabccbb, each letter stands for a different sound. Words or syllables with the same sound have the same letter.
  
  
  Parallelism:
  
  Parallelism is the repetition of lines or groups of words at the beginning of lines. It is used for emphasis to help the mood or idea in the poem stand out.
  
  Example
  
  Sometimes I feel like Im almost gone,
  Sometimes I feel like Im almost gone,
  Sometimes I feel like Im almost gone,
  A long way from home, a long way
  from home.
  
  
  EXERCISE A: FIGURATIVE AND LITERAL LANGUAGE
  
  Write an F in from of each sentence which is figurative and an L in front of each sentence which is literal. Remember that figurative language contains imagery.
  
  1. ____________ I have to money.
  2. ____________ My bank account is like an empty piggy bank.
  3. ____________ The empty house seemed sad and lonely.
  4. ____________ The hit-and-run driver left the scene quickly.
  5. ____________ Rains will bring us relief from the drought.
  6. ____________ Towering thunderstroms will bring us relief from the
  all-consuming drought.
  7. ____________ During the exam my friend drew a blank.
  8. ____________ During the esam my friend could not think.
  9. ____________ I would love to help you, but my hands are tied.
  10. ____________ I feel like an organ grinders monkey at a street fair.
  
  
  EXERCISE B: FIGURES OF SPEECH
  
  After each sentence, fill in the blank with the appropriate name of the figure of speech: simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, or symbol.
  
  
  1. You are like a flower. ____________________
  2. Her shoes squeaked like a mouse. _________________
  3. Im dying for a piece of chocolate. ________________
  4. The clouds tip-toed through the sky. __________________
  5. She turned red with rage. _________________
  6. The room glowed with their love. __________________
  7. My mother is just like a baby. _________________
  8. The hands of the clock danced through the night. ________________
  9. You are a flower. _______________
  10. Life is a nightmare. _____________
  11. Sometimes, teaching is a carnival. ______________
  12. My life is like a maze. ____________
  
  
  EXERCISE C: INTERPRETING POETRY
  
  In the following exercises, you will have to use all your reading comprehension skills and knowledge of literary terms and devices to interpret poetry. Circle the letter of the correct answer to each question.
  
  A.
  Imagine what its like
  to have a redwood grove envelope you
  shielding you from a simmering, summers sun
  speaking to you in its towering silence
  nature
  humbling you with awe
  
  1. The tone of this poem is one of
  a. innocence
  b. sorrow
  c. surprise
  d. humiliation
  e. reverence
  
  2. What letter is alliterated in the third line?
  a. t
  b. r
  c. i
  d. s
  e. y
  
  
  3. Which figure of speech does the poet use?
  a. simile
  b. personification
  c. metaphor
  d. rhyme
  e. alliteration
  
  
  B.
  Right or wrong
  things cant go that way
  Right or wrong
  things must go some way
  Just one time if I had my way
  Right or wrong
  It will be done my way.
  
  1. What is the poet saying in this poem?
  a. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things.
  b. The poet decides what is right or wrong.
  c. The poet is going to do her or his own thing, knowing that it is wrong.
  d. The poet is going to have his or her own way regardless of the consequences.
  e. The poet wants to do well.
  
  
  2. The poet conveys the same theme of the poem by using
  a. parallelism
  b. alliteration
  c. metaphor
  d. rhyme
  e. symbolism
  
  C.
  MOTHERLESS CHILD
  Sometimes I feel like a motherless child,
  Sometimes I feel like a motherless child,
  Sometimes I feel like a motherless child,
  A long way from home, a long way from home.
  Sometimes I fell that the night wont end,
  Sometimes I fell that the night wont end,
  Sometimes I fell that the night wont end,
  A long way from home, a long way from home.
  Sometimes I feel like a feather in the air,
  Sometimes I feel like a feather in the air,
  
  Sometimes I feel like a feather in the air,
  A long way from home, a long way from home.
  Sometimes I feel like an eagle in the air,
  Sometimes I feel like an eagle in the air,
  Sometimes I feel like an eagle in the air,
  A long way from home, a long way from home.
  
  1. The author expresses his or her feelings by all of the following except
  a. alliteration
  b. repetition
  c. simile
  d. parallelism
  e. personification
  
  2. The author feels
  a. sad
  b. depressed
  c. lonely
  d. free
  e. all of the above
  
  D.
  Ive never seen a king,
  But Ive seen an eagle soaring all alone,
  Scanning prostrate earth
  From his airy throne.
  
  Ive seen eagles, too, in cages,
  And I think Id rather be
  A dead eagle than a caged eagle,
  An eagle without liberty.
  
  1. What is the rhyming pattern in each stanza?
  a. lines one and four
  b. lines two and three
  c. lines two and four
  d. lines one and three
  e. none of the above
  
  
  2. Which of the following poetic devices does the poet use to characterize the eagle?
  a. symbolism
  b. metaphor
  c. simile
  d. alliteration
  e. parllelism
  
  3. The poet uses another device to characterize the eagle which is
  a. metaphor
  b. parallelism
  c. alliteration
  d. rhyming
  e. personification
  
  
  E.
  I passed a rose by the wayside
  And gave so little heed;
  Blind and dumb passed by it,
  Blossoming to my need.
  
  Blind in the dust of the highway,
  Dumb for a listening ear,
  How should I know of rosebuds
  The dearest would prove so dear?
  
  How should I know as ever
  The long, long road led on
  A glimpse of one rose-face would haunt me
  When all the roses were gone?
  
  
  1. What tone is the poet trying to achieve?
  a. happiness
  b. sadness
  c. weariness
  d. regret
  e. none of the above
  
  2. The figures of speech in each stanza refer primarily to the sense of
  a. smell
  b. sight
  c. sound
  d. touch
  e. hearing
  
  
  ASSIGNMENT:
  
  A. For the poem, ___________________________ find one example of each:
  
  (a) Imagery and figurative speech (one of simile, metaphor, personification, symbol, or hyperbole.)
  
  (b) Sound patterns and parallelism. (one of alliteration, rhyme or parallelism)
  
  
  Use the following format.
  
  
  The Cremation of Sam McGee
  
  a. Imagery and figurative speech metaphor
  
  Example: Now a promise made is a debt unpaid,..
  
  b. Sound patterns and parallelism rhyme
  
  Example: Dawson trail. a
  driven nail. a
  coulnt see; b
  Sam McGee. B
  
  B. Write a short summary of the poem retell the story in your own words. No more than half a page for each.
  
  POETIC DEVICES TEST
  
  Imagery and figures of speech
  
  A. Define each of the following terms.
  
  
  Simile
  Metaphor
  Personification
  Symbol
  hyperbole
  
  
  
  B. Fill in the blank with the appropriate figure of speech.
  (simile, metaphor, personification, or hyperbole.)
  
  
  a. Now a promise made is a debt unpaid,.. _________________
  b. to have a redwood grove envelope you _________________
  c. And Id often sing to the hateful thing, _________________
  and it hearkened with a grin.
  d. Susan is a pillar of society. _________________
  e. The rain is like diamonds on the trees. _________________
  f. The old man was as gruff as an old bear. _________________
  g. Im so hungry I could eat a toad. _________________
  
  
  C. Match the symbols with what they stand for.
  
  Symbol Reprsentation
  
  a. owl _____ envy, jealousy, hope
  b. black _____ old age, death
  c. green _____ wisdom
  d. tortoise _____ slowness
  e. winter _____ evil, mystery, death
  
  
  
  Sound patterns and parallelism
  
  Answer the questions for each excerpt of poetry.
  
  
  I hid all trace of her heart unclean;
  I painted a babe at her breast;
  I painted her as she might have been
  If the Worst had been the Best.
  
  1. The rhyming pattern used in this poem is ______________.
  a. a,a,a,b
  b. a,b,a,b
  c. b,a,b,a
  
  
  
  Sometimes I feel like a feather in the air,
  Sometimes I feel like a feather in the air,
  Sometimes I feel like a feather in the air,
  A long way from home, a long way from home.
  
  2. The sound pattern being used in this poem is ______________.
  
  a. parallelism
  b. rhyme
  c. alliteration
  
  
  flower
  beautifully, blooming, budding
  with a succulent sweet scent
  
  3. The sound pattern being used in this poem is ______________.
  a. parallelism
  b. rhyme
  c. alliteration