Introduction to Poetry

 In poetry the sound

and meaning of words
are combined to
express feelings,
thoughts, and ideas.
 The poet chooses
words carefully.
 Poetry is usually
written in lines.

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Poetry Elements
Writers use many elements to create their
poems. These elements include:
 Rhythm
 Sound
 Imagery
 Form

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Rhythm
 Rhythm is the flow of the
beat in a poem.
 Gives poetry a musical
feel.
 Can be fast or slow,
depending on mood and
subject of poem.
 You can measure rhythm
in meter, by counting the
beats in each line.
 (See next two slides for
examples.)
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Rhythm Example
The Pickety Fence by David McCord
The pickety fence
The pickety fence
Give it a lick it's
The pickety fence
Give it a lick it's
A clickety fence
Give it a lick it's a lickety fence
Give it a lick
Give it a lick
Give it a lick
With a rickety stick
pickety The rhythm in this poem is fast –
pickety to match the speed of the stick
striking the fence.
pickety
pick.
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Rhythm Example
Where Are You Now?
When the night begins to fall
And the sky begins to glow
You look up and see the tall
City of lights begin to grow –
In rows and little golden squares
The lights come out. First here, then there
Behind the windowpanes as though
A million billion bees had built The rhythm in this poem is
Their golden hives and honeycombs slow – to match the night
Above you in the air. gently falling and the
lights slowly coming on.
By Mary Britton Miller

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Sound
Writers love to use interesting sounds in
their poems. After all, poems are meant
to be heard. These sound devices include:

 Rhyme
 Repetition
 Alliteration
 Onomatopoeia

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 Rhyme
 Rhymes are words that
end with the same sound.
(Hat, cat and bat rhyme.)
 Rhyming sounds don’t
have to be spelled the
same way. (Cloud and
allowed rhyme.)
 Rhyme is the most
common sound device in
poetry.

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 Repetition
 Repetition occurs when
poets repeat words, phrases,
or lines in a poem.
 Creates a pattern.
 Increases rhythm.
 Strengthens feelings, ideas
and mood in a poem.
 (See next slide for example.)

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 Repetition Example
The Sun

Some one tossed a pancake,

A buttery, buttery, pancake.
Someone tossed a pancake
And flipped it up so high,
That now I see the pancake,
The buttery, buttery pancake,
Now I see that pancake
Stuck against the sky.

by Sandra Liatsos

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 Alliteration
 Alliteration is the
repetition of the first
consonant sound in
words, as in the
nursery rhyme “Peter
Piper picked a peck
of pickled peppers.”
The snake slithered silently
 (See next slide for along the sunny sidewalk.
example.)

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 Alliteration Example
This Tooth
I jiggled it
jaggled it
jerked it.
I pushed
and pulled
and poked it.
But –
As soon as I stopped,
And left it alone
This tooth came out
On its very own!
by Lee Bennett
Hopkins 12
 Onomatopoeia
 Words that represent the
actual sound of something
are words of onomatopoeia.
Dogs “bark,” cats “purr,”
thunder “booms,” rain
“drips,” and the clock “ticks.”
 Appeals to the sense of
sound.
 (See next slide for example.)

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 Onomatopoeia Example
Listen
Scrunch, scrunch, scrunch.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
Frozen snow and brittle ice
Make a winter sound that’s nice
Underneath my stamping feet
And the cars along the street.
Scrunch, scrunch, scrunch.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
by Margaret Hillert
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Imagery
 Imagery is the use of words
to create pictures, or images,
in your mind.
 Appeals to the five senses:
smell, sight, hearing, taste
Five Senses
and touch.
 Details about smells, sounds,
colors, and taste create
strong images.
 To create vivid images
writers use figures of speech.
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Figures of Speech
 Figures of speech are
tools that writers use to
create images, or “paint
pictures,” in your mind.
 Similes, metaphors, and
personification are three
figures of speech that
create imagery.

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 Simile
 A simile compares two
things using the words
“like” or “as.”
 Comparing one thing to
another creates a vivid
image.
 (See next slide for
example.) The runner streaked like a cheetah.

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 Simile Example
Flint
An emerald is as green as grass,
A ruby red as blood;
A sapphire shines as blue as heaven;
A flint lies in the mud.

A diamond is a brilliant stone,

To catch the world’s desire;
An opal holds a fiery spark;
But a flint holds fire.
By Christina Rosetti
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 Metaphor
 A metaphor compares
two things without using
the words “like” or “as.”
 Gives the qualities of one
thing to something that is
quite different.
 (See next slide for
example.)
The winter wind is a wolf
howling at the door.

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 Metaphor Example
The Night is a Big Black Cat

The Night is a big black cat

The moon is her topaz eye,
The stars are the mice she hunts at night,
In the field of the sultry sky.

By G. Orr Clark

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 Personification
 Personification gives
human traits and
feelings to things that
are not human – like
animals or objects.
 (See next slide for
example.)
The moon smiled down at me.

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 Personification Example
From “Mister Sun”
Mister Sun
Wakes up at dawn,
Puts his golden
Slippers on,
Climbs the summer
Sky at noon,
Trading places
With the moon.
by J. Patrick Lewis
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