Is This a Poem?: What makes a poem, and how YOU can write one

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Haiku: A haiku is a type of poetry that originated in Japan. This type of poetry is structured and includes three lines that do not rhyme. The first line has five syllables, the second has seven, and the last has five. Connotation: the feeling a writer creates through their word choice. It’s the idea a specific word or set of words evokes. It’s hard to imagine what an overfilled brain looks like, but when you compare it to a jar of marbles that’s already spilling over, the reader can envision it much more clearly. Similar to Browning, Robert Burns’ profound love is evident in his poem ‘A Red, Red Rose’. Burns declares this love to be both passionate and refreshing — with each comparison, we see that even the loveliest language pales next to the depth of Burns’ ‘Luve’. 12. "She Walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes; Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

Widely regarded as the ‘Father of English poetry’, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote some of the most renowned works of the English language, including ‘The Canterbury Tales’ and ‘The Book of the Duchess’. The standalone poem ‘Rondel of Merciless Beauty’ (here translated from Middle English) recounts Chaucer’s heartbreak after being left by the love of his life, pledging his everlasting devotion to her even though it pains him. 16. "Love Comes Quietly" by Robert Creeley To My Dear and Loving Husband" by Anne Bradstreet Thy love is such I can no way repay; The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray. Then while we live, in love let’s so persever, That when we live no more, we may live ever. A modern lullaby for all lovers – gay, straight, young, old. It seems a fine note on which to conclude this selection of the most beautiful and melodic poems in the English language.Lay your sleeping head, my love …’: so begins this, one of the tenderest, and most honest and beautiful, love poems in all of twentieth-century literature. Shakespearean sonnets, for example, are 14 lines long and have a clear set structure. A Shakespearean sonnet follows the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

This is when a word, statement, or phrase can have two or more possible meanings. In poetry, the poet often leaves the final interpretation up to the reader. It gives the reader something to consider or think about. Ambiguity in poetry also means there's lots for readers to come together and discuss. Enjambment Free Verse: lines are unrhymed, and there are no consistent metrical patterns. But, that doesn’t mean it is entirely without structure. Used in modern and contemporary writing and is useful when the writer wants to mimic natural speech patterns.Examples include: ‘Historic Evening’by Arthur Rimbaud, ‘O Me! O Life!’by Walt Whitman, and ‘What Are Years’by Marianne Moore.

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Prolific poet Dorothea Lasky has written multiple collections and currently directs the poetry programme at Columbia University. In ‘Poem To An Unnameable Man’, she uses celestial imagery to explore a romantic relationship, describing her power and strength to the lover who underestimates her. 38. "Movement Song" by Audre Lorde Creating concrete settings and props with your words grounds the reader in the poem’s world, allowing them to process everything in a natural way that lets them come to their own conclusions. Epic poems mostly carried over from ancient cultures devote an extraordinary number of words to telling the entirety of an adventure from beginning to end. It was written for Maud Gonne, the woman Yeats loved for many years and viewed as his chief muse. They never married, although Yeats asked her on several occasions. Joseph Hone, one of Yeats’s best biographers, records that Yeats once commented in a lecture that another of his poems, ‘ The Cap and Bells‘, was the way to win a woman, while ‘He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven’ was the way to lose one.

The poem "The Door of Dreams" by Jessie Belle Rittenhouse explores the theme of missed opportunities and the transformative power of seizing the right moment. The narrator reflects on their past hesitations and missed chances to explore the possibilities presented by the Door of Dreams. The open door symbolizes opportunities and aspirations that the narrator has previously overlooked. However, on one fateful day, the narrator discovers that the door is open, and this time, they encounter someone, "You," standing there. This encounter signifies a turning point where the narrator decides to take a chance and step through the door. The poem uses vivid imagery to convey the allure of the Door of Dreams and the significance of encountering someone who inspires them to take action. The repetition of the open door motif emphasizes the recurring opportunities in life, urging readers not to miss their chance for personal growth and fulfillment In ‘Heart to Heart’, Rita Dove rejects the typical clichés that come with falling in love. With her down-to-earth approach to the topic, she assures the intended reader that although she may struggle to show her love, that doesn’t mean it’s not there. 25. "Love" by Carol Ann Duffy you’re where I stand, hearing the sea, crazy for the shore, seeing the moon ache and fret for the earth. When morning comes, the sun, ardent, covers the trees in gold, you walk Each stanza of Langston Hughes’ ‘A Love Song for Lucinda’ compares love to a specific feeling, all of which are linked to the natural world. This poem emphasizes the exhilaration of falling in love and the all-encompassing enchantment that comes with it. 34. "Poem for My Love" by June JordanProse: is a written and spoken language form that does not make use of a metrical pattern or rhyme scheme. A simile compares one thing directly to another thing, often by using the 'as as' combination. For example:

Similar to repetition, anaphora is where a word or words is repeated at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines. It's most famously used in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 'I Have a Dream' speech. cummings (note the lower-case letters) was an American modernist and one of the most individual poets of the last hundred years, as the very styling of his name suggests. Published in 1915, this poem is a classic example of imagism, that short-lived modernist movement in poetry that was active around the time of the First World War. Tap into your students’ creativity with this Write and Perform a Poem Activity - with everything they have learned about rhymes, word choice and more, your pupils can have a go at writing fun poems.

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The final word on each line within a stanza rhymes: hands/lands/stands and crawls/walls/falls. A rhyme scheme of AAA BBB. Blank Verse: unrhymed, metered lines. Usually iambic pentameter. Meaning, each line contains five sets of two beats, the first of which is unstressed and the second of which is stressed. These lines do not rhyme. Examples include: ‘ Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey‘by William Wordsworth, ‘ Mending Wall‘by Robert Frost, and ‘ Rain‘ by Edward Thomas. Though its author was known for a life of adventure and scandal, Lord Byron’s poem ‘She Walks in Beauty’ refers notably less to passionate or sexual love compared to his other works. That said, his astonishment at this woman’s beauty comes across instantly, making this a beautifully romantic poem. 13. "Love is a fire that burns unseen" by Luís Vaz de Camões Love is a fire that burns unseen, a wound that aches yet isn’t felt, an always discontent contentment, a pain that rages without hurting, Since poetry is commonly used to portray a feeling, it should come as no surprise that many poets choose to over-exaggerate the feelings being portrayed.