Poetry Workshop
Introduction to Poetry
By Billy Collins
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to water ski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
Definitions of Poetry
By Carl Sandburg
Poetry is an art practiced with the terribly plastic material of human language
Poetry is the tracking of the trajectories of a finite sound to the infinite points of its echoes
Poetry is a puppet show, where riders of skyrockets and divers of sea fathoms gossip about the sixth sense and the fourth dimension
Poetry is a slipknot tightened around a time-beat of one thought, two thoughts, and a last interweaving thought there is not yet a number for
Poetry is an echo asking a shadow dancer to be a partner
Poetry is a series of explanations of life, fading off into horizons too swift for explanation
Poetry is a sky dark with a wild-duck migration
Poetry is a search for syllables to shoot at the barriers of the unknown and the unknowable
Poetry is the cipher key to the five mystic wishes packed in a hollow silver bullet fed to a flying fish
Poetry is a sliver of the moon lost in the belly of a golden frog
Poetry is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess about what is een during a moment
Poetry is a packsack of invisible keepsakes
Poetry is a phantom script telling how rainbows are made and why they go away
Poetry is the achievement of the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits
Poetry is a mystic, sensuous mathematics of fire, smokestacks, waffles, pansies, people and purple sunsets.
A look at poetry
As we begin our next unit of study we are also going to devote some time to poetry.
How do we define poetry? There have been many different definitions of poetry. Poetry is so many things to so many people. There are as many definitions as there are poets.
Poetry can be wittier and funnier than any kind of
writing; it can tell us about the world through words
we can’t forget; it can be tough or it can be tender; it
can be fat or lean; it can preach a short sermon or give
us a long thought (the shorter the poem sometimes, the
longer the thought). And it does all this through the music
of words.
-Gerald D. McDonald
Poetry: A variety of definitions
*An imaginative response to experience reflecting a keen awareness of language.
*Language arranged in lines and stanzas
*Poetry appeals to the senses and suggests a deeper meaning
*Poetry utilizes similes, metaphors, personification, allusion and hyperbole.
*One of the most ancient and widespread of the arts
*Originally fused with music in song
*Rhythmic use of language
*Shapes the senses to a greater degree than prose
*Poetry is the impish attempt to paint the color of the wind.
Reading Poems
1st reading
Read at normal speed; gain an overall impression, jot down immediate reaction.
2nd reading
Read out loud slowly and carefully, note poetic devices, and guess what the poem is saying.
3rd reading
What is the poem saying about its subject? Look for figurative devices.
An Introduction to Poetry
Goal: To understand the expressive and figurative nature of poetry.
Lesson in class: Students will listen to a piece of music. Try to imagine a scene based on how the music sounds. Students will then share what they saw while listening to the music. Next students will look at a painting and respond to the mood the painting creates. Finally we will look at a clip from the movie “Dead Poets’ Society” where Robin Williams talks about what poetry means. We will discuss what he shares in the film.
Consider the following when creating poetry
*Get at an emotional memory, belief, feeling, image or dream
*Poems are compact so pay special attention to every word or phrase
*Search your mind, collect words, form ideas, write, revise, evaluate
*Make a statement!
*Think about figurative language
Language that goes beyond normal meaning of words, a figure of speech used to heighten or color the meaning of what you are saying.
*Check Writers Inc for poetry terms and figures of speech like, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, simile to name a few or see the poetry vocabulary handout in this packet.
We will write a variety of poems:
Subject poem
Line 1 Subject
Line 2 Three expressive words or phrases
Line 3 A figurative phrase about the subject
Line 4 A line that starts “I wish I could…”
EMOTION IS (COLOR)
It smells like______________________________
It tastes like_______________________________
It sounds like_____________________________
It feels like______________________________
It looks like_____________________________
EMOTION IS (METAPHORIC STATEMENT).
A lyric I like
Select a song lyric that you find meaningful as poetry. Make a copy of that lyric and attach it to this assignment.
Using the way that we have discussed poetry in class, including the poetic elements listed in this packet and in Writers Inc, analyze this lyric as poetry. What is the poet expressing? What is his/her theme? What poetic elements does he/she use to get his/her point across to the listener? Is he/she successful? This should be a carefully written analysis.
In the second paragraph or portion of this piece of writing, explain why you selected this particular lyric. Try to ignore the fact that it is set to music because it should create its own music in your head!
A Poetry Gift
What time of day is this person?
If this person were a fruit, what kind would he/she be and why?
What kind of shoe is this person?
If a song could describe this person, which one would it be?
What metal item represents this person?
If this person were a car, what kind would he/she be?
If this person could live in another time period, which one would he/she live in and why?
List a sound effect to describe this person.
List a personal effect of this person.
What landform is this person?
What color is this person?
List one word to describe this person.
I AM poem
I am (two special characteristics you have)
I wonder (something you are actually curious about)
I hear (an imaginary sound)
I want (an actual desire)
I am (the first line of the poem repeated)
I pretend (something you actually pretend to do)
I feel ( a feeling about something imaginary)
I touch (an imaginary touch)
I worry (something that really bothers you)
I cry (something that makes you very sad)
I am (the first line of the poem repeated)
I understand (something you know is true)
I say (something you believe in)
I dream (something you actually dream about)
I try (something that you really make an effort about)
I hope (something you actually hope for)
I am (the first line of the poem repeated)
Sample
I AM
I am a carefree girl who loves horses.
I wonder if there ever was a horse that could fly.
I hear the stomping of a hundred mustangs on the desert in Arabia.
I see a horse with golden wings soaring into the sunset.
I want to ride swiftly over a green meadow.
I am a carefree girl who loves horses.
I pretend I am an Olympic jumper.
I feel the sky pressing down on me as I ride along a sandy shore.
I touch the clouds on a winged horse.
I worry that I’ll fall off and become paralyzed.
I cry when a colt dies.
I am a carefree girl who loves horses.
I understand that I will not be able to ride every day of my life.
I say, let all horses roam free.
I dream about the day when I have a horse of my own.
I try to be the best rider in the world.
I hope to ride all my life.
I am a carefree girl who loves horses.
By Elly Tatum
Parts of Speech Poem
Line 1- One article (a, an, the) + one noun
Line 2- One adjective + one conjunction (joining word) + one adjective
Line 3 – One verb + one conjunction + one verb
Line 4- One adverb
Line 5 – One noun (relating to the noun in the first line)
Sample
A painting,
Colorful and exciting
Decorates and fulfills
Aesthetically.
Art.
Instant Poetry
- Write three words
- Repeat the first line and add one word
- Take off the first word-add a word
- Continue Step three until your poem is finished.
Sample
The Rainbow
The rainbow arches
The rainbow arches perfectly
Arches perfectly after rain
Perfectly after rain until
After rain until colors
Rain until colors blend
Until colors blend and fade
By Barbara Kurchak
Cinquain
First line – One noun
Second line- 2 Adjectives
Third line- 3 Verbs
Fourth line- 4 words that convey emotion
Fifth line- 1 noun, a synonym for the first noun
Sample
Tag
Fast, fun
Running, dodging, laughing
Okay, you caught me
I’m it!
Haiku
Haiku is a type of poetry originating in 13th century Japan. It does not have rhyme or rhythm. It is three lines in length with a five-seven-five syllable pattern.
Sample
Feeling lonely now
I turn from the cold light to
Where my shadow waits.
Riddle Poem
A riddle poem is a picture, a new way of looking at things. A riddle poem both reveals and conceals-it plays a game of hide and seek. But what does it reveal and what does it conceal? Riddle poems make things come alive and make us come alive –they shock us awake and show us wonder in ordinary things.
A sample
I can touch something
Far off
In the distance.
Can you figure out what this is?
Find a way to describe a common object is such a way as to both hide and reveal it. One well-known modern poet once wrote a long poem describing what seemed to be a very mysterious landscape complete with a full moon. It turned out she was describing her desk-the moon was her lamp.
A Poem in Two Voices
A poem for two voices is a poem written for the purpose of seeing two different perspectives. It is written and read from two points of view. Each point of view is expressed in a complete poem that can stand alone, but the two poems are read at one time. The poem should center around a theme, situation, conflict or topic relevant to the poet. The voices in the poem should be distinct, yet their ideas should be intertwined as they discuss a theme, conflict, topic, etc.
A poem in two voices includes lines that are read together, lines that are read individually and lines that are read alternately. Some of the lines in the two poems are exactly the same, some are only slightly different and some are totally different. The lines are written in the order in which they should be spoken.
The way the poem is written indicates to the readers how it should be read. The two individual points of view should be written in tow individual columns. However, the lines to be read individually should be written on separate lines, and the lines to be read together should be written on the same line. The poem should be read by two people.
A sample poem is found on the handout given in class.
Read the following poems:
Death is a pleasant fellow
dressed in worn-out Levis
bringing wilted lilies to your door.
He drops in unexpectedly
and takes your breath away.
In his rusted Cadillac
he takes you to his city made of stone.
Don’t let him kiss you goodbye.
Find examples of the following poetic elements in the poem you just read.
1.Personification
2.Metaphor
3.Imagery
4.Mood
5.Tone
Words by Pauli Murray
We are spendthrifts with words,
We squander them,
Toss them like pennies in the air-
Arrogant words,
Cruel words,
Comradely words,
Shy words tiptoeing from mouth to ear.
But the slowly wrought words of love
And the thunderous words of heartbreak-
These we hoard.
What comparison is implied in lines 1-2?
How is this comparison reversed in lines 9-10?
Do these comparisons seem appropriate or farfetched?
What is the difference between angry words and cruel words?
Provide at least three “comradely” words.
Reread line 7 and try to visualize the image. Would slipping be as appropriate as tiptoeing? Sneaking? Hiding? Why or why not?
|
