Dissecting a Poem
Dissect a Poem
Identifying f igurative language
and poetic devices with visual references
Created by Tracee Orman
www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Tracee-Orman
Copyright © 2004, Tracee Orman
Dissecting a Poem
FORMS of a POEM
When the poem has no particular
form, it is written in FREE VERSE
Sentences in a poem are called
LINES
Paragraphs in a poem are called
STANZAS or VERSES
When two lines are combined,
they are called a COUPLET
When three lines are combined,
they are called a TRIPLET (or
TERCET)
When four lines are combined,
they are called a QUATRAIN
When five lines are combined,
they are called a QUINTAIN (or
CINQUAIN)
When six lines are combined,
they are called a SESTET
Eight lines combined are called
an OCTET
(Example is the poem “Nothing Gold
Can Stay” by Robert Frost)
A fourteen-line poem with a set
rhyme scheme is called a
SONNET
The sweet
chocolate rippled, like
a sun ray dancing
through the trees
Candy
Is Heaven
Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don't make sense
Refrigerator
There lived a wife at Usher's Well,
And a wealthy wife was she;
She had three stout and stalwart sons,
And slept with them out at sea.
There once was a young man who said;
'I have always been bored when I've read,
Poems Byronic,
So I find it ironic,
When limericks pour from my head.'
I SIT and play as life goes by
Questioning fate and asking why?
Why do some draw a useless card?
Some others lives are so easy
Against their ace we draw a three
What is it that makes living hard?
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leafs 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.
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
USING FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE
Words that give non-humans &
objects human traits and qualities
are called PERSONIFICATION
Comparison of two or more
unrelated things using “like” or
“as” is called a SIMILE
Comparison of two or more
unrelated things (without using
“like” or “as”) is called a
METAPHOR
Words with the same beginning
sounds, used closely in a line or
lines are called ALLITERATION
The use of words to suggest the
opposite of their meaning or what
is unexpected is called IRONY
Objects, characters, or other
concrete representation of ideas
are called SYMBOLS
Words that create a picture in
your mind or appeal to any of the
five senses are called IMAGERY
USING POETIC CONVENTIONS
Words that sound alike are called
RYHMES
Shakespeare’s sonnet “Shall I
Compare Thee to a Summer’s
Day?” (#18) is an excellent
example of using figurative
language. Can you find examples
of personification, metaphor,
imagery, alliteration, rhyme, or
symbols?
An APOSTROPHE is used to
indicate a letter is missing from
the word (dimm’d = dimmed,
untrimm’d = untrimmed, wander’st
= wanderlust)
Copyright © 2004, Tracee Orman
Dissecting a Poem
TEACHER’S GUIDE
Examples in Shakespeare’s sonnet #18:
Metaphor: comparing the person to a summer’s
day…the sun is the eye of heaven
Personification: Rough winds shake the darling
buds…summer’s lease too short a date…eye of
heaven shines too hot…[sun] gold complexion…
Death’s shade
Imagery: Rough winds (touch/feel)…buds of May
(sight/smell)…too hot (touch/feel)…men can breathe
or eyes can see (sight/feel)
Alliteration: “S” sounds: Shall, summer’s, shake,
summer’s, short, sometime, shines, etc.
“H” sounds: hath, hot, heaven.
“D” sounds: day, darling, date, dimm’d, declines.
“F” sounds: fair from fair, fade.
“L” sounds: long, long lives, life.
Rhyme: day/May, shines/declines, dimm’d/untrimm’d,
fade/shade, owest/growest, see/thee.
Symbols: thy [your] eternal summer will not fade:
summer symbolizes beauty & the speaker is saying
that your beauty (inside & out) will always be & will
never fade…
The poem itself symbolizes the tribute to the person
by saying as long as people can read it, their beauty
will live on.
Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day? (Sonnet #18)
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
--William Shakespeare
Translation:
Shall I compare you to a summer's day? You are more lovely and more
moderate: Harsh winds disturb the delicate buds of May, and summer
doesn't last long enough. Sometimes the sun is too hot, and its golden
face is often dimmed by clouds. All beautiful things eventually become
less beautiful, either by the experiences of life or by the passing of
time. But your eternal beauty won't fade, nor lose any of its quality. And
you will never die, as you will live on in my enduring poetry. As long as
there are people still alive to read poems this sonnet will live, and you
will live in it.
Note to teachers:
I usually project the examples and discuss each example with teachers. You can distribute the student
copy and have your students copy the notes. I’ve also just used this as a reference for students then
used the sonnet as an assessment. You may come up with many other uses.
This is part of my Poetry Resources bundle, available as a digital download or on CD. The CD has
additional presentations and lessons.
Thanks for supporting your fellow teachers!
-Tracee
Cover art: Tracee’s Clipart
Fonts: Kimberly Geswein Fonts
My Blog:
www.traceeorman.com
www.trace
eorman.com
Copyright © 2004, Tracee Orman