POETRY
Week #1
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Introduction to Poetry
How do you read a poem? The literal-minded might say, “Just let your eye light on it”; but there is more
to poetry than meets the eye. What Shakespeare called “the mind’s eye” also plays a part. Many a reader
who has no trouble understanding and enjoying prose finds poetry difficult. This is to be expected. At
first glance, a poem usually will make some sense and give some pleasure, but it may not yield everything
at once. Sometimes it only hints at meaning still to come if we will keep after it. Poetry is not to be
galloped over like the daily news: a poem differs from most prose in that it is to be read slowly, carefully,
and attentively. Not all poems are difficult, of course, and some can be understood and enjoyed on the
first encounter. But good poems yield more if read twice; and the best poems—after ten, twenty, or a
hundred readings—still go on yielding.
Poetry appeals to the mind and arouses feelings. Poetry may state facts, but, more important, it makes
imaginative statements that we may value even if its facts are incorrect. The effect of a poem (one’s
whole mental and emotional response to it) consists of much more than simply a message. What is the
purpose of a poem? It is to touch us, to stir us, to move us emotionally and spiritually, and possibly even
to tell us or teach us something.
PERSONAL CONNECTIONS
1. How do you feel about poetry? Why?_____________________________________________________________________
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2. How do you feel about spending several weeks studying poetry? Why? _________________________________________
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3. What do you hope to learn from this unit? __________________________________________________________________________
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HOW TO READ A POEM
How to set about reading a poem? Here are a few suggestions.
To begin with, read the poem once straight through, with no particular expectations; read open-mindedly. Let
yourself experience whatever you find, without worrying just yet about the large general and important ideas the
poem contains (if indeed it contains any). Don’t dwell on a troublesome word or difficult passage—just push on.
Some of the difficulties may seem smaller when you read the poem for a second time; at least, they will have
become parts of a whole for you.
On the second reading, read for the exact sense of all the words; if there are words you don’t understand, look them
up in a dictionary. Dwell on any difficult parts as long as you need to.
If you read the poem silently, sound its words in your mind. (This is a technique that will get you nowhere in a
speed-reading course, but it may help the poem to do its work on you.) Better still, read the poem aloud, or hear
someone else read it. You may discover meanings you didn’t perceive in it before. Even if you are no actor, to
decide how to speak a poem can be an excellent method of getting to understand it.
Reading poetry requires paying attention not only to the meaning of the words but to the way they look and sound.
The following strategies will help you:
Notice how the lines are arranged on the page. Are they long lines, or short? Are they grouped into regular
stanzas(groups of lines that essentially make up the “paragraphs” of a poem) or irregular stanzas, or are
they not divided into stanzas at all? Stanza breaks usually signal the start of a new idea.
Pause in your reading where punctuation marks appear, just as you would when reading prose. Note that
in poetry, punctuation does not always occur at the end of a line; a thought may continue for several lines.
PRACTICE
Daddy’s Womb
Carl H.
i asked my father if i could swim,
and he said that i would drown.
The Sea would imprison me – he said
if my feet had left the ground.
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So i walked out to the water,
and cried out – how ’bout now!
He said, a little bit further, Son,
and then you’ll leave the ground.
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i stepped on sand then stone,
from hollow ground to sturdy.
The sky was at my level as I
gazed at the birdie.
What do you think the relationship is like between this young
man and his father?
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The Sea brought me a new idea,
the urge to flee to the high.
i asked my Father if i could fly,
he said, sure, Son – go try.
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i jumped as high as i could.
Still, i landed on the ground.
i saw my Father pull on a chain,
then i knew that i was bound.
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Closed Form
Open Form
Characteristics:
Characteristics:
Follows fixed rules, such as a specified number of
lines.
Does not have a regular pattern of rhythm and may
not rhyme.
Has a regular pattern of rhythm and rhyme.
May use unconventional spelling, punctuation, and
grammar.
Includes the following forms: sonnet, ode, haiku,
limerick, ballad, and epic.
Includes the following forms: free verse and concrete
poetry.
Example
Example
Does the road wind up-hill all the way?
Yes, to the very end.
Will the day’s journey take the whole lone day?
From morn to night, my friend.
wear your colors
like a present person
today is
here & now
-- from “Up-hill” by Christina Rossetti
-- from “Look Not to Memories”
by Angela de Hoyos
Analysis
Analysis
(1) Explain the rhyme pattern and describe the effect it
as on the poem.
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(1)What do you notice about the grammatical aspects of
the poem?
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(2) How does the rhyme pattern coordinate with the
two different speakers?
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(2) What else do you notice about the structure of the
poem?
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Piano
D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930)
Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised1 feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.
In spite of2 myself, the insidious3 mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cozy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.
So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour4
With the great black piano appassionato5. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1. Using what you learned from the chart on the previous page, describe the structure and form of this poem. Make
sure to provide specific characteristics.
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2. What are the speaker’s various feelings? What do you understand from the words insidious and betrays?
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1
Poised – Well mannered; dignified; composed.
In spite off – Despite (e.g., “I am going to do that in spite of what you say”)
3
Insidious – Appearing to be harmless, but is truly dangerous and deceitful.
4
Clamour – Loud noise.
5
Appassionato – With great passion or strong feeling.
2
ABC
Robert Pinsky (1940--)
Any body can die, evidently6. Few
Go happily, irradiating7 joy,
Knowledge, love. Many
Need oblivion8, painkillers,
Quickest respite9.
Sweet time unafflicted10,
Various world:
X = your zenith11.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1. Using what you learned from the chart on the previous page, describe
the structure and form of this poem. Make sure to provide specific
characteristics.
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2. If you rewrote the poem keeping all the ideas and images the same but
changing the form, how much would that shift affect the poem’s impact?
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6
Evidently – obviously; apparently.
Irradiating – To shed rays of light upon; illuminate.
8
Oblivion – The state of being completely forgotten; unknown.
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Respite – Temporary relief from something distressing.
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Unafflicted – Undisturbed; unhurt.
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Zenith – The highest point or state.
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Personal Connections
Why do you think people tend
to focus on the negative or
difficult aspects of life rather
than the positive ones? Why do
some people need “oblivion”
and “painkillers” to get by?
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Lyric Poetry
Originally, as its Greek name suggests, a lyric was a poem sung to the music of a lyre, a small, stringed
instrument. This earlier meaning—a poem made for singing—is still current today, when we use lyrics to
mean the words of a popular song. But the kind of printed poem we now call a lyric is usually something
else, for over the past five hundred years the nature of lyric poetry has changed greatly. Ever since the
invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century, poets have written less often for singers and more
often for readers.
A lyric poem is a short poem in which a single speaker expresses personal thoughts and feelings on a
subject. While modern lyric poems are no longer sung, they still retain common characteristics such as:
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A sense of rhythm and melody
Imaginative language
Exploration of a single feeling or thought
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So Much Do I Feel Love’s Great Influence
Dante
So much do I feel Love’s great influence,
I can endure no more
this suffering that makes me sorely moan,
and so I feel his power ever grow,
and mine, instead, abate12,
I’m less and less the man I was before.
I am not saying Love is now more fierce,
for, if he acted as my will demands,
that might alone which nature granted me,
and now is ended, could not bear his blows.
But this is what now makes me so lament13—
my strength can bear no witness to my will14;
and yet, if mercy from good will is born,
I ask for it, so that I still may have
more life from those sweet eyes that, dazzling bright,
bring solace15 everywhere I feel Love’s might.
5
10
15
What is this poem about? Explain.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1. Dante uses personification to give humanlike qualities to what object or emotion? How do you know?
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12
Abate – To end or suppress.
Lament – Mourn; express sorrow or regret.
14
Will – Determination; choosing of one’s own actions.
15
Solace – Comfort in a time of sorrow.
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LYRIC ASSIGNMENT
Think about a song that expresses personal thoughts or feelings about something or someone. Write down the
lyrics in the box below and answer the corresponding questions.
Title:
dddddddddddddd
Artist:
1. If these lyrics had no music to them, how would
you know that they made up a lyric poem?
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2. What do you think was the songwriter’s purpose
for writing these lyrics? How do you know?
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3. Using the information you learned about form
and structure, describe the form of these lyrics.
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LITERARY TERMINOLOGY
Structure: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Stanza: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Open Form: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Closed Form: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Lyric Poetry: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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PERSONAL REFLECTION
1. Tell me three things you learned this week from the activities you did in class. Do not list literary terms or facts
that you read in the packet, tell me what you learned from the work that you did. It doesn’t necessarily have to
relate to poetry. It could be some sort of organization skill, a new interest, or a strategy.
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1. How might the information you learned this week about poetry be meaningful outside of school?
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