Serena's Poetry Blog

Definition: The measure of the beat in a poem. Example: O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done; The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won; The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring: But O heart! heart! heart! 5 O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. Significance: It give a poem a beat so the speaker saying the poem can make it more alive Picture:

Definition: The last word in each line that has similar syllables . Example: Important lesson it learned today It's never ever swim in the bay Siginificance: It makes a poem more interesting to read because an author nees a lot of imagination to write two words that rhyme but it also has to makes sense. Picture:

Definition: A pattern of repitition in a  poem Example: By the shore of Gitchie Gumee, By the shining Big-Sea-Water, At the doorway of his wigwam, In the pleasant Summer morning, Hiawatha stood and waited. Siginificance: Rhythm is important because it makes poetry less tiring and more action and movements. Picture:

Definition: Sounds in a poem Example: "boom!" ''hacka!" "crash!" "crunch!" Significance: Allows a poem to come to life by giving a sound to the poem. Picture:

Definition: Giving objects human- like personalities. Example: The sun kissed the flowers. The wind was whistling. The grass was dancing. The car was humming. The washer gurgled the detergent . The computer began to talk. Opportunity began to knock on my door. The leaves danced in the wind frantically/gracefully. The pillow whispered a bedtime story into my ear Significance: Personafication makes abiotic objects come to life Picture:

Definition: Describing images with the 5 senses. Example: The smell of bread was sweet to my nose (olfactory) Significance: Imagery allows the writer to set the emotions or the scene that makes the story more life- like Picture:

Definition: Comparing 2 things with "like" and "as" Example: His face was red as a tomato. Significance: Using simile allows a writer to compare two ideas together just using the words "like" or "as" Picture:

Definition: To repeat something over and over again                                           ( Alabanza, If ) Example: If you can dream---and not make dreams your master; If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim, If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same:. If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools; - Rudyard Klipling  Significance: Using repetition can be very tiring sometimes but using it could also show that you are continuing on the same idea you first started with. Picture:

Definition: The voice of the poem (e.g. sleepy, excited, angry ect.) Example: As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it -- whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash." (To kill a Mockingbird: Atticus tiredly  lectured his children) Significance: If you know the tone of the poem, you can understand the situation of the poem and the emotions of the poem. Picture:

Definition: My personal definition of something Example: If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run, your is the Earth and everything in it, And ---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son! (inspiration) Significance: Interpreting a poem can lead you to understand the meaning and the main idea of the poem Picture:

Definition: Comparing two things without "like" or "as" Example: Her eyes are shiny pools of blue lakes Significance: Metaphors can make a poem more interesting by using others ideas to describe one object. Picture:

Definition: The comparison between two groups of things/ ideas throughout more than two sentences. Example: And sings the tune--without the words, And never stops at all, "And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. "I've heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me." (Emily Dickinson)  Significance: Extended Metaphors can help you connect 2 very different ideas throughout 2 or more sentences. Picture: :

Definition: the person who talks in the poem. A speaker is sometimes the poet or other times, the imaginary character created by the poet. Example:    Come, Let us roam the night together Singing    I love you -Langston Hughes (speaker) Significance: By understanding who the speaker is in a poem, you can understand who's "talking" in the poem. Picture: 

Definition: Something used to represent another object/ idea Example: The winter apples have been picked, the garden turned. Rain and wind have picked the maple leaves and gone. The last of them now bank the house or have been burned. None are left upon the trees or on the lawn. Green and tall as ever it grew in spring the grass Grows not too tall, will not be cut again this year. Geraniums in bloom behind the windowglass Are safe. Fall has fallen yet winter is not yet here. How warm the late November sun although how wan. The white house stands a symbol of fulfillment there, Housing one old woman, a cat, and one old man After abundance but before the earth is bare. Robert Francis     Explanation: Symbols are important in poetry because they allow the poem to have a deeper meaning than what the readers think they are.   Picture:   (symbol for recycle)  

Definition: A stanza containing two lines of verse. They usually rhyme Example: When Silly Sally irons her clothes, they come out looking awful. She did not read the label and her iron was meant to waffle. Explanation: Writing couplets are easier than most of the other poems because you only need to write two lines of rhyming verse than you are done. Couplets are important since many kids like to read rhyming poems. (Dr. Seuss's poems) Picture:

Definition: An arrangement of a certain anoumt of lines in a poem. Example: If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too: If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream---and not make dreams your master; If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim, If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same:. If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools; Explanation: A staza is an important part of poetry because it helps the poet to organize his/her poetry format. Once a poem is organized, a reader won't be