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Why Do We Love Poetry?

From the 4th Edition: Literature Structure, Sound & Sense by Laurence PerrineAdapted by Pamela Barnes from a lesson by Sara Tinajero

+Poetry…

… is a universal language appreciated and enjoyed by people in all walks of life all over the world.

…has its own literary (words used) contents, and we need to understand at least a few of these in order to see what a poem is saying.

So let us look at some elements of poetry….

+IMAGERY

Imagery – words in a poem which appeal to one or more of the five senses; words used to paint mental pictures.

a. Sense of Sight: “The stars were like twinkling diamonds.”

b. Sense of Hearing: “Bow, wow” barked Sparky.

c. Sense of Touch: “Warm, sudsy bubbles”

d. Sense of Smell: “Sweet scent of apple blossoms”

e. Sense of Taste: “Yummy, sugary chocolate”

If you read a poem without understanding it, you may not like the poem. If you understand the LANGUAGE of POETRY, the meaning reaches YOUR UNDERSTANDING and you appreciate the message in the poem.

THE EAGLE by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;Close to the sun in lonely hands,Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;He watches from his mountain walls, And like a thunderbolt he falls.

The poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson is simply EXPLAINING how he sees an eagle way up a mountain side, and with very POETIC LANGUAGE he describes the eagle OBSERVING his surroundings and then, FLYING off into the air.

The poet gives the eagle HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS like “crooked hands” {eagles have claws, not hands!) and he compares the sea to skin when he describes it as “wrinkled” and that it “crawls” {babies and people crawl, the sea does not!}. Lord Tennyson then COMPARES the eagle flying away to lightning- “like a thunderbolt he falls”.

+ The dish ran away with the spoon.

The cat smiled at me.

The chair danced around the table.

The stars slept last night.

The winter winds are angry.

Apples laughed in the tub of water.

The moon looks happy.

The underlined words are clearly human characteristics- and so, when given to animals or inanimate objects, we say it is PERSONIFICATION!

…MEANS GIVING HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS TO AN INANIMATE OBJECT OR ANIMAL.

PERSONIFICATION

+In poetry, comparisons are perpetually (constantly) made between two or more things. In poetry, comparisons are in two categories called SIMILES and METAPHORS:SIMILES-can be

identified by 5 clue words.

1. Like- The moon is like a pearl.

2. As- The moon is as pretty as a pearl.

3. Resembles- The moon resembles a pearl.

4. Similar to- The moon is similar to a pearl.

5. Than- The moon is prettier than a pearl.

METAPHORS-Do not have clue words. They are straight forward comparisons that IMPLY something about the things being compared.

1. The moon is a pearl.

2. The moon is a castle in the sky.

3. She is a doll.

+Denotation & Connotation

The straight forward dictionary definition of a word or phrase; what everyone generally agrees it means.

Home: a place where one lives.

For example: The young man lives at home with his parents.

Heart: the internal organ that helps to circulate blood by pumping it.

For example: My heart was beating rapidly after I ran the marathon.

The IMPLIED meaning of a word or phrase.

Home: a sentimental name for a place where one feels very comfortable.

For example: When I arrived in Israel, I knew I was home.

Heart: a symbol for love and affection.

For example: Home is where the heart is.

Denotation Connotation

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ONOMATOPOEIA

THE USE OF WORDS THAT SUPPOSEDLY MIMIC THEIR MEANING IN THEIR SOUND.

Examples:

1. “Bow-wow” barked the dog.2. The clock went “tick-tock”.3. “Beep-beep” sounded the car.4. “Ring-a-ding-dong” chimed the bells.

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Alliteration The repetition of initial consonant sounds.

1. Tall trees

2. Super sudsy soap

3. Pretty Penny and Panama Pat parked.

4. Moody moon

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hyperbole!

“I’m so hungry, I could eat my arm!”- This is not meant to be taken literally, but is meant to describe the intensity of hunger.

Literal (exactly what you mean) Translation: “I’m very hungry.”

Exaggeration in service of the truth; a form of FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE.

Pronounced: “hyperbuhlee”

+ SYMBOL

A symbol works two ways: It is something itself, and it also suggests something deeper. It is crucial to distinguish a symbol from a metaphor: Metaphors are comparisons between two seemingly dissimilar things; symbols associate two things, but their meaning is both literal and figurative. A metaphor might read, "His life was an oak tree that had just lost its leaves"; a symbol might be the oak tree itself, which would evoke the cycle of death and rebirth through the loss and growth of leaves. Some symbols have widespread, commonly accepted values that most readers should recognize: Apple pie suggests innocence or homespun values; ravens signify death. Yet none of these associations is absolute, and all of them are really determined by individual cultures and time (would a Chinese reader recognize that apple pie suggests innocence?). No symbols have absolute meanings, and, by their nature, we cannot read them at face value. Rather than beginning an inquiry into symbols by asking what they mean, it is better to begin by asking what they could mean, or what they have meant. -bcs.bedfordstmartins.com

-open to interpretation

+My Star by Robert Browning (1812-1889)

All that I know

Of a certain star

Is, it can throw

(Like an angled spar)

Now a dart of red,

Now a dart of blue;

Till my friends have said

They would fain see, too,

My star that dartles the red and the blue!

Then it stops like a bird; like a flower, hangs furled:

They must solace themselves with the Saturn above it.

What matter to me if their star is a world?

Mine has opened its soul to me; therefore I love it.