1. Narrative poem: a poem that tells a story and often contains characters, dialogue,

setting, and plot.

2. Lyric poem: a short poem that expresses the thoughts and feelings of a single speaker.

3. Alliteration: the repetition of initial consonants.

4. Hyperbole: exaggeration for emphasis.

5. Imagery: words or phrases that appeal to the senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and

smell and help create mental images.

6. Metaphor: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase used to describe one thing is

used to describe a different thing: a resemblance is implied.

7. Simile: a figure of speech that directly compares two or more unlike things by using the

words like or as

Poetry Vocabulary #1

Poetry Vocabulary #1

8. Rhyme: two or more words that end with the same or similar sounds.

9. Rhyme scheme: the pattern of rhymes used in a poem, usually described by using

letters of the alphabet to represent each rhyme (e.g. AABBA)

10. Rhythm: a pattern of sound created by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed

syllables in words

11. Free Verse: a poem that does not have a regular pattern of rhythm.

12. Line: a unit of poetry signaled by a visual or typographic break.

13. Stanza: a group of lines that form a section of a poem; stanzas often share a common

pattern of meter, rhyme, and number of lines

14. Quatrain: a four-line stanza or poem.

15. Couplet: a pair of consecutive lines that rhyme.

Poetry Vocabulary #2

1. Allusion: a reference to a historical event or custom, a work of literature or art, or a

well-known person or place.

2. Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds within words.

3. Consonance: the repetition of consonant sounds within and at the ends of words.

4. Elegy: a poem that mourns a person’s death.

5. Internal rhyme: rhyme that occurs within a line of verse.

6. Slant rhyme: rhyme that is not exact, e.g., “heart” and “car” (also known as “off-

rhyme”)

7. Catalog: a list of people, things, or attributes.

8. Onomatopoeia: the technique of using words that imitate sounds.

9. Parallelism: the use of words, phrases, or sentences that have a similar grammatical

structure.

10. Repetition: the repeating of a sound, word, phrase, or line

11. Speaker: the person or object whose voice is heard in the poem; the speaker of a

poem is not necessarily the poet

12. Symbol: a person, place, object, or action that stands for something beyond itself

13. Personification: a figure of speech in which an animal, object, or idea is given

human characteristics.

A wise old owl sat on an oak, The more he saw the less he spoke;

The less he spoke the more he heard; Why aren’t we like that wise old bird?

The Wise Old Owlby Edward Hersey Richards

The Wise Old Owl• Author Information: Edward Hersey Richards (1874-

1957) • Content: – Praises the virtue of silence– Invites readers to: not always be speaking, sharpen listening

skills, & increase powers of observation. • Rhyme scheme: AABB• Repetition: more, less• Alliteration: why, we, wise• Assonance: old, owl, on, oak• Consonance: old, owl• Personification: the owl speaks

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;

Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ring’d 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 EagleBy Alfred, Lord Tennyson

The Eagle• Author Information: Alfred Lord Tennyson(1809-

1892) • Content: – Describes a majestic eagle both from ground level

and from the eagle’s vantage point• Vocabulary: – Clasps: grasps, holds tightly– Crag: steep, jagged rock that forms rugged cliffs– Ringed: encircled, surrounded– Azure: blue– Thunderbolt: a flash of lightening

The Eagle• Rhyme scheme: – AAA BBB

• Alliteration: – clasps, crag, crooked

• Consonance: – sun, lonely, lands

• Simile: – like a thunderbolt he falls

• Imagery: – wrinkled sea appeals to the senses of touch and sight

• Personification: – the eagle has hands

I shot an arrow into the air,It fell to earth, I knew not where; For, so swiftly it flew, the sightCould not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where; For who has sight so keen and strong, That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oakI found the arrow, still unbroke; And the song, from beginning to end, I found again in the heart of a friend.

The Arrow and the Song By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Arrow and the Song• Author Information: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(1807-1882)

– A scholar who knew 10 languages– Harvard professor– A beloved poet who wrote many famous poems: “The Song of

Hiawatha,” “Evangeline,” “The Courtship of Miles Standish,” “There Was a Little Girl,” “Paul Revere’s Ride”

• Content: – This lyric poem compares shooting an arrow and singing a song.

According to the speaker, both are lost in the air but are found again; the arrow is found in an oak tree, and the song is “found” in the heart of a friend.

• Vocabulary: – Swiftly: quickly– Keen: sharp, acute

The Arrow and the Song• Rhyme scheme:

– Couplets: AABB AACC DDEE• Repetition:

– It fell to earth, I knew not where• Consonance:

– Swiftly, flew• Assonance

– Not, follow• Alliteration:

– Follow, flight• Symbol:

– The lost arrow and the song symbolize something that we believe has been lost and can never be regained

What is the opposite of riot? It’s lots of people keeping quiet.

…What is the opposite of two?

A lonely me, a lonely you. …

The opposite of doughnut? WaitA minute while I meditate.

This isn’t easy. Ah, I’ve found it! A cookie with a hole around it.

…The opposite of a cloud could be

A white reflection in the sea, Or a huge blueness in the air,

Caused by a cloud’s not being there. …

The opposite of opposite? That’s much too difficult. I quit.

From Oppositesby Richard Wilbur

From Opposites• Author Information: Richard Wilbur (Born in 1921- still living)

– Won a Pulitzer Prize for Things of This World (1956) and New and Collected Poems (1988)

– Recipient of numerous awards and honors. – Served as poet laureate of the United States– Published his first poem at 8 years old

• This poem is an excerpt from a longer work entitled Opposites.

• Content: – This humorous lyric poem poses a series of questions and answers

about opposites. • Vocabulary:

– Riot: a disturbance created by a large number of people– Meditate: think

From Opposites• Rhyme - couplets– Riot, quiet; two, you

• Repetition: – Lonely, opposite

• Alliteration: – Minute, mediate

• Assonance: – Huge, blueness

• Consonance– What, opposite, riot

• Imagery: – White reflection on the sea

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear,Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I marked the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to wayI doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

The Road Not Takenby Robert Frost

The Road not Taken• Author Information: Robert Frost (1874-1963)

– An American poet who lived on a farm in New Hampshire. – Wrote about the sights and sounds of rural life in New England– Won FOUR Pulitzer Prizes for his poetry – Read a poem at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy in

1961• Content:

– This lyric poem, the speaker stands by a fork in the road and thinks about which path to take. The speaker’s dilemma symbolizes the many choices one makes in life.

• Vocabulary: – Diverged: branched out, went in different directions– Trodden: walked on– Hence: from now

The Road not Taken• Rhyme scheme:

– ABAAB CDCCD …• Repetition:

– Two roads diverged• Alliteration:

– First, for• Consonance:

– Yellow, wood• Symbol:

– The roads symbolize the different paths people take in life• Imagery:

– Yellow wood appeals to the sense of sight and grassy appeals to the sense of touch

The Snowstorm - Vocabulary

1. o'er: over2. alight: come down and settle3. whited: made white4. courier: messenger5. radiant: giving off heat and light6. tumultuous: noisy, disorderly7. masonry: stonework8. quarry: an open pit from which stone is obtained by cutting, digging,

or blasting9. evermore: forever10. furnished: supplied11. artificer: skilled worker12. bastions: projecting parts of a fortification13. projected: pushed outward14. windward: moved in the directions where the wind blows15. stake: fence pole

16. myriad: many17. savage: wild, fierce18. naught: nothing19. proportion: balance or agreeable relation of parts within a whole20. coop: shelter for chickens21. kennel: shelter for dogs22. Parian wreaths: wreaths that look like they are made of white

marble, quarried on the Greek island of Paros23. invests: covers completely24. maugre: in spite of25. tapering: narrowed at one end26. turret: a little tower27. overtops: rises over28. retiring: quitting work29. astonished: very surprised30. mimic: copy closely31. frolic: playful

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,

Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,

Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air

Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,

And veils the farmhouse at the garden's end.

The sled and traveler stopped, the courier's feet

Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit

Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed

In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

Come see the northwind's masonry.

Out of an unseen quarry evermore

Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer

Curves his white bastions with projected roof

Round every wayward stake, or tree, or door.

Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work

So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he

For number or proportion. Mockingly,

On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths;

A swan-like form invests the hidden thorn;

Fills up the farmer's lane from wall to wall,

Maugre the farmer sighs; and, at the gate,

A tapering turret overtops the work.

And when his hours are numbered, and the world

Is all his own, retiring, as he were not,

Leaves, when the sun appears, astonished Art

To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone,

Built in an age, the mad wind's night-work,

The frolic architecture of snow.

The Snow-stormby Ralph Waldo Emerson

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,

Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,

Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air Hides hills and woods, the river, and the

heaven, And veils the farmhouse at the garden's

end.The sled and traveler stopped, the

courier's feetDelayed, all friends shut out, the

housemates sitAround the radiant fireplace, enclosed In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

Come see the northwind's masonry. Out of an unseen quarry evermore Furnished with tile, the fierce artificerCurves his white bastions with projected

roof Round every wayward stake, or tree, or

door. Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild

work So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he For number or proportion. Mockingly, On coop or kennel he hangs Parian

wreaths; A swan-like form invests the hidden

thorn;Fills up the farmer's lane from wall to

wall,Maugre the farmer sighs; and, at the

gate, A tapering turret overtops the work. And when his hours are numbered, and

the world Is all his own, retiring, as he were not, Leaves, when the sun appears,

astonished Art To mimic in slow structures, stone by

stone,Built in an age, the mad wind's night-

work,The frolic architecture of snow.

The Snow-stormby Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Snowstorm• Author Information: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-

1882) – Born in Boston, Massachusetts – Lecture, philosopher, and writer – Moved to Concord in 1834 and formed the influential

Transcendental Club– Wrote Nature, Essays, The Conduce of Live, and Concord

Hymn• Content: – Portrays what happens to the landscape during a powerful

New England snowstorm • Vocabulary: – See supplemental worksheet

The Snowstorm• Rhyme:

– Evermore, door• Repetition:

– Farmers, snow• Alliteration:

– Tapering, turret• Assonance:

– Arrives, driving• Consonance:

– Tapering, turrets, overtops, work• Personification:

– The storm is a mason, a carpenter, and an architect• Metaphor:

– The storm’s creations are compared to a whole new world created by an architect• Imagery:

– Radiant fireplace appeals to the sense of touch, and whited air appeals to the sense of sight

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,

Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,

The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,

The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,

The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deck- hand singing on the steamboat deck,

The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,

The woodcutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,

The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,

Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,

The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,

Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

I Hear America Singingby Walt Whitman

I Hear America Singing

1. Author Information: Walt Whitman (1819-1892) a. One of the greatest American poets. Worked as a carpenter, a

printer, a teacher, a journalist, and a nurse during the Civil War. b.Credited for bringing free verse, or poetry without a regular pattern

of rhythm or rhyme to American audiences. c. Self-published the first of nine editions of his experimental

masterpiece Leaves of Grass in 1855. 2. Content:

a. Free verse lyric poem which celebrates the energy and vitality of mid-19th-century America.

3. Vocabulary: a. varied: differentb.carols: songsc. blithe: carefree and lightheartedd.plank: a piece of lumber or woode. beam: a long piece of timber used as support in constructionf. mason: a person who builds or works with stone or brickg.hatter: a person who makes or repairs hatsh.ploughboy: a boy who guides a team of animals in plowingi. intermission: a break from workj. robust: healthy, vitalk. melodious: pleasant to listen to

I Hear America Singing4. Rhyme:

a. free verse

5. Catalog: a. lists of people

6. Repetition: a. singing

7. Parallelism: a. The carpenter singing his; The mason singing his

8. Alliteration: a. singing, sits

9. Metaphor: a. singing represents the different kinds of work that people do

10.Consonance: a. hear, America, varied, carols

11.Imagery: a. Strong melodious songs appeals to the sense of hearing

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the

kitchen When company comes, But I laugh,And eat well,And grow strong.

Tomorrow,I’ll be at the tableWhen company comes.Nobody’ll dareSay to me,“Eat in the kitchen,”Then.

Besides,They’ll see how beautiful I amAnd be ashamed ---

I, too, am America

I, Tooby Langston Hughes

I, Too1. Author Information: Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

a. African-American poet b. One of the most influential writers of the Harlem

Renaissance of the 1920s2. Content: Lyric poem conveys the speaker's feelings about

African-Americans being treated as second-class citizens and his or her hope that the situation will change.

3. Rhyme: free verse4. Repetition:

a. I, toob. When company comes

5. Symbol: The kitchen stands for the second-class status of African Americans

6. Consonance: darker, brother

Once riding in old Baltimore,Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,

I saw a BaltimoreanKeep looking straight at me.

Now I was eight and very small, And he was no whit bigger,

And so I smiled, but he stuck outHis tongue, and called me, “Nigger.”

I saw the whole of BaltimoreFrom May until December;

Of all the things that happened thereThat’s all that I remember.

Incidentby Countee Cullen

Incident1.Author Information: Countee Cullen (1903-1946)

a. African-American poetb. Began writing poetry when he was 14 years old. c. Like Langston Hughes, Cullen became a leader of the

Harlem Renaissance. d. A brilliant scholar. Earned his master's degree from

Harvard University and later taught in New York City public schools.

e. His first volume of poetry, Color, was published in 1925.

2.Content: This lyric poem tells about an incident of racial discrimination the speaker experienced as an eight-year-old child in Baltimore, Maryland.

3.Vocabulary: a. glee: joyb. Baltimorean: a person who lives in the city of Baltimore c. whit: the least or smallest bit

Incident

4. Rhyme Scheme: ABCB

5. Repetition: filled

6. Rhythm: Now I was EIGHT and VERy SMALL 7. Quatrains 8. Alliteration:

staring, straight

9. Consonance: whole, Baltimore

10.Assonance:

whit, bigger

• ASSIGNMENT: Answer the following questions using complete sentences. 1. Have you ever experienced discrimination or bullying? How do these

experiences make you feel? 2. How do your emotions concerning an event influence your memory?

Some of the girls are playing jacks. Some are playing ball. But small Narcissa is not playingAnything at all.

Small Narcissa sits uponA brick in her back yardAnd looks at tiger-lilies,And shakes her pigtails hard.

First she is an ancient queenIn pomp and purple veil. Soon she is a singing wind. And, next, a nightingale.

How fine to be Narcissa, A-changing like all that!While sitting still, as still, as stillAs anyone ever sat!

Narcissaby Gwendolyn Brooks

Narcissa1.Author Information: Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000)

a.Won the Pulitzer Prize for Annie Allenb.First African-American to win a Pulitzer Prize. c. Poems often focus on the experiences of urban

African Americans. 2.Content: This narrative poem tells the story of a

quiet little girl whose vivid imagination transforms and entertains her while other children play games.

3.Vocabulary: a.pomp: magnificent display, splendorb.nightingale: a brownish European songbird

known for singing its beautiful song at nightc. narcissism: a fixation with oneself

4. Allusion: Narcissa alludes to the Greek myth about Narcissus

5.Rhyme Scheme: ABCB6.Alliteration: brick, black 7.Consonance: an, ancient, queen8.Metaphor: Narcissa is compared to

an ancient queen, a singing wind, and a nightingale

9.Repetition: still10.Imagery: purple veil appeals to the

sense of sight, and singing wind appeals to the sense of hearing

Emily Dickinson(1830-1886)

1. Spent nearly all of her life in the small New

England town of Amherst, Massachusetts.

2. During her lifetime, Dickinson wrote nearly 1,800

poems, but fewer than 12 of her poems were

published.

3. She never married, seldom left her house, and

had few visitors.

4. After Dickinson's death, her family found 40 hand-

bound books of poems she had written.

5. Emily Dickinson once defined poetry this way: “If I

read a book and it makes my whole body so cold

no fire can warm me I know that is poetry. If I feel

physically as if the top of my head were taken off,

I know that is poetry. These are the only way I

know it. Is there any other way?”

A Bird came down the Walk—He did not know I saw—He bit an Angleworm in halvesAnd ate the fellow, raw,

And then he drank a DewFrom a convenient Grass—And then hopped sidewise to the WallTo let a Beetle pass—

He glanced with rapid eyesThat hurried all around—They looked like frightened Beads, I thought—

He stirred his Velvet Head

Like one in danger, Cautious, I offered him a CrumbAnd he unrolled his feathersAnd rowed him softer home—

Than Oars divide the Ocean, Too silver for a seam—Or Butterflies, off Banks of NoonLeap, plashless as they swim.

A Bird came down the Walk— by Emily Dickenson

A Bird Came Down the Walk1. Content: This lyric poem describes the speaker's

observations of a bird as it eats a worm, drinks dew, hops

sidewise, looks around nervously, and then flies away.

2. Vocabulary:

a. angleworm: an earthworm that could be used by an "angler" or

fisherman as bait

b. glanced: looked

c. rapid: quickly moving

d. rowed: moved as if with oars

e. oars: long poles used to row or steer a boat

f. plashless: without splashing

3. Rhyme: saw, raw; grass, pass

4. Slant Rhyme: crumb, home; seam, swim

5. Alliteration: silver, seam

6.Onomatopoeia: plashless

7.Simile: They looked like frightened beads

8.Metaphor: a bird using its wings to fly in the air is

compared to a rower using oars to row a boat on

the ocean

9.Imagery: drank a dew appeals to the sense of

taste, and velvet head appeals to the sense of

touch.

I like to see it lap the Miles—And lick the Valleys up—And stop to feed itself at Tanks—And then—prodigious, step

Around a Pile of Mountains—And supercilious peerIn Shanties—by the sides of Roads—And then a Quarry pare

To fit its RibsAnd crawl betweenComplaining all the whileIn horrid—hooting stanza—Then chase itself down Hill—

And neigh like Boanerges—Then—punctual as a Star—Stop—docile and omnipotentAt its own stable door—

I like to see it lap the MilesBy Emily Dickinson

I like to see it lap the miles1. Content: This lyric poem compares a train to a more

familiar mode of transportation at the time: the horse

2. Vocabulary:

a.lap: take in, usually a liquid or food

b.Prodigious: enormous

c.supercilious: condescending, arrogant, proud

d.pare: trim

e.Boanerges: a last name meaning "sons of thunder"

that Jesus gave to his apostles James and John

f. prompter: more on time

g.docile: obedient

h.omnipotent: all-powerful

3. slant rhyme: up step; peer, pare4. alliteration: horrid, hooting5. consonance: prompter, star6. assonance: around, mountain7. punctuation: dash highlights important words and breaks

up the rhythm, unconventional capitalization for emphasis

8. extended metaphor: a moving train on its way to a station is compared to a horse going to its stable

9. simile: neigh like Boanerges10. onomatopoeia: hooting11. personification: the train laps, licks, feeds, and complains12. allusion: Boanerges is a biblical allusion

prodigious: enormous; supercilious: condescending, arrogant, proud; Boanerges: a name Christ gave to the

disciples James and John, meaning "sons of thunder"; also, a loud preacher or orator;

docile: obedient, submissive; omnipotent: all powerful.

A bird came down the walk: He did not know I saw; He bit an angle-worm in halves And ate the fellow, raw.

And then he drank a dew From a convenient grass, And then hopped sidewise to the wall To let a beetle pass.

He glanced with rapid eyesThat hurried all abroad,--They looked like frightened beads, I thought;He stirred his velvet head

Like one in danger; cautious,I offered him a crumb,And he unrolled his feathersAnd rowed him softer home

Than oars divide the ocean, Too silver for a seam, Or butterflies, off banks of noon, Leap, plashless, as they swim.

A Bird came down the Walk by Emily Dickinson

I was angry with my friend:I told my wrath, my wrath did end.I was angry with my foe:I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears,Night and morning with my tears;And I sunned it with smiles,And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,Till it bore an apple bright.And my foe beheld it shine.And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stoleWhen the night had veiled the pole;In the morning glad I seeMy foe outstretched beneath the tree.

A Poison TreeBy William Blake

A Poison Tree

1. Author Information: William Blake (1757-1827)

a. Born in London, England.

b. Attended drawing school when he was 10 and began writing

poetry at age 12.

c. He earned a living as an engraver and illustrator, and he

often illustrated his own poems.

d. Blake's works of poetry include Songs of Innocence (1789)

and Songs of Experience (1794).

2. Content: This lyric poem describes what happens to the

speaker's anger when it is either expressed (let out) or

suppressed (kept in). As the speaker's suppressed anger

grows, it poisons both the speaker and the object of his or her

anger.

3. Vocabulary:

a. wrath: anger

b. foe: enemy

c. sunned: warmed

d. deceitful: dishonest

e. wiles: sneaky ways of doing things

f. bore: yielded, produced

g. veiled the pole: shadowed one side of the earth

4. Rhyme Scheme: AABB CCDD

5. stanzas: quatrains

6. Alliteration: sunned, smiles

7. repetition: wrath, foe

8. imagery: watered it in fears appeals to the sense of touch, and apple

bright appeals to the sense of sight

9. extended metaphor: the speaker's festering anger is compared to a

growing, living tree that eventually poisons all whom it touches

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare sieze the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art. Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the

chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears, And watered heaven with their tears, Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

The Tyger ~ By William Blake

The Tyger1. Content: The speaker of this lyric poem ponders why a benevolent (good &

loving) God would have created such a fearful, violent creature as the tiger.

2. Vocabulary

a. tyger: tiger

b. immortal: never dying, godly

c. frame: put together, construct

d. symmetry: balance or agreeable relation of parts within a whole

e. deeps: oceans

f. thine: old way of saying "your"

g. aspire: aim for

h. seize: grab

i. sinews: tendons

j. thy: old way of saying "your"

k. dread: casting terror or fear

l. anvil: a smooth, flat block of steel or iron on which metals are shaped by

hammering

m. grasp: a firm hold or grip

n. clasp: hold tightly

3. Rhyme scheme: AABB

4.stanzas: quatrains

5.repetition: dare, Tyger! Tyger! burning bright

6.alliteration: burning bright

7.consonance: twist, sinews

8. imagery: fire of thine appeals to the sense of sight, and

watered heaven with their tears appeals to the sense of

touch

9.symbol: the tiger symbolizes violence and horror

10.metaphor: God is compared to a blacksmith, and his

creative processes are compared to those of a skilled

artisan

11.personification: the stars throw down their spears and

cry

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! O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills, For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding, For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; Here Captain! dear father! The arm beneath your

head! It is some dream that on the deck, You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still, My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will, The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done, From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won; Exult O shores, and ring O bells! But I with mournful tread, Walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! My Captain! ~ By Walt Whitman

O Captain! My Captain!1. Author: Walt Whitman

2. Content: This elegy mourns the death of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.

3. Background: This poem was written after President Abraham Lincoln was

assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, just five days after the

end of the Civil War. Booth, who sympathized with the Confederate cause, shot

Lincoln while the president and his wife were attending a play at Ford's Theater

in Washington D.C.

4. Vocabulary:

a. weather'd: survived

b. rack: a mass of high, wind-driven clouds or a storm

c. exulting: feeling joyful

d. keel: the bottom of a ship, often weighted for balance

e. vessel: ship

f. trills: makes a fluttering sound

g. swaying mass: a crowd of people gently moving back and forth

h. victor: the winner in a struggle or contest

i. object: goal

j. mournful: sad

k. tread: step

5. rhyme scheme: AABBCDED

6. Internal rhyme: The port is near, the bells I hear

7.repetition: fallen cold and dead, rise up

8.alliteration: safe, sound

9. imagery: bugle trills appeals to the sense of hearing

10.consonance: while, follow, keel, vessel

11.assonance: lips, still

12.Extended metaphor: Abraham Lincoln is compared to the

captain of the ship; he leads America through difficult

times just as a captain pilots a ship through stormy seas

13.symbol: the storm tossed ship coming safely into port

symbolizes the United States coming through the Civil

War intact

14.Onomatopoeia: trills

Casey at the Bat ~ By Ernest ThayerThe Outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day:The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play.And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The restClung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;They thought, if only Casey could get but a whack at that -We'd put up even money, now, with Casey at the bat.

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake;So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,For there seemed but little chance of Casey's getting to the bat.

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,

And Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball;And when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had occurred,There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.

Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place;There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's face.And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,Defiance gleamed in Casey's eye, a sneer curled Casey's lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped-"That ain't my style," said Casey. "Strike one," the umpire said.

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore."Kill him! Kill the umpire!" shouted someone on the stand;And its likely they'd a-killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shone;He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;

But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, "Strike two."

"Fraud!" cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again.

The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, his teeth are clenched in hate;He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out.

Casey at the Bat

1.Author Information: Ernest Lawrence Thayer

(1863-1904)

a. He was the son of a prosperous mill owner,

graduated from Harvard University.

b. Rather than enter the family business, he became a

journalist and took a job writing for the San

Francisco Examiner where he composed a poem for

each Sunday edition.

2.Content: This well-known narrative poem tells

the story of a small-town baseball hero who is

expected to win the game in the final inning.

3. Vocabulary:

a. outlook: expectation for the

future

b. died: struck out

c. patrons: supporters, fans

d. straggling: straying

e. despair: hopeless

f. get a whack: make an

attempt to get to the plate

g. put up even money: make a

bet that the Mudville team

would win

h. preceded: came before

i. stricken: overwhelmed by

painful emotion

j. multitude: crowd

k. melancholy: sadness

l. recoiled: returned, bounced

back

m. bearing: the way in which a

person carries or conducts

himself

n. doffed: tipped

o. haughty: proud

p. grandeur: magnificence

q. unheeded: not paid attention

to

r. visage: face

s. bade: directed

t. spheroid: round object, in

this case a baseball

u. fraud: act of dishonesty

4. Rhyme scheme: AABB CCDD

5. Internal Rhyme: score, four, more

6.Stanzas: quatrains

7.Simile: Like the beating of the storm waves

8. Imagery: a lusty yell appeals to the sense of hearing,

rubbed his hands with dirt appeals to the sense of touch,

and leather-covered sphere appeals to the sense of touch

and sight

9.Repetition: mighty Casey

10.Personification: tongues applauded

11.Characters: Casey, Cooney, Barrows, Flynn, Jimmy Blake,

the pitcher, the umpire, & the fans

12.Dialogue: "Kill the umpire!"

13.Setting: baseball diamond in Mudville

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:

Long time the manxome foe he sought --

So rested he by the Tumtum tree,

And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,

The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,

And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through

The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

He left it dead, and with its head

He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?

Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'

He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

Jabberwocky ~ By Lewis Carroll

Jabberwocky1. Author Information: Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)

a. Born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson in England.

b. A mathematics professor at Oxford Univeristy, he also wrote the

children's novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and

Through the Looking Glass (1871).

2. Background:

a. This poem comes from Through the Looking Glass in the "Humpty

Dumpty" chapter. The main character, Alice, finds a book in which the

poem, "Jabberwocky" appears in mirror writing. After she holds the

book up to a mirror, she is able to read the poem, but she still doesn't

understand it.

3. Content: This nonsense narrative poem challenges the reader to

decipher the made-up words and find out about the mysterious creature

known as the Jabberwock. In the poem, a father warns his son about the

Jabberwock and other potential dangers out in the world.

4. Vocabulary:

a. twas: it was

b. hast: an old way of saying "have"

c. thou: an old way of saying "you"

d. slain: killed

e. chortled: laughed throatily

5. Nonsense words: brillig, slithy, toves, gimble

6. Rhyme Scheme: ABAB

7. Repetition: Twas brillig, and the slithy toves; and the mome raths outgrabe

8. Consonance: sword in hand; snicker-snack

9. Assonance: two, through

10.Onomatopoeia: snicker-snack

11.Imagery: jaws that bite appeals to the sense of touch, and eyes of flame

appeals to the sense of sight

12.Internal Rhyme: jaws, claws

13.Stanzas: quatrains

14.Dialogue: "Beware the Jabberwock"

15.Characters: father, son

Up from the meadows rich with corn,Clear in the cool September morn,

The clustered spires of Frederick standGreen-walled by the hills of Maryland.

Round about them orchards sweep,Apple and peach tree fruited deep,

Fair as the garden of the LordTo the eyes of the famished rebel horde,

On that pleasant morn of the early fallWhen Lee marched over the mountain-wall;

Over the mountains winding down,Horse and foot, into Frederick town.

Forty flags with their silver stars,Forty flags with their crimson bars,

Flapped in the morning wind: the sunOf noon looked down, and saw not one.

Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then,Bowed with her fourscore years and ten;

Bravest of all in Frederick town,

She took up the flag the men hauled down;

In her attic window the staff she set,To show that one heart was loyal yet,

Up the street came the rebel tread,Stonewall Jackson riding ahead.

Under his slouched hat left and rightHe glanced; the old flag met his sight.

'Halt!' - the dust-brown ranks stood fast.'Fire!' - out blazed the rifle-blast.

Barbara Frietchie ~ By John Whittier

It shivered the window, pane and sash;It rent the banner with seam and gash.

Quick, as it fell, from the broken staffDame Barbara snatched the silken scarf.

She leaned far out on the window-sill,And shook it forth with a royal will.

'Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,But spare your country's flag,' she said.

A shade of sadness, a blush of shame,Over the face of the leader came;

The nobler nature within him stirred

To life at that woman's deed and word;

'Who touches a hair of yon gray headDies like a dog! March on! he said.

All day long through Frederick streetSounded the tread of marching feet:

All day long that free flag tostOver the heads of the rebel host.

Ever its torn folds rose and fellOn the loyal winds that loved it well;

And through the hill-gaps sunset lightShone over it with a warm good-night.

Barbara Frietchie's work is o'er,And the Rebel rides on his raids nor more.

Honor to her! and let a tearFall, for her sake, on Stonewalls' bier.

Over Barbara Frietchie's grave,Flag of Freedom and Union, wave!

Peace and order and beauty drawRound they symbol of light and law;

And ever the stars above look downOn thy stars below in Frederick town!

Barbara Frietchie1. Author Information: John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892)

a. Born in Massachusetts.

b. A self-educated Quaker, he was active in the cause against slavery.

c. Whittier published his first book, Legends of New England in Prose and

Verse, in 1831.

d. His most popular book, Snow-Bound, was published in 1866.

2. Background:

a. The Civil War inspired Whittier to write this poem. Born in 1766 in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Barbara Frietchie was a 96 year-old-widow

when the events described in the poem took place in 1862. According to

the story, Frietchie patriotically displayed a Union flag as General Robert

E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson led 40,000 Confederate

soldiers into Frederick, Maryland, on September 17, 1862.

3. Content: This narrative poem tells the story of Barbara Frietchie, a brave

woman who defiantly flew a Union flag during the Civil War as Confederate

troops marched into her town.

4. Vocabulary:

a. morn: morning

b. clustered: gathered closely

together

c. spires tall: pointed towers,

especially of churches

d. Frederick: a city in Maryland,

west of Baltimore

e. fruited: filled with fruit

f. the garden of the Lord: the

garden of Eden, Paradise,

where Adam and Eve first lived

g. famished: very hungry

h. rebel: Confederate

i. horde: crowd

j. fourscore years and ten: 90 (a

score equals 20, so 4 x 20 =

80)

k. hauled: pulled or dragged

l. staff: the pole that holds a flag

m. tread: step

n. slouched hat: a soft hat with a

wide brim

o. dust-brown ranks: Confederate

soldiers wearing brown

uniforms

p. shivered: broke into pieces

q. sash: the frame in which the

glass panes of a window are

set

r. rent: tore

s. yon: over there

t. o'er: over

u. bier: a coffin and its stand

5. Rhyme Scheme: AA BB CC

6. Repetition: morn, flag

7. Alliteration: forty, flags; silver, stars

8. Consonance: clustered spires of Frederick

9. Assonance: rose, old

10.Imagery:

a. forty flags with their crimson appeals to the sense of sight

b. silken scarf appeals to the sense of touch

c. the tread of marching feet appeals to the sense of hearing

11.Symbol: the flag represents the Union

12.Stanzas: couplets

13.metaphor: the flag is compared to a silk scarf

14.Simile: Fair as the garden of the Lord

15.Dialogue: "Shoot, if you must, this old gray head..."

16.Characters: Barbara Frietchie, Stonewall Jackson

17.Setting: Frederick, Maryland, on a September morning during

the Civil War

7. biblical allusions:

1. Coming of the Lord refers to the prophesied return of

Jesus Christ at the Last Judgment

2. His terrible swift sword refers to the sword with which

Christ will separate the just from the sinners

3. His righteous sentence refers to the Lord's judgment on

those who have not followed the righteous path

4. sounded forth the trumpet refers to the trumpet that

will call humans to Judgment Day

5. Lilies refers to a Christian symbol of innocence and

purity

6. Christ was born across the sea refers to Jesus being

born in Bethlehem

7. He died to make men holy refers to Jesus sacrificing his

own life to take away the world's sins

The Battle Hymn of the RepublicMine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the

Lord: He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of

wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightening of His terrible

swift sword: His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,

They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;

I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:

His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:

“As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;

Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent

with his heel, Since God is marching on.”

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat:

Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!

Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me:

As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,

While God is marching on.

The Battle Hymn of the Republichttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jRnL6fRdcc

1. Author Information: Julia Ward Howe(1819-1910)

a. American poet and reformer who was active in the antislavery and

women’s rights movements. She helped her husband, Samuel Gridly

Howe, edit the Boston antislavery newspaper Commonwealth. Howe

also wrote poetry, plays, and articles.

2. Background: Written at the height of the Civil War, this poem was

inspired by a visit to a Union army camp near Washington, D.C. After a

picnic with friends, Howe wrote the words in 1861 while staying at the

Hotel Willard in Washington. First published in the Atlantic Monthly in

February 1862, the poem was set to the tune of the folk song “John

Brown’s Body” and became popular as a marching song for the Union

troops.

3. Content: This poem is a plea to end slavery on the grounds that it is

morally wrong and has enraged God.

4. Vocabulary:

1. hymn: a song of praise or thanksgiving to God

2. mine: my

3. trampling: beating down with the feet

4. vintage: wine

5. loosed: set free, released

6. watch-fires: fires kept burning at night by a guard

7. circling: shaped like a circle

8. damps: humid air

9. righteous: moral, without guilt or sin

10.sentence: punishment

11.flaring: flaming up with a bright, wavering light

12.sifting: examining and sorting carefully

13.transfigures: changes

5. rhyme scheme: AAAB CCCB

6. imagery:

1. watch-fires and dews and damps appeal to the sense of touch

2. sounded forth the trumpet appeals to the sense of hearing

3. dim and flaring lamps appeals to the sense of sight

7. alliteration: loosed, lightning

8. consonance: dim, lamps

9. assonance: terrible, swift

10. repetition: marching on

11. metaphor: the Lord getting ready to unleash His anger

is compared to the process of turning mature grapes

into wine; the Lord's anger is now fully developed

12. stanzas: quatrains

13. personification: truth marches on

Song of Hiawatha – Hiawatha’s Childhood

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,By the shining Big-Sea-Water,Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.Dark behind it rose the forest,Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,Rose the firs with cones upon them;Bright before it beat the water,Beat the clear and sunny water,Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water. There the wrinkled old NokomisNursed the little Hiawatha,Rocked him in his linden cradle,Bedded soft in moss and rushes,Safely bound with reindeer sinews;Stilled his fretful wail by saying,"Hush! the Naked Bear will hear thee!"Lulled him into slumber, singing,"Ewa-yea! my little owlet!Who is this, that lights the wigwam?With his great eyes lights the wigwam?

Ewa-yea! my little owlet!" Many things Nokomis taught himOf the stars that shine in heaven;Showed him Ishkoodah, the comet,Ishkoodah, with fiery tresses;Showed the Death-Dance of the spirits,Warriors with their plumes and war-clubs,Flaring far away to northwardIn the frosty nights of Winter;Showed the broad white road in heaven,Pathway of the ghosts, the shadows,Running straight across the heavens,Crowded with the ghosts, the shadows. At the door on summer eveningsSat the little Hiawatha;Heard the whispering of the pine-trees,Heard the lapping of the waters,Sounds of music, words of wonder;'Minne-wawa!" said the pine-trees,

Mudway-aushka!" said the water. Saw the fire-fly, Wah-wah-taysee,Flitting through the dusk of evening,With the twinkle of its candleLighting up the brakes and bushes,And he sang the song of children,Sang the song Nokomis taught him:"Wah-wah-taysee, little fire-fly,Little, flitting, white-fire insect,Little, dancing, white-fire creature,Light me with your little candle,Ere upon my bed I lay me,Ere in sleep I close my eyelids!"

Author Information1. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: 1807-1882 – Has a connection to Minnesota via

“The Song of Hiawatha” 2. John Greenleaf Whittier: 1807 – 18923. Emily Dickinson: 1830 – 1886 4. Ernest Lawrence Thayer: 1863-19405. Alfred Lord Tennyson: 1809-1892 – British Poet 6. Walt Whitman: 1819-18927. Langston Hughes: 1902-1967 – African American Harlem Renaissance poet 8. Countee Cullen: 1903-1946 African American Harlem Renaissance Poet 9. Lewis Carroll: 1832-1898 – Wrote Alice in Wonderland 10. Gwendolyn Brooks: 1917-2000 – First African American poet to win the Pulitzer

Prize11. William Blake: 1757-1827 – English Poet 12. Robert Frost: 1874-1963 – won FOUR Pulitzer Prizes! Read a poem at the

inauguration of President John F. Kennedy13. Ralph Waldo Emerson: 1803-1882 – formed the Transcendental Club 14. Richard Wilbur: 1921- present – Won a Pulitzer Prize 15. Edward Hersey Richards: 1874-1957