READING AND WRITING POETRY

POETRY
- is a form of literature which is written in verse form. It has lines, stanza and rhyme. It is an
artistic way of expression of ideas and thoughts.

STAANZA, RHYME, RHYME SCHEME AND METER

Stanza is a group of lines in a poem.

2 lines- couplet 3 lines- tercet
4 lines- quatrain 5 lines- cinquain
6 lines- sestet 7 lines- septet
8 lines- octave

Rhyme is known as the two or more words in a poem that have the same sound. There are two
types of rhymes. If the rhyming words can be seen at end of lines, it is known as End Rhyme;
meanwhile if the rhyming words are located within a single line, it is known as Internal
Rhyme.

Example of End Rhyme:

Who's that pilot driving under the sun?
Who's that pilot soaring on a winter time?
Who's that pilot travelling after a fall sign?
And even working on a summer's rhyme.

Example of Internal Rhyme:

I was dreaming, praying and hoping a spring tonight.

Rhyme Scheme is the pattern of rhyme at the end of each line. We use letters to identify the
rhyme scheme. Words that are rhymed shall have the same letter, new rhymed words will be
the next letter. See the sample below.

Trees
Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see, (A)

A poem as lovely as a tree (A)

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest (B)

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast (B)

A tree that looks at God all day, (C)

And lifts her leafy arms to pray. (C)

A tree that may in Summer wear (D)

A nest of robins in her hair; (D)

Upon whose bosom snow has lain; (E)

Who intimately lives with rain. (E)
Poems are made by fools like me, (A)
But only God can make a tree. (A)

Notice that the last stanza is A-A same with the first stanza. It is because " me" and " tree" are
rhymed with " see" and " tree" on the first stanza. Thus the rhyme scheme of the poem Trees is
aa-bb-cc-dd-ee-aa.

Exercises 1: Below are some simple nursery rhymes. Write the rhyme scheme in the blanks
next to the lines.

1. Sing a song of sixpence, __________

A pocket full of rye. __________
Four and twenty blackbirds, __________
Baked in a pie. __________

2. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, __________

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. __________
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men __________
Couldn’t put Humpty together again. __________

3. Hickory, dickory, dock, __________

The mouse ran up the clock. __________
The clock struck one, __________
The mouse ran down, __________
Hickory, dickory, dock. __________

4. Roses are red, __________

Violets are blue. __________
Sugar is sweet, __________
and so are you. __________