Poetry

Unit
(Modified from pberman.wikispaces.com/file/view/Poetry+Unit.d)

Name: ______________________________________
Period: ______

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 Rhyme Scheme

How to figure out the rhyme scheme of a poem: Rhyme scheme is the pattern of
rhyming words in a poem. The rhyme scheme of a poem is indicated by using different
letters of the alphabet for each new rhyme. For example:

Mary had a little lamb A (every line ending with a word that rhymes with “lamb”gets an “A”)
Her fleece was white as snow B (does not rhyme with “lamb”)
And everywhere that Mary went C (does not rhyme with “lamb” or “snow”)
The lamb was sure to go B (because “go” rhymes with “snow,” this gets a B)

It followed her to school one day, D (everything that rhymes with “day” gets a D)
Which was against the rules. E (everything that rhymes with “rules” gets a E)
It made the children laugh and play, D
To see a lamb at school E
And so the teacher turned it out F (everything that rhymes with “out” gets an F)
But still it lingered near G (everything that rhymes with “near” gets a G)
And waited patiently about, F
Till Mary did appear G
"Why does the lamb love Mary so?" B (rhymes with “snow” from line 2)
The eager children cry H
"Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know." B
The teacher did reply H

Continue assigning letters to each line. If the last word in the line rhymes with any
other word that ends a previous line, assign it the same letter. Note that words do NOT have
to b e spelled the same to rhyme (for example “enough” rhymes with “stuff,” “eight”
rhymes with “rate” rhymes with “bait” rhymes with “straight.”
When you have finished assigning letters to the rhyme of each line, you can state the
rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme for “Mary Had a Little Lamb” is:
ABCB DEDE FGFG BHBH

Practice: Determine the rhyme scheme for this poem:

I have been one acquainted with the night.

I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-by;
And further still at an unearthly height
One luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.

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 Narrative Poetry
Narrative poetry is poetry that tells a story. Like a short story, it has a plot, characters, a
setting, and a theme. However, it is written in verse, with a rhythm, and sometimes a rhyme
scheme. Just as stories are broken up into paragraphs, poems are divided up into stanzas.
Often, each stanza has the same number of lines and the same rhyme pattern.

Casey at the Bat

by Ernest L. Thayer

The 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 pall-like1 silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go, leaving there the rest, 5

With that hope which springs eternal within the human breast.
For they thought, "if only Casey could but get a whack at that.”
They'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 pudd’n, and the latter was a fake. 10
So on that stricken multitude a deathlike silence sat;

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pall: a cloth that is spread over a coffin or tomb
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For there seemed but little chance of Casey getting to the bat.

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

And the much-despised Blakey “tore the cover off the ball.”
And when the dust had lifted, and they saw what had occurred, 15
There was Blakey safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.

Then from the gladdened multitude went up a joyous yell—

It rumbled in the mountaintops, it rattled in the dell;
It struck upon the hillside and rebounded on the flat;
for Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat. 20

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 t'was Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt. 25
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt;
Then, while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance flashed 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 grandeur2 there. 30
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped;
"That ain't my style," said Casey. "Strike one!" the umpire said.

4
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; 35
And it's likely they'd have 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 made 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!" 40

"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 has fled from Casey's lip, the teeth are clenched in hate. 45
He pounds with cruel vengeance 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; 50
And, somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,
But there is no joy in Mudville: mighty Casey has struck out.

writhe (v) to twist, as in pain, struggle, or embarrassment

sneer (v/n): a scornful facial expression or manner
visage (n) the face or facial expression of a person
awe (n) a mixed emotion of reverence, respect, dread, and wonder inspired by authority,
genius, great beauty, or power
haughty grandeur: arrogant greatness

1. How does Thayer show the reader what Casey’s personality is like? Give 2 examples.
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2. How is the ending of the poem ironic?
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3. Give an example of each of the following in the poem and why that technique was used in
that particular example:
alliteration:________________________________________________________________
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hyperbole:
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onomatopoeia:______________________________________________________________
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simile:_____________________________________________________________________
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4. What is the rhyme scheme of “Casey at the Bat”? Write it below.

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Meter
The meter of a poem is its rhythmical pattern. This pattern is determined by the number and
types of stresses, or beats, in each line. How do we determine meter? Follow the steps
below.

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 1. Count the number of syllables in each line. You can do this by clapping on each syllable
like you did in elementary school. Number each syllable in the line below.

T h e o u t l o o k w a s n ’t b r i l l i a n t f o r t h e M u d v i l l e N i n e t h a t d a y

2. Find the first two-syllable word in the line and figure out which syllable has the stress on
it. In the above line, the word “outlook” has the stress on the word OUT, so you would mark
that syllable with the over it. The syllable LOOK is unstressed, which is indicated by the
symbol. Based on this, you should be able to notice a pattern of stressed and
unstressed syllables throughout the line.
3. Divide the stressed and unstressed syllables into groups using a parenthesis between each
set of syllables. Each of these groups is called a foot.
4. Figure out what type of feet the line contains. Below are the most common types of feet
in English poetry:

iamb: a foot with one unstressed and one stressed syllable, as in the word
( )
“be/fore” This foot is IAMBIC

trochee: a foot with a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable, as in

the word ( )
“glo/ry” This foot is TROCHAIC

anapest: a foot with two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable,
as in the phrase ( )
“a/ra/besque” This foot is ANAPESTIC

dactyl: a foot with on stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables,

as in the word ( )
“won/der/ful” This foot is DACTYLIC

( )
spondee: a foot with two strong stresses, as in the word “space/walk”
This foot is SPONDAIC

Depending on the type of foot that is most common in the poem, the lines of poetry are
described as iambic, trochaic, anapestic, dactylic, or spondaic. However, for our purposes,
the only types of meter you need to identify are IAMBIC or TROCHAIC.

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Lines are also described in terms of the number of feet in each line, such as:

1: Monometer: a line with one foot

Example: All things/ Must pass/ Away

2: Dimeter: a line with two feet

Example: When up aloft/ I fly and fly

3: Trimeter: three foot lines

Example: I know not whom I meet/ I know not where I go

4: Tetrameter: four foot lines

Example: Had we but World enough, and Time,/This coyness Lady were no crime.

5: Pentameter: five foot lines

Example: But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?

6: Hexameter: six foot lines

Example: To think how they may ache in icy hoods and mails

7: Heptameter: seven foot lines

Example: O could I feel as I have felt, or be what I have been,

8: Octometer: eight foot lines

Example: Once upon a midnight dreary,while I pondered, weak and weary

9: Nonometer: nine foot lines

10: Decameter: ten foot lines

The Raven
by Edgar Allan Poe
In the box below each stanza, write a summary of what is happening in your own words.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore3—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door— 5
Only this and nothing more."
3
quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore: old, strange book of ancient learning
8
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease4 of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore— 10
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating 15
"'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door—
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;
This it is and nothing more."

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,

"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; 20
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you"—here I opened wide the door—
Darkness there and nothing more.

4
surcease: end
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Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, 25
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?"
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"—
Merely this and nothing more. 30

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,

Soon again I heard a tapping something louder than before.
"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see, then, what thereat is and this mystery explore—
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;— 35
'Tis the wind and nothing more.

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore5.
Not the least obeisance6 made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he,
But, with mien7 of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door— 40
Perched upon a bust of Pallas8 just above my chamber door—
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then the ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,

By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore9,

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days of yore: times long ago
6
obeisance: a bow as a sign of respect
7
mien: manner
8
bust of Pallas: a statue of the head and shoulders of Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom
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By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore: By the serious and stern expression it had
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"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven10, 45
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore11!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,

Though its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore; 50
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door—
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore."

But the Raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke only 55
That one word, as if its soul in that one word he did outpour
Nothing farther then he uttered; not a feather then he fluttered—
Till I scarcely more than muttered: "Other friends have flown before—
On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before."
Then the bird said "Nevermore." 60

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,

"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster — so, when Hope he would adjure12,
Stern Despair returned, instead of the sweet Hope he dared adjure — 65
Of 'Never—nevermore.'"

10
craven: coward
11
Night’s Plutonian shore: comparing Night to the underworld, ruled by the god Pluto
12
adjure: to beg
11
But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore— 70
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing

To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining13, with my head at ease reclining 75
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer14
Swung by Seraphim15 whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor. 80
"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite—respite and nepenthe16 from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

13
divining: guessing
14
censer: incense burner
15
Seraphim: angel
16
respite and Nepenthe: relief and forgetfulness (nepethe was a drug used in ancient times to cause a person to
forget his sorrows)
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"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!— 85
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate, yet all undaunted17, on this desert land enchanted—
On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—
Is there—is there balm in Gilead18?—tell me—tell me, I implore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." 90

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!

By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn19,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore." 95
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Be that our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting—

"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul has spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door! 100
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming 105
17
Desolate, yet all undaunted: In a hopeless situation, yet not discouraged
18
balm in Gilead: cure for suffering (refers to Genesis Chapter 7)
19
Aidenn: Eden
13
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadows on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!

implore (verb) to beg:

grim (adj) harsh, forbidding, and morbid
ominous (adj): threatening or warning of something negative; a bad omen
quaff (verb) to drink
tempest (noun): a violent storm
1. Describe the speaker’s situation at the start of the poem: what is the setting (time and
place) and what is he doing?
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2. Who is Lenore? What do you think was the speaker’s relationship to her? What
happened to her?
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3. How does the speaker’s reaction change each time the bird says “Nevermore”? Why does
it change?
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4. What does the raven symbolize in this poem?

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5. In this poem, how much of what happens is real and how much the narrator’s imagination?
How can you tell?
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6. Give two examples of allusion in this poem. Why does Poe use each of these allusions?
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7. What is the rhyme scheme of The Raven? Write the rhyme scheme for the first two
stanzas below.
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8. What is the meter of The Raven? Scan the line below to prove it.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary

What effect does this meter have on the reader, and why do you think Poe used it?
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9. What is Poe’s tone in this poem? How can you tell?
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10. Give an example of how each of the following literary devices is used in the poem and
why it is used:
alliteration:________________________________________________________________
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personification:
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repetition:
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Dramatic Poetry
Dramatic poetry is poetry where the speaker is clearly someone other than the poet.
Frequently dramatic poetry is in the form of a dialogue, where more than one character
speaks. Often there is also a setting and a plot. You will read more dramatic poetry when
you read Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

Incident in a Rose Garden

by Donald Justice

Gardener: Sir, I encountered Death 1

Just now among our roses
Thin as a scythe he stood there.

I knew him by his pictures

He had on his black coat 5
Black gloves, and broad black hat.

I think he would have spoken,

Seeing his mouth stood open.
Big it was, with white teeth.

As soon as he beckoned, I ran. 10

I ran until I found you.
Sir, I'm quitting my job.

I want to see my sons

Once more before I die.
I want to see California. 15

Master: Sir, you must be that stranger

Who threatened my gardener.
This is my property, sir.

I welcome only friends here.

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Death: Sir, I knew your father. 20
And we were friends at the end.

As for your gardener,

I did not threaten him.
Old men mistake my gestures.

I only meant to ask him 25

To show me to his master.
I take it you are he?

scythe (n) an implement consisting of a long, curved single-edged blade with a long bent
handle, used for mowing or reaping

1. How does the gardener recognize Death? Why does he run away?
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2. Describe Death’s personality. Interpret the lines “Sir, I knew your father,/ And we were
friends at the end.”
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3. How is the ending of the poem ironic?
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4. Give an example of each of the following in the poem and why that technique was used in
that particular example:
personification:
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___________________________________________________________________________
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repetition:
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simile:
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Lyric Poetry
Lyric poetry expresses thoughts and feelings about a subject in a musical, and usually brief,
way. Of all the different types of poetry, lyrics are the most closely related to song. The
word “lyric” comes from the word “lyre,” which is a stringed instrument which was played
as an accompaniment to the sung words, or lyrics. Not all lyric poetry is set to music, but a
lyric poem often uses musical devices and has other song-like qualities that distinguish it
from other types of poems.

Sympathy
by Paul Laurence Dunbar

I know what the caged bird feels, alas!

When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
When the first bird sings and the first bud opes, 5
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals—
I know what the caged bird feels!

I know why the caged bird beats his wing

Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
For he must fly back to his perch and cling 10
When he fain20 would be on the bough a-swing;
And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting—
I know why he beats his wing!

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fain (adv) gladly; willingly
18
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, 15
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,—
When he beats his bars and he would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings— 20
I know why the caged bird sings!

chalice (n): a bowl-shaped drinking vessel or goblet

bosom (n): the chest; especially when considered as the source of emotion

1. Why is the poem called “Sympathy”? How does the title connect to the theme of the poem?

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2. How is the bird used as a symbol? How is it personified? Why did Dunbar choose a
bird to express his feelings?

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3. What is the poem’s rhyme scheme? Note it below. How does the rhyme scheme reinforce the
poem’s theme?

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4. Give an example of each of the following in the poem and why that technique was used in
that particular example:
alliteration:
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metaphor:

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simile:
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CXXVIII
by Emily Dickinson

I heard a fly buzz when I died;

The stillness round my form
Was like the stillness in the air
Between the heaves of storm.
The eyes beside had wrung them dry, 5
And breaths were gathering sure
For that last onset, when the king
Be witnessed in his power.
I willed my keepsakes, signed away
What portion of me I 10
Could make assignable,-and then
There interposed a fly,
With blue, uncertain, stumbling buzz,
Between the light and me;
And then the windows failed, and then 15
I could not see to see.

1. Find the meter of the following two lines:

I heard a fly buzz when I died;

The stillness round my form

How would you describe the meter of this poem?

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2. What is the rhyme scheme of this poem? Write it on the poem. Note the lines that use
slant rhyme with a star. What effect does slant rhyme have on the poem?

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3. What is happening to the narrator of this poem? How is she dealing with it?

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4. What is the narrator expecting to see? What happens instead?

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5. How is the fly used as a symbol in this poem?

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6. Find an example of the following:

Metaphor:
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onomatopoeia :
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Simile:
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The Shakespearean Sonnet

The Shakespearean sonnet is a type of lyric poem with a specific form:
 has 14 lines, three quatrains (four line stanzas) and a couplet (two line stanza)
 the final couplet usually reveals the underlying message of the poem

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  The meter, or pattern of stresses or beats, is iambic pentameter

M y m i s t r e s s' e y e s a r e n o t h i n g like the sun

 The pattern of rhyming words is:

ABAB -First quatrain

CDCD -Second quatrain
EFEF -Third quatrain
GG -Final couplet

130
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips red:
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked21, red and white, 5
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound: 10
I grant I never saw a goddess go,
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet by heaven, I think my love as rare,
As any she belied with false compare.

dun (adj) a neutral brownish gray to dull grayish brown

reek (v) to smell strongly unpleasant
belie (v) to show to be false; misrepresent; contradict

1. To what kinds of things is the speaker of the poem comparing his mistress? Are his
comparisons flattering? Why or why not?
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damasked: of the pink color of the damask rose
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2. Shakespeare use similes and metaphors throughout this poem. List the things to which
the speaker of the poem mentions and how they compare to his mistress.

Her feature Compared to... Metaphor What is the purpose of this

or simile? comparison?

3. What is the theme, or message of the poem as stated in final couplet? How is it ironic?

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Free Verse
Free verse is also known as “open form” verse. It is different from other forms of poetry
because its rhythmic pattern is not organized into meter; also, it often has irregular line
lengths, and usually does not rhyme. Within the broad category of free verse there are many
different types, and it has evolved over the years.

The Fish
by Elizabeth Bishop

I caught a tremendous fish 
and held him beside the boat 
half out of water, with my hook 
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fast in a corner of its mouth. 
He didn’t fight.  5
He hadn’t fought at all. 
He hung a grunting weight, 
battered and venerable 
and homely. Here and there 
his brown skin hung in strips  10
like ancient wallpaper, 
and its pattern of darker brown 
was like wallpaper: 
shapes like full­blown roses 
stained and lost through age.  15
He was speckled with barnacles, 
fine rosettes of lime, 
and infested 
with tiny white sea­lice, 
and underneath two or three  20
rags of green weed hung down. 
While his gills were breathing in 
the terrible oxygen 
— the frightening gills, 
fresh and crisp with blood,  25
that can cut so badly — 
I thought of the coarse white flesh 
packed in like feathers, 
the big bones and the little bones, 
the dramatic reds and blacks  30
of his shiny entrails, 
and the pink swim­bladder 
like a big peony. 
I looked into his eyes 
which were far larger than mine  35
but shallower, and yellowed, 
the irises backed and packed 
with tarnished tinfoil 
seen through the lenses 
of old scratched isinglass.22  40
They shifted a little, but not 

22
isinglass (noun) thin, transparent sheets of mica used as windows or in lanterns

24
to return my stare. 
— It was more like the tipping 
of an object toward the light. 
I admired his sullen face,  45
the mechanism of his jaw, 
and then I saw 
that from his lower lip 
— if you could call it a lip — 
grim, wet, and weaponlike,  50
hung five old pieces of fish­line, 
or four and a wire leader 
with the swivel still attached, 
with all their five big hooks 
grown firmly in his mouth.  55
A green line, frayed at the end 
where he broke it, two heavier lines, 
and a fine black thread 
still crimped from the strain and snap 
when it broke and he got away.  60
Like medals with their ribbons 
frayed and wavering, 
a five­haired beard of wisdom 
trailing from his aching jaw. 
I stared and stared  65
and victory filled up 
the little rented boat, 
from the pool of bilge 
where oil had spread a rainbow 
around the rusted engine  70
to the bailer rusted orange, 
the sun­cracked thwarts, 
the oarlocks on their strings, 
the gunnels — until everything 
was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!  75
And I let the fish go.

venerable (adj)  worthy of respect due to great age or impressive dignity

entrails (noun) intestines; guts

sullen (adj) showing irritation or bad mood by a gloomy silence or reserve

25
1. Describe the fish caught in this poem. What does it look like? Give at least 3 examples.
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2. What is the speaker’s tone, or attitude toward the fish? How do you know? Give 3
specific lines that indicate this.
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3. Find three similes used in this poem. Explain what two things are being compared in each
one and what the simile is trying to express.
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4. Find two metaphors in this poem. Explain what two things are being compared in each
one and what the metaphor is trying to express.
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5. What is ironic about the situation in this poem? The ending?
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6. This is an example of a free verse poem. How does its structure differ from the other
poems in this packet you’ve read so far?
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26
Slam Dunk and Hook
by Yusef Komunyakaa

Fast breaks. Lay ups. With Mercury’s

Insignia on our sneakers,
We outmaneuvered the footwork
Of bad angels. Nothing but a hot
Swish of strings like silk 5
Ten feet out. In the roundhouse
Labyrinth our bodies
Created, we could almost
Last forever, poised in midair
Like storybook sea monsters. 10

A high note hung there

A long second. Off
The rim. We’d corkscrew
Up & dunk balls that exploded
The skullcap of hope & good 15
Intention. Bug-eyed, lanky,
All hands & feet…sprung rhythm.
We were metaphysical when girls
Cheered on the sidelines.
Tangled up in a falling. 20
Muscles were a bright motor
Double-flashing to the metal hoop
Nailed to our oak.

When Sonny Boy’s mama died

He played nonstop all day, so hard 25
Our backboard splintered.
Glistening with sweat, we jibed
& rolled the ball off our
fingertips. Trouble
Was there slapping a blackjack23 30
Against an open palm.

23
blackjack (noun): a hand weapon made of leather-enclosed metal with a strap

27
Dribble, drive to the inside, feint,
& glide like a sparrow-hawk.
Lay ups. Fast breaks.
We had moves we didn’t know 35
We had. Our bodies spun
On swivels of bone & faith,
Through a lyric slipknot
Of joy, & we knew we were
Beautiful & dangerous... 40
insignia (noun) a distinguishing mark or sign of authority
labyrinth (noun): a maze
lanky (adj): slender, tall and thin
1. Find two similes in the first stanza. What things are being compared and why?
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2. Find two metaphors and explain their meanings.
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3. How are the players described physically? Give examples.
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4. What happened to Sonny Boy? How did he deal with it?
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5. How is alliteration used in lines 5, 10, and 32? Write down the phrases where the
alliteration is used. What purpose does it serve?
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28
7. What is the tone of the poet towards playing basketball? How do you know?
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29
Poetry.terms.Ppt

30
 Poetic Terms and Devices Worksheet
alliteration

allusion

Hyperbole

Poetry:

figurative language

hyperbole

imagery

31
Analogy:

metaphor

Sound Device:

onomatopoeia

Irony:

personification

refrain

repetition

32
rhythm

rhyme scheme

simile

Rhyme:

stanza
Couplet
Tercet
quatrain

Symbolism:

tone

Syllable

33