Introduction - Name and Gesture

Today, class, we will be talking about: Poetry. By a show of hands, how

many in here would you say you are a big fan of poetry? You know all
or most of the poets? You know some lines by heart?

Or how many would you say you can appreciate poetry but not really
understand it’s meaning or concepts?

I’d like to start off by saying I’m not a big fan of poetry on my own
time. I can appreciate some poems and what the poet has to say but I
can’t lie and say that I know the best poems to get you through the day
or to help you get by with trying times. However, my objective is to
help us identify the poems and poets we may or may know and to read
some poems out loud or on the TV and identify the style of writing that
is being presented.

Now, what is poetry? To help us understand, I’m going to call on one

of you to read aloud this little description. Who’d like to help us?

*“A Poem is a Little Path” reading*

This is just a small sample of what we’ll be diving into today for the
next 40 minutes. A poem, based on this story, is a journey that’s led by
your heart and mind that will take you to anywhere you please.

By a show of hands, if you could write a short rhyming poem about

anything or anywhere you please, what would it be?

Our first style of writing is the Couplet. Would anyone happen to know
what a couplet is?
A Couplet refers to two lines of poetry that follow each other and
rhyme. Couplets also sometimes have the same meter, meaning the
same number of beats or the same rhythm.
For example: “Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and
cauldron bubble.” We’ll be looking into couplets in a minute when we
get into Shakespeare Sonnets today.

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Another style of writing is the haiku. Can anyone tell me what a haiku
might be?

A haiku is traditionally a Japanese poem consisting of three short lines

that do not rhyme. The origins of haiku poems can be traced back as
far as the 9th century.

A haiku is considered to be more than a type of poem; it is a way of

looking at the physical world and seeing something deeper, like the
very nature of existence. It should leave the reader with a strong
feeling or impression.

For example:
A summer river being crossed
how pleasing
with sandals in my hands!

In the twilight rain

these brilliant-hued hibiscus -
A lovely sunset.

What feeling or impression do you feel when you hear these haikus?

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One of my favourite styles of poetry is the lyric poem. Now, you’ll find
these types of poems to be some of the most common. Emily
Dickinson, Maya Angelou, even some Shakespeare Sonnets which we
will get into right now.

Can anyone explain what a sonnet is?

A sonnet is a one-stanza, 14-line poem, written in iambic pentameter.

The sonnet, which derived from the Italian word sonetto, meaning “a
little sound or song,"

What is the structure of a sonnet?

Fourteen lines: All sonnets have 14 lines, which can be broken

down into four sections called quatrains. (A quatrain is a stanza
(or paragraph) of four lines that have an alternating rhyme
scheme.)
Ex: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;

A strict rhyme scheme: The rhyme scheme of a

Shakespearean sonnet, for example, is ABAB / CDCD / EFEF /
GG (note the four distinct sections in the rhyme scheme). *Use
Sonnet 18 example*

Written in iambic pentameter: Sonnets are written in

iambic pentameter, a poetic meter with 10 beats per line made
up of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables.

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Now that we’ve come to identify certain types of poetry, let’s get to
reading some shall we?

I’ve brought along some poems that we can read aloud and/or watch
on the TV for our leisure.

First off, we’ll be reading something a little simple: Emily Dickinson’s

“Hope” is the Thing with Feathers.

*Juliet Stevenson reads*

Okay, now what could you say you felt from that reading? There are no
right or wrong answers. It’s all up to a matter of interpretation.

“Hope is the thing with feathers” is a kind of hymn of praise,

written to honor the human capacity for hope. Using extended
metaphor, the poem portrays hope as a bird that lives within the
human soul; this bird sings come rain or shine, gale or storm, good
times or bad.

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Next, we have Dr. Maya Angelou’s In and Out of Time. Read by the
author herself.

*Maya Angelou video played at 0.75 speed*

Thoughts? Feelings?

The speaker addresses a specific listener throughout this poem,

someone who is likely their romantic partner. Or, at the very least,
someone very close to them. They describe briefly the struggles that
they went through to ensure that they created a future that was safe
and clear for themselves and for their listener. The bulk of the poem is
used to define the love between the two. It’s a love that’s existed since
the beginnings of time, the speaker says, and one that’s going to last
through any trials they might face. It’s on this note that the poem
ends.

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Our third poem is Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken. A famous poem
known for its ambiguity and mystery behind its meaning. But what I
think might help is if you listen to the way our narrator stresses certain
words and phrases. Listen to the choices he has to make to take the
journey home.

*Tom Hiddleston reads*

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On to our final two poems, we have Sonnets 87 and 147 by William

Shakespeare. Two of my personal favorites about unrequited love and
fantastical dreaming of another’s affection. Read by Sir Patrick
Stewart during his A Sonnet A Day series during the quarantine.

If there’s any more time I’d like for us to try a hand at writing our own
poems about something we’re passionate about. So give it some time
to think while we read some Shakespeare.

*Sir Patrick Stewart reads*

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Writing prompt: Go to a poem we’ve read today. Find a short line that
interests you. Make that line the title of your poem. Write a poem
inspired by the line. Then, after you’ve finished, change the title
completely.