Innocence Unit:

Poetry
C. Edge
English I
ECHS
2007-2008
 Reading Skills and Strategies:
Poetry
 Look for punctuation in the poem telling you where
sentences begin and end.
 Do not make a full stop at the end of a line if there is
no period, comma, colon, semicolon, or dash there.
 If a passage of a poem is difficult to understand, look
for the subject, verb, and complement of each
sentence.
 Reading Skills and Strategies:
Poetry
 Be alert for comparisons—for figures of
speech.
 Read the poem aloud.
 After you have read the poem, talk about it and
read it again.
 Read the poem a third time.
 Speaker
 DEFINITION—the voice that talks to the
reader
 Every poem has one
 May NOT be the poet
 May be a fictional person, an animal, or even a
thing
 Similar to the narrator in prose writing
 Lines of Poetry
 DEFINITION—a word or row of words that may
or may not form a complete sentence
 Similar to sentences in prose writing.
 EXAMPLE: (there are four lines in this poem)
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
You look like a monkey
and you smell like one, too.
 Stanzas
 DEFINITION—a group of lines forming a unit of
poetry
 Stanzas are separated by blank spaces.
 Similar to paragraphs in prose writing
 EXAMPLE: (There is one stanza here)
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
You look like a monkey
and you smell like one, too.
 Rhythm
 DEFINITION—the pattern of sound created by
the arrangement of stressed and unstressed
syllables in a line.
 Can be regular or irregular
 EXAMPLE:
Ro-ses are red. (4 beats)
Vio-lets are blue. (4 beats)
You look like a mon-key (6 beats)
and you smell like one, too. (6 beats)
 Meter
 DEFINITION—a regular pattern of stressed and
unstressed syllables, which sets the overall rhythm
of certain poems
 Stressed syllables are marked ( ’ ) and unstressed
syllables are marked (~)
 EXAMPLE:
‘ ~ ~ ‘
Ro-ses are red.
‘ ~ ~ ‘
Vio-lets are blue.
~ ‘ ~ ~ ‘ ~
You look like a mon-key
~ ‘ ~ ~ ‘ ~
and you smell like one, too.
 Rhyme
 DEFINITION—the repetition of the same stressed
vowel sound and any succeeding sounds in two or
more words
 Internal rhyme—occurs within a line of poetry
 Example: “life is full of strife”
 End rhyme—occurs at the ends of lines within the
same stanza
 Example:
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
You look like a monkey
and you smell like one, too.
 Rhyme Scheme
 DEFINITION—the pattern of the end rhymes
 May be designated by assigning a different letter of
the alphabet to each new rhyme.
 EXAMPLE:
Ro-ses are red. A
Vio-lets are blue. B
You look like a mon-key C
and you smell like one, too. B
 Imagery
 DEFINITION—descriptive language that
appeals to the senses—sight, sound, touch,
taste, or smell.
 Some images appeal to more than one sense.
 EXAMPLE:
The whistle of a boat
Calls and cries unendingly
(this image appeals to what sense?)
 Imagery
 Imagery contributes to a poem’s forcefulness.
 Imagery helps readers see things freshly like
the poet sees them.
 Imagery is part of poet’s individual personal
style.
 Imagery that is fresh and powerful helps to
create a strong emotional reaction.
 Simile and Metaphor
 Simile—a figure of speech using a word
such as like or as to directly compare
seemingly unlike things
 Example: He ran as fast as a cat.
 Metaphor—a figure of speech that
compares or equates seemingly unlike
things, but does so indirectly
 Example: His speed was almost feline.
 Metaphor
 In a direct metaphor, a comparison is made
using a verb such as is.
 In an implied metaphor, a comparison is
suggested rather than stated directly.
 Personification
 DEFINITION—attributing human
characteristics to an animal, object, or idea
 EXAMPLE:
The trees danced in the moonlight…
A Narrow Fellow In The Grass
by Emily Dickinson.
A narrow fellow in the grass
Occasionally rides;
You may have met him, did you not,
His notice sudden is.

The grass divides as with a comb,

A spotted shaft is seen;
And then it closes at your feet
And opens further on.

He likes a boggy acre,

A floor too cool for corn.
Yet when a child, and barefoot,
I more than once, at morn,

Have passed, I thought, a whip-lash

Unbraiding in the sun,
When, stooping to secure it,
It wrinkled, and was gone.

Several of nature's people

I know, and they know me;
I feel for them a transport
Of cordiality;

But never met this fellow,

Attended or alone,
Without a tighter breathing,
And zero at the bone.
A Narrow Fellow In The Grass
by Emily Dickinson.
A narrow fellow in the grass
Occasionally rides;
You may have met him, did you not, Identify the subject, verb, and complement
His notice sudden is.
of l.4 and rearrange the syntax into
The grass divides as with a comb,
A spotted shaft is seen;
standard word order.
And then it closes at your feet
And opens further on.

He likes a boggy acre,

Subject: notice
A floor too cool for corn.
Yet when a child, and barefoot, Verb: is
I more than once, at morn,
Complement: sudden
Have passed, I thought, a whip-lash
Unbraiding in the sun,
When, stooping to secure it,
It wrinkled, and was gone. What do you think l. 4 means?
Several of nature's people
I know, and they know me; You don’t notice he is there until you are
I feel for them a transport
Of cordiality; right on top of him; he just seems to appear
from nowhere.
But never met this fellow,
Attended or alone,
Without a tighter breathing,
And zero at the bone.
A Narrow Fellow In The Grass
by Emily Dickinson.
A narrow fellow in the grass
Occasionally rides;
You may have met him, did you not, What two things are compared by the author?
His notice sudden is.

The grass divides as with a comb,

He compares the path made in the grass
A spotted shaft is seen; to hair parted by a comb.
And then it closes at your feet
And opens further on.
How does this comparison help the reader
He likes a boggy acre, imagine the “narrow fellow’s” movement?
A floor too cool for corn.
Yet when a child, and barefoot,
I more than once, at morn, Although readers may be unfamiliar with
a snake’s movement, they can easily
Have passed, I thought, a whip-lash
Unbraiding in the sun, visualize a comb parting hair.
When, stooping to secure it,
It wrinkled, and was gone.
The speaker describes his reaction to a snake
Several of nature's people as “zero at the bone.” What do you think he
I know, and they know me;
I feel for them a transport means?
Of cordiality;

But never met this fellow,

Attended or alone,
Without a tighter breathing,
And zero at the bone.
 “When I Heard the
Learn’d Astronomer”
By: Walt Whitman
Elements of Literature, p. 496
 Scene
 DEFINITION—The location of the events
of the poem.
 Poets use images to establish scene.
 A scene can be an external physical setting

 A hillside, a city, a pond, a room, etc.

 A scene can be internalized

 Inside the speaker’s mind

 Repetition
 DEFINITION—elements that are repeated
 Sounds can be repeated as well as words,
phrases, and images.
 Examples of sound repetitions:
 Alliteration
 Assonance—the repetition of vowel sounds within
a line of poetry
 Alliteration
 DEFINITION—the repetition of consonant
sounds at the beginnings of words
 EXAMPLE:
Peter Piper picked a peck
of pickled peppers.
How many pecks of pickled peppers
did Peter Piper pick?
 Assonance
 DEFINITION—the repetition of vowel
sounds within a line of poetry
 EXAMPLE:
The rain in Spain
falls mainly on the plain
When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer

By Walt Whitman
 
When I heard the learn'd astronomer;
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and
measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much
applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;
Till rising and gliding out, I wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.
 Repetition
 What words or images are repeated in ll. 1-4?
 Repetition includes the use of “When I” to begin
each line, the phrase “heard the astronomer,” and
the words “lectured” and “lecture”. The image of
numbers and charts is also repeated.
 How does the repetition help the reader
understand the speaker’s mood?
 The repetition creates a monotonous rhythm,
echoing the boredom felt by the speaker; readers
can almost hear the astronomer drone on and on.
 Imagery and Scene
• How does the image of the “mystical moist night air”
help the reader identify the external and internal
scenes in this part of the poem?
• The words moist, night, and air appeal to the senses of
sight and touch and describe the external physical setting,
the word mystical reveals the speaker’s mental state, which
is the internal scene.
• How does this scene differ from the lecture room?
• The night sky has a feeling of expansion and freedom
while the lecture room feels closed and contained; this
scene conveys mystery and wonder, while the lecture room
seems rigid and dull.
 Question #1, p. 498
 When you think of images in the world that
give you joy or that fill you with wonder, do
you look at ordinary things or at cosmic
things, as Whitman does? Or do you find
wonder in abstractions like math (or
astronomy)? Talk over your responses to each
poet’s source of wonder and joy.
 Question #3, p. 498
 What scenes do you see and share in
Whitman’s poem?

 External scenes include a lecture hall and the

outdoors under the stars. Internal scenes are
the speaker’s opposite states of mind; inside,
he feels stifled; outside, he feels at peace.
 Question #4, p. 498
 What do you think sick means in Whitman’s
poem—what was bothering the speaker as he
listened to the astronomer? At the end of the
poem, what part of the speaker has been
restored by the “mystical” starry night?

 The speaker was sick at heart and unsettled

because the astronomer reduced the beauty of
the stars to charts and diagrams. Outside, the
speaker’s mood is restored.
 Question #5, p. 498
 Suppose you, the learn’d astronomer, came
upon Whitman’s poem a week after your
lecture. How would you respond to the poet?

 The astronomer may feel annoyed by

Whitman’s irreverence and lack of respect for
learning. Others may think that the astronomer
would disagree with Whitman and claim that
astronomy makes people appreciate the night
sky all the more.
 “Fog”
By: Carl Sandburg
Elements of Literature, p. 502
 Simile and Metaphor
 Simile—a figure of speech using a word
such as like or as to directly compare
seemingly unlike things
 Example: He ran as fast as a cat.
 Metaphor—a figure of speech that
compares or equates seemingly unlike
things, but does so indirectly
 Example: His speed was almost feline.
 Metaphor
 In a direct metaphor, a comparison is made
using a verb such as is.
 In an implied metaphor, a comparison is
suggested rather than stated directly.
“Fog”
By: Carl Sandburg 

The fog comes 

on little cat feet. 

It sits looking 
over harbor and city 
on silent haunches 
and then moves on.
 Metaphor and Imagery
• Do you think the comparison of fog to a cat
makes sense? Why or why not?
• Yes, both fog and cats move silently and seem
mysterious and elusive; no, fog is more dangerous
than a cat.
• What details extend the image of the cat in
these lines?
• Like a cat, the fog sits and looks; it rests “on silent
haunches.”
 Question #4, p. 507 “Fog”
 Why do you think Sandburg thought the fog
was like a cat? What other cat actions could fit
into “Fog”? 

 Fog creeps in silently life a cat; cats also move

quickly, as can fog.
 Question #8, p. 507 “Fog”
 Read Sandburg’s “Fog” again. Pretend you are
actually standing at the edge of a harbor and
watching the fog come in across the water. How do
you feel about everything around you disappearing?
How does the fog feel against your skin?

 The moment feels mysterious and spooky; the fog

feels clammy. 
 “in Just”
By: E.E. Cummings
Elements of Literature, p. 504
 Imagery
 DEFINITION—descriptive language that
appeals to the senses—sight, sound, touch,
taste, or smell.
 Some images appeal to more than one sense.
 EXAMPLE:
The whistle of a boat
Calls and cries unendingly
(this image appeals to what sense?)
 Cliché
 DEFINITION—an expression so often used
that its freshness and clarity have worn off
 A cliché is a word that has been “played out.”
 Allusion
 DEFINITION—a figure of speech that makes
brief reference to a historical or literary figure,
event, or object
 Example from music:
 Led Zeppelin’s “Battle of Evermore” has
references to Lord of the Rings.
“in Just-”
E. E. Cummings

in Just- from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

spring    when the world is mud- 
luscious the little it’s
lame balloonman spring
and
whistles      far    and wee          the
            goat-footed
and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and balloonMan     whistles 
piracies and it’s far
spring and
wee
when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer
old balloonman whistles
far     and     wee 
and bettyandisbel come dancing
 Question #5, p. 507
 E. E. Cummings is famous for his unusual
punctuation and arrangements of words. What
are the children doing in “in Just-” that
matches the leaps and jumps of the words?
Why do you think Cummings made single
words out of the names Eddie and Bill, Betty
and Isbel? 
 Question #6, p. 507
 Both Pan and Hephaestus, like most other
Greek gods, were pretty tricky customers. Do
you think Cummings depicts the balloon man
as completely harmless and kind? Which of
the poem’s words and images support your
response? 
 Creative Writing—BONUS
ASSIGNMENT
 Imitate the style of Cummings’s poem “in
Just-,” and write a poem presenting fresh
images that you associate with a particular
season. Avoid clichés and other overused
expressions. You might open the way
Cummings did: “in Just- . . . when the world is
. . .” Play with words and punctuation and
typography just as Cummings did. 
 “Fifteen”
By: William Stafford
Elements of Literature, p. 570
 Denotation and Connotation
 Denotation—The basic meaning of a word.

 Connotation—The emotional implications and

associations that words may carry, apart from
their denotative meanings.
“Fifteen”
William Stafford 

South of the Bridge on Seventeenth
I found back of the willows one summer
day a motorcycle with engine running
as it lay on its side, ticking over
slowly in the high grass. I was fifteen.
Thinking, back farther in the grass I found
the owner, just coming to, where he had flipped
over the rail. He had blood on his hand, was pale—
I helped him walk to his machine. He ran his hand
over it, called me a good man, roared away.

I admired all that pulsing gleam, the I stood there, fifteen.

shiny flanks, the demure headlights
fringed where it lay; I led it gently
to the road and stood with that
companion, ready and friendly. I was fifteen.

We could find the end of a road, meet

the sky on out Seventeenth. I thought about
hills, and patting the handle got back a
confident opinion. On the bridge we indulged
a forward feeling, a tremble. I was fifteen.

       
 Question #1, p. 574
 How do you think the writer of “Fifteen” felt
about the conflict that he made into a poem?
 Question #2, p. 574
 How does the boy in “Fifteen” feel about the
motorcycle? What lines convey that feeling?
What have you experienced that allows you to
understand his emotion?
 Question #3, p. 574
 What do you think the boy in “Fifteen” mean
in lines 11-12 when he says that he and the
motorcycle could “meet the sky out on
Seventeenth”? What else could “meet the
sky” mean?
 Question #4, p. 574
 The writer uses “Fifteen” as the title of the
poem, and the phrase “I was fifteen” as a
refrain, or chorus. What is the significance of
that number? Could it as well have been
sixteen? How about twelve or eighteen?
 Question #8, p. 574
 Suppose you are the person who finds the
motorcycle in “Fifteen.” The man who owns
it calls you a good man or woman. Given
what you were just thinking about doing, how
does that make you feel?