poetic dissections

Recently conducted a poetry workshop for my tiny tots and couldn't resist enshrining it in my blog, of course some of the examples cited for each type were not included in the workshop but I doubt any children will be reading this. I didn't bother about the various obscure forms but satisfied myself with the seven most popular forms.

• Free Verse- poetry that is written material freed from paragraph form and has rhythm but no rhyme

Ode to Job

Job came down

in a woosh, outstretched

and gliding into the horizon.

Blue shadowed

flight

arrested bythe beckoning marsh.

His greatness bears

much

yet not

the anguish of ancient

prophecy.

Situated grievances weigh

feathery

on this long,

strong back. Unconscious

emotion

numbs while

time drifts out

another sun salted

day.

• Haiku- the haiku is a three lined Japanese poem about nature. This particular type of poetry has a limit on the amount of syllables you can have for each line. The first line always has five syllables. The second line has seven syllables. The third line has the same amount as the first line.

Gentle waterfall,

Tripping over rocks and stones

Creating beauty.

• Limerick- a limerick is humorous nonsense verse consisting of a triplet and couplet, making it a five line poem. Lines one, two, and five are the triplet and rhyme. Lines three and four form a rhyming couplet.

There was an old man of Nantucket,

who kept all his cash in a bucket;

But his daughter, named Nan,

Ran away with a man,

And as for the bucket- Nantucket

• Acrostic- a poem where the first letter of each line spells a word that can be read vertically

Summers' gifts of sensational feelings,

Heaping happiness in poets' path

Awarding praises for poetic data

Doses of episodes, where lived

Original thoughts; orgasmic tempo

Weavers of words; morning's dew

Prosing spewing from every lip

Operetta unions, written in solo

Energy of many, sharing love

Tears touching every heart

Rivalry forgotten, visions clear

You and I spreading peace and joy

• Cinquain- a type of poetry in which the first line has one word, the second has two words describing the first line, the third line showsaction with three words, the fourth line has four words that convey feeling, and the fifth line refers to line one.

July

Hot, muggy

Firecrackers pop loudly

Exciting, thrilling, and inspiring

Patriotic month

• Ballad- a ballad is a story song that often has a refrain or chorus

The Ballad of Marian Blacktree
Refrain:

Oh, do you know the mountain road

That leads to yonder peak?

A few will walk that trail alone,

Their dreams they go to seek.

(1)One such was Marian Blacktree,

A lowly sheperdess,

And courting her was Tom, the swain,

Who loved her nonetheless.

(2)A thought occurred to Marian

While watching o'er her sheep,

And gazing at the mountain thus

She nodded off to sleep.

(Refrain)

(3)That night she came to Tom and said

She longed to know the sky.

"I'm weary of this valley, love,

I want to learn to fly!"

(4)Poor Thomas did not want to leave,

This valley was all he knew.

So when she turned and left him there

Her heart, it broke in two.

(Refrain)

(5)Her faithful swain did track her,

All night the trail led on,

And finally at the mountain,

He looked but she was gone.

(6)As morning broke and lit the sky

An eagle he did see:

It circled 'round him thrice and cried.

He knew now she was free.
(Refrain)

• Sonnet- a type of poetry with three four line stanzas followed by a two line stanza called a couplet that rhymes.

ON HIS BLINDNESS

When I consider how my light is spent

E're half my days, in this dark world and wide,

And that one Talent which is death to hide,

Lodg'd with me useless, though my Soul more bent

To serve therewith my Maker, and present

My true account, least he returning chide,

Doth God exact day-labour, light deny'd,

I fondly ask; But patience to prevent

That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need

Either man's work or his own gifts, who best

Bear his milde yoak, they serve him best, his State

Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed

And post o're Land and Ocean without rest:

They also serve who only stand and waite.

-john milton.