Lesson 4.01 Poetry 101

Introduction
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Task

"Poetry is what in a poem makes you laugh, cry, prickle, be silent, makes your toenails twinkle, makes you know that you want to do this or that or nothing, makes you know that you are alone in the unknown world, that your bliss and suffering is forever shared and forever all your own."

- Dylan Thomas

Poetry is an art form in which the language is used to employ devices such as rhythm, rhyme, meter, and structure or simply none at all.

Is poetry something that rhymes? See answer No, poetry does not have to rhyme. It is up to the writer whether or not to incorporate rules. Rhyming can help emphasize key words and ideas; however, if used too much, the poem can become too sing-song and elementary. .

Does poetry have to use punctuation and good grammar? See answer No, it is the writer's artistic expression to do whatever he or she would like to do when writing poetry. .

When you are trying to obtain the meaning behind a poem, there are certain steps you can follow.

Look at the poem's title. Does it have any clues?
Read the poem more than once. What situation is presented?
Identify the poem's narrator. Who is speaking in the poem?
Look at the words in the poem. Does the poem use unusual words or use words in an unusual way?
Examine the line breaks. Are there any patterns?
After a few reads, are there any new discoveries?

These questions will help you get started reading poetry. There may not be a true occasion that inspired the poem; however, sometimes clues point you in the right direction. As long as you can back up your claims, you are open to any interpretation.

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Read the poem below called "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins and answer the questions about it.

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

1. Who is the speaker of the poem?

2. What does the poet want his students to do when studying a poem?

3. Who are "they" in the poem?

4. What do the students want to do?

5. What is the "confession" that the students want to get?

Could you understand the poem by yourself? This poem is "accessible"; in other words, the poem is easy to read and understand. The speaker tells his students to use their senses when reading poems.

You will read and write several poems in this unit. Reading and writing poetry should be an enjoyable experience, not a dreaded one.

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