My Book about Poetry

So far you have looked at 4 different kinds of poems (listed below) so now it is time
to review them and see if you can still write them.
Poems can bring lots of joy and are a great way of expressing your feelings
(hopefully nice ones) to other people. Remember to WORK WELL and HAVE FUN!

If Youre a Poet You should Know It!

Stanza ................... the way lines are grouped together, like paragraphs, within a
poem.

Structure .............. the way a poem is organised:

e.g. how long the poem is
How many lines in each stanza
Whether or not the lines rhyme

Syllables ............... parts of a word as it is said e.g.

Structure has 2 syllables ... struc and ture.
Writing has 2 syllables ... writ and ing
but rhyme has only 1 syllable
Look at all of the words that are explained on this page and
work out...

How many of them have 1 syllable _____ ?

How many of them have 2 syllables _____ ?
Which word has more than 3 syllables _____ ?
How many syllables does it have _____ ?
Triplet ................... a stanza made up of three lines.
Quatrain .............. a stanza made up of four lines.
Symbol ................. an image selected by the writer to represent something else:
e.g. Light meaning Life
Dark meaning Death

Anonymous ......... a word used instead of the name of the author of the poem
when the writer is unknown (either because they wish it to be
that way or simply because no one knows who wrote the
poem/verse)

Verse .................... another word for poetry

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Types of Poems
Nonsense Verse
A type of poetry featuring fantastic images or made up words that entertains
through its wild silliness.

Limerick
A short humorous poem, usually containing 5 lines (can contain more than one
stanza but each only has 5 lines).
The first and second lines rhyme with each other.
The third and fourth lines rhyme with each other but are shorter than the first two.
The fifth line rhymes with the first and second lines and often contains an
unexpected turn of events or a surprise that makes the reader look at the poem in a
different way usually with a smile.

Villanelle (villain l)
A Villanelle is a 19 line poem made up of 6 stanzas, the first 5 stanzas are Triplets
and 6th is a Quatrain, it has a careful arrangement of only 2 rhymes:
1. The first and third lines of every stanza (also the last line [the fourth] of the
last stanza) all rhyme with each another.
2. The second lines of each stanza all rhyme.

Haiku
These are usually written with careful attention to how their Seventeen Syllables
are arranged (see example below). They paint a picture (traditionally about nature)
and leave the story up to the reader.

Syllables
Struc/ture / is / the / key
To / writ/ing / a / good / hai/ku
You / must / learn / the / rules

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Nonsense Verse
A type of poetry featuring fantastic images or made up words that entertains
through its wild silliness.
Have some fun and write a nonsense verse you will still need to sort out rhymes
and watch your syllables although there is no hard and fast rule....
Now write your complete Nonsense Verse

............................................................................
............................................................................
............................................................................
............................................................................
............................................................................
Draw a picture to go with your Nonsense Verse

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A Limerick
A short humorous poem, usually containing 5 lines (It can contain more than one
stanza but remember
Each stanza you add can only have 5 lines and must follow the same rhyming rule

Rhyming Rule
The first and second lines rhyme with each other.
The third and fourth lines rhyme with each other but are shorter than the first two.
The fifth line rhymes with the first and second lines and often contains an
unexpected turn of events or a surprise that makes the reader look at the poem in a
different way usually with a smile.
Decide what your Limerick will be about and get an idea of how your first and
second lines will go then you will have to find rhymes with the last words of your
lines as shown (remember rhyming words dont have to be spelt the same they just
have to sound the same...)
WORDS TO RHYME WITH ................................

A..........................
B..........................
C..........................
D..........................
E..........................
F..........................
G..........................
H..........................
I...........................

J...........................
K..........................
L..........................
M.........................
N.........................
O.........................
P..........................
Q.........................
R..........................

S..........................
T..........................
U..........................
V..........................
W.........................
X..........................
Y..........................
Z..........................

YOU NEED TO FIND... 2 WORDS TO RHYME WITH THE FIRST LINE

(try to find a few extra ones so you have some choice)

1..........................
2..........................

3..........................
4..........................

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5..........................
6..........................

WORDS TO RHYME WITH ................................

A..........................
B..........................
C..........................
D..........................
E..........................
F..........................
G..........................
H..........................
I...........................

J...........................
K..........................
L..........................
M.........................
N.........................
O.........................
P..........................
Q.........................
R..........................

S..........................
T..........................
U..........................
V..........................
W.........................
X..........................
Y..........................
Z..........................

And 1 WORD TO RHYME WITH THE SECOND LINE

(try to find a few extra ones so you have some choice)

1..........................

2..........................

3..........................

Now write your complete limerick

.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................

rhymes with
rhymes with

You may want to add an extra 1 or 2 syllables to this last line only to make it
sound better!
Draw a picture to go with your Limerick

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Villanelle (villain l)
A Villanelle is a 19 line poem made up of 6 stanzas, the first 5 stanzas are Triplets
and 6th is a Quatrain, it has a careful arrangement of only 2 rhymes:
1. The first and third lines of every stanza (also the last line [the fourth] of the
last stanza) all rhyme with each another.
2. The second lines of each stanza all rhyme.
Decide what your Villanelle will be about and get an idea of how your first and
second lines will go then you will have to find rhymes with the last word of both the
first and second lines (remember rhyming words dont have to be spelt the same
just to sound the same...)
WORDS TO RHYME WITH ................................

A..........................
B..........................
C..........................
D..........................
E..........................
F..........................
G..........................
H..........................
I...........................

J...........................
K..........................
L..........................
M.........................
N.........................
O.........................
P..........................
Q.........................
R..........................

S..........................
T..........................
U..........................
V..........................
W.........................
X..........................
Y..........................
Z..........................

YOU NEED TO FIND 12 WORDS TO RHYME WITH THE FIRST LINE

(try to find a few extra ones so you have some choice)

1..........................
2..........................
3..........................
4..........................
5..........................

6..........................
7..........................
8..........................
9..........................
10........................

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11........................
12........................
13........................
14........................
15........................

WORDS TO RHYME WITH ................................

A..........................
B..........................
C..........................
D..........................
E..........................
F..........................
G..........................
H..........................
I...........................

J...........................
K..........................
L..........................
M.........................
N.........................
O.........................
P..........................
Q.........................
R..........................

S..........................
T..........................
U..........................
V..........................
W.........................
X..........................
Y..........................
Z..........................

YOU WILL NEED TO FIND 5 WORDS TO RHYME WITH THE SECOND LINE
(try to find a few extra ones so you have some choice)

1..........................
2..........................
3..........................

4..........................
5..........................
6..........................

7..........................
8..........................
9..........................

Then you need to try putting your verse together I have given you the first
stanza...
Draw a picture to go with your completed Villanelle
Dont forget to give your Villanelle a title...

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REMEMBER
rhymes with
rhymes with

Stanza 1
We really had to write a Villanelle
So we used the worksheets that we had
Working hard, as we wanted to do well

(10 syllables - )
(9 syllables - )
(10 syllables - )

Stanza 2
.......................................................................... (10 syllables - )
............................................................................. (9 syllables - )
.......................................................................... (10 syllables - )
Stanza 3
.......................................................................... (10 syllables - )
............................................................................. (9 syllables - )
.......................................................................... (10 syllables - )
Stanza 4
.......................................................................... (10 syllables - )
............................................................................. (9 syllables - )
.......................................................................... (10 syllables - )
Stanza 5
.......................................................................... (10 syllables - )
............................................................................. (9 syllables - )
.......................................................................... (10 syllables - )
Stanza 6
.......................................................................... (10 syllables - )
............................................................................. (9 syllables - )
.......................................................................... (10 syllables - )
.......................................................................... (10 syllables - )

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Haiku
These are usually written with careful attention to how their Seventeen Syllables
are arranged (see example below). They paint a picture (traditionally about nature)
and leave the story up to the reader.

Syllables
Struc/ture / is / the / key
To / writ/ing / a / good / hai/ku
You / must / learn / the / rules
You wont need rhyming here but YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY STRICT ATTENTION TO
SYLLABLES AS SHOWN IN THE TABLE ABOVE.
Think of a picture to do with nature maybe the wind rustling through the trees or
snow falling onto the ground you could take a look in the garden or at a picture in
a book or on the wall anything to do with plants or animals or weather.
REMEMBER you are leaving the reader of your Haikus to tell the story you are just
giving them the picture.

.......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........
.......... .......... .......... .......... ..........
Draw a picture to go with your HAIKU

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Here is an extra sheet to help you find rhyming words

WORDS TO RHYME WITH ................................

A..........................
B..........................
C..........................
D..........................
E..........................
F..........................
G..........................
H..........................
I...........................

J...........................
K..........................
L..........................
M.........................
N.........................
O.........................
P..........................
Q.........................
R..........................

S..........................
T..........................
U..........................
V..........................
W.........................
X..........................
Y..........................
Z..........................

WORDS TO RHYME WITH ................................

A..........................
B..........................
C..........................
D..........................
E..........................
F..........................
G..........................
H..........................
I...........................

J...........................
K..........................
L..........................
M.........................
N.........................
O.........................
P..........................
Q.........................
R..........................

S..........................
T..........................
U..........................
V..........................
W.........................
X..........................
Y..........................
Z..........................

WORDS TO RHYME WITH ................................

A..........................
B..........................
C..........................
D..........................
E..........................
F..........................
G..........................
H..........................
I...........................

J...........................
K..........................
L..........................
M.........................
N.........................
O.........................
P..........................
Q.........................
R..........................
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S..........................
T..........................
U..........................
V..........................
W.........................
X..........................
Y..........................
Z......................