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15 Fun Poetry Activities for High School

April 8, 2019 //  by  Lindsay Ann //   3 Comments

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High School Students + Fun Poetry Activities

If you’re an English teacher, looking for fun poetry activities for high school or middle school students, I’ve got you covered. I’m opening up my poetry toolbox and sharing some of my favorite (and most successful) poetry games and activities!  Whether you’re looking for a stand-alone lesson or something more, there’s something here for everyone.

Pop Sonnets

The creation of pop sonnets is one of my favorite poetry activities to use in conjunction with the reading of a Shakespearean play, but it can be used as a stand-alone lesson. The hook is that modern-day songs have been turned into Shakespearean sonnets. You can study one of Shakespeare’s sonnets and ask students to modernize it. Then, work in reverse by re-working a modern-day song as a sonnet. Or, just use this as a “hook” to help students feel more comfortable with Shakespearean language.   Take a look and thank me later.

Songs as Poetry

Studying modern-day songs is a great way to teach about figurative language and poetic devices while studying poetry. Try reading the lyrics, but omitting or re-writing the metaphors and talking about the change in message/meaning. Look for examples of imperfect rhyme in one of Eminem’s cleaner songs. Study poems as paired texts . Analyze lines from a famous soundtrack. Ask students to bring in their favorite songs and discuss. So. Many. Options!

Here are 12 great songs to analyze if you aren’t sure where to start:

• “Across the Universe” by the Beatles
• “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan
• “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift
• “Chasing Pavements” by Adele
• “Infinity” by Mariah Carey
• “Stereo Hearts” by Gym Class Heroes
• “Counting Stars” by One Republic
• “It’s Time” by Imagine Dragons
• “Imagine” by John Lennon
• “Mad World” by Gary Jules
• “Zombie” by The Cranberries
• “Letter to Me” by Brad Paisley

Slam Poetry

Students need to know that poetry is not dead. It’s living. It’s breathing. It’s storytelling. It’s cool. In April, my classes come alive with the magic of slam poetry as students become authors and performers. They re-discover wonder and learn to let down their guard. They learn that there is intersectionality between their story and the stories of others. They are appreciated. They appreciate others. When I use this fun poetry activity for high school students , my classroom really becomes a true community.

Grab my slam poetry “mini” unit to get your students started with slam poetry!

Not sure which slam poems are school-appropriate and engaging? Here are 40 of my favorite slam poems !

Paint Chip Poetry

This poetry writing activity is FREE if you’re willing to grab some paint chips from your local hardware store, preferably ones with multiple colors in one. Or, Amazon sells an awesome paint chip poetry “game.”

• Have students use one of the color names as the title for a poem.
• Have students write poems in stanzas, using each of the color names as inspiration.
• Have students use all of the color names somewhere in a poem.
• Have students choose two contrasting colors and make a poem of contrasts.
• Have students choose two complimentary colors and make a poem.
• Have students choose a color and write an identity poem.

Blackout Poetry

This is an oldie, but goodie poetry writing exercise for high school students. Copy a page or two from a whole class novel. Or better yet, choose a completely divergent text, maybe a science textbook or page from a dictionary. Students string together words on the page to form a poem, and black-out the rest of the words. If they want to go above and beyond, they can create an original illustration to accompany their blackout poem.

Book Spine Poetry

Take your students to the library (or have them browse a site like Goodreads) and challenge them to create poems from book titles. Each title becomes a line in the poem. An optional challenge: have students choose (or randomly draw) a theme, and their poem has to relate to their chosen theme. If you’re looking for some FREE templates, I’ve got you covered: Click Here !  I created these templates as a quick fun poetry activity for high school sophomores after my librarian told me that having my classes pull so many books would be a pain to re-shelve.

Poetry Tasting

A lot of teachers are loving my reading progressive dinner stations . Poems are short and accessible texts that always rock when used with this activity.

Here are some options for poetry stations, a fun group poetry activity: 

• Choose a certain kind of poem or a certain poetic movement to explore at ALL the stations, i.e. the ghazal or Imagist poetry.
• Choose different kinds of poems or movements to explore at each station.
• Choose poems related to ONE thematic idea.
• Choose poems written by teenagers.
• Choose “famous” poems.
• Choose slam poems.

Poetry Transformations

If you’re studying word choice and tone in poetry, why not have students transform a poem, switching from one tone to another? Then, have students write a reflection analyzing why they made 4-5 important changes.

Found Poems

This poetry activity is exactly what it sounds like. Have students choose / cut-out words from magazines to form “found” poems. Or, have students listen to a TED talk or story, writing down a certain # of words they hear. Then, ask them to use these words + ones of their own to write an original poem.

Easter Egg Poems

If ’tis the season, you might as well use those plastic easter eggs you may have lying around. Put “poetry inspiration” in each egg. At the very least, I suggest a word or phrase. If you want to go “all-in,” create a combination of the items below:

• Random household objects, i.e. a piece of string, a bead
• Newspaper/magazine clippings
• Words/phrases
• Famous first lines
• A “mentor” poem, copied and folded up

Tell students that their challenge is to write a poem inspired by these objects. Or, if you prefer, have students incorporate words / ideas from each object in their poem.

Favorite Poem Project

If you’ve never seen the site “ Favorite Poem Project ,” I suggest checking it out as a poetry unit resource. The site’s goal is to interview a variety of different people about their “favorite poems.” In each short video, an individual shares a personal connection to his/her poem and reads the poem out loud.

After being a fan of this site for some time, I decided to have my students make their own “favorite poem” videos . They explored, chose a poem that they liked “best,” and created videos on Flipgrid discussing their thoughts about the poem and reading it aloud. These videos were then viewed by classmates. Everyone enjoyed this a lot!

Metaphor Dice

Poems as Mentor Texts

Using mentor texts for writing is a powerful strategy for poetry instruction, yet one that I find myself “skipping” because there isn’t time. I have to remind myself to “make” the time because it’s important. If we’re going to spend time analyzing texts, it only makes sense to have students try to use those writing moves in their own writing. After all, students should be writing frequently, and not always for an assessment grade.

Here are 12 great mentor poems if you’re not sure where to start:

• “ We Real Cool ” by Gwendolyn Brooks
• “ Montauk ” by Sarah Kay
• “ This is Just to Say ” by William Carlos Williams
• “ Mother to Son ” by Langston Hughes
• “ My Father’s Hats ” by Mark Irwin
• “ Chicago ” by Carl Sandburg
• “ Entrance ” by Dana Gioia
• “ My Father is an Oyster ” by Clint Smith
• “ If ” by Rudyard Kipling
• “ Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market ” by Pablo Neruda
• “ The Bean Eaters ” by Gwendolyn Brooks
• “ The Summer I Was Sixteen ” by Geraldine Connolly
• “ Where I’m From ” by George Ella Lyon (As a bonus, students can submit their poems to the “I am From” project. ) p.s. If you’re looking for ready-to-use templates,  here you go !

Magnetic Poetry

A fun activity to fill extra class time, or just for fun: magnetic poetry . Give each student (or pairs of students) a handful of magnetic poetry pieces. See what they come up with. Take pictures and display around the room.

Interactive Poetry Bulletin Board

Sort of like magnetic poetry, but with a twist, it’s fun to set-up an interactive bulletin board as a fun poetry activity for high school students to try before or after class. You can do this in several different ways.

• Poem of the day + a “feel-o-meter” for students to rate the poem on a scale from “mild sauce” to “hot sauce.” You can have students use push pins to vote.
• Large scale magnetic poetry + a bulletin board becomes “push pin poetry.” You choose the words. Students move them around to form poems.

Hey, if you loved this post, I want to be sure you’ve had the chance to grab a FREE copy of my guide to stream l ined grading . I know how hard it is to do all the things as an English teacher, so I’m over the moon to be able to share with you some of my best strategies for reducing the grading overwhelm. 

Click on the link above or the image below to get started!

About Lindsay Ann

Lindsay has been teaching high school English in the burbs of Chicago for 19 years. She is passionate about helping English teachers find balance in their lives and teaching practice through practical feedback strategies and student-led learning strategies. She also geeks out about literary analysis, inquiry-based learning, and classroom technology integration. When Lindsay is not teaching, she enjoys playing with her two kids, running, and getting lost in a good book.

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ThinkWritten

101 Poetry Prompts & Ideas for Writing Poems

Not sure what to write a poem about? Here’s 101 poetry prompts to get you started!

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These poetry prompts are designed to help you keep a creative writing practice. If you’re staring at a blank page and the words aren’t flowing, the creative writing prompts for poems can be a great way to get started!

New for 2023! Due to popular demand, I created a printable, ad-free version of these poetry prompts you can download to use at home or even in the classroom! Get them at our Etsy Shop .

Even if poetry isn’t your thing, you could always use these things to inspire other writing projects. Essays, journal entries, short stories, and flash fiction are just a few examples of ways this list can be used.

You may even find this list of creative poetry writing prompts helpful as an exercise to build your skills in descriptive writing and using metaphors!

Let’s get onto the list, shall we?

Here are 101 Poetry Prompts for Creative Writing

Most of these creative writing ideas are simple and open-ended. This allows you total creative freedom to write from these poetry prompts in your own unique style, tone, and voice.

If one poetry idea doesn’t appeal to you, challenge yourself to find parallels between the prompt and things that you do enjoy writing about!

1.The Untouchable : Something that will always be out of reach

2. 7 Days, 7 Lines : Write a poem where each line/sentence is about each day of last week

3. Grandma’s Kitchen : Focus on a single memory, or describe what you might imagine the typical grandmother’s kitchen to be like

4. Taste the Rainbow : What does your favorite color taste like?

5. Misfits: How it feels when you don’t belong in a group of others.

6. Stranger Conversations : Start the first line of your poem with a word or phrase from a recent passing conversation between you and someone you don’t know.

7. On the Field : Write from the perspective of a sports ball {Baseball, Soccer, Football, Basketball, Lacrosse, etc.} – think about what the sports ball might feel, see, hear, think, and experience with this poetry idea!

8. Street Signs: Take note of the words on signs and street names you pass while driving, walking, or riding the bus. Write a poem starting with one of these words you notice.

9. Cold water: What feelings do you associate with cold water? Maybe it’s a refreshing cold glass of water on a hot day, or maybe you imagine the feelings associated with being plunged into the icy river in the winter.

10. Ghostwriter: Imagine an invisible ghost picks up a pen and starts writing to you.

11. Lessons From Math Class: Write about a math concept, such as “you cannot divide by zero” or never-ending irrational numbers.

12. Instagram Wall: Open up either your own Instagram account or one of a friend/celebrity and write poetry based on the first picture you see.

13. Radio: Tune in to a radio station you don’t normally listen to, and write a poem inspired by the the first song or message you hear.

14. How To : Write a poem on how to do something mundane most people take for granted, such as how to tie your shoes, how to turn on a lamp, how to pour a cup of coffee.

15. Under 25 Words : Challenge yourself to write a poem that is no more than 25 words long.

16. Out of Order: Write about your feelings when there is an out of order sign on a vending machine.

17. Home Planet: Imagine you are from another planet, stuck on earth and longing for home.

18. Uncertainty : Think about a time in your life when you couldn’t make a decision, and write based on this.

19. Complete : Be inspired by a project or task be completed – whether it’s crossing something off the never-ending to-do list, or a project you have worked on for a long time.

20. Compare and Contrast Personality : What are some key differences and similarities between two people you know?

21. Goodbyes : Write about a time in your life you said goodbye to someone – this could be as simple as ending a mundane phone conversation, or harder goodbyes to close friends, family members, or former partners.

22. Imagine Weather Indoors : Perhaps a thunderstorm in the attic? A tornado in the kitchen?

23. Would You Rather? Write about something you don’t want to do, and what you would rather do instead.

24. Sound of Silence : Take some inspiration from the classic Simon & Garfunkel song and describe what silence sounds like.

25. Numbness : What’s it like to feel nothing at all?

26. Fabric Textures : Use different fiber textures, such as wool, silk, and cotton as a poetry writing prompt.

27. Anticipation : Write about the feelings you experience or things you notice while waiting for something.

28. Poison: Describe something toxic and its effects on a person.

29. Circus Performers: Write your poetry inspired by a circus performer – a trapeze artist, the clowns, the ringmaster, the animal trainers, etc.

30. Riding on the Bus : Write a poem based on a time you’ve traveled by bus – whether a school bus, around town, or a long distance trip to visit a certain destination.

31. Time Freeze : Imagine wherever you are right now that the clock stops and all the people in the world are frozen in place. What are they doing?

32. The Spice of Life : Choose a spice from your kitchen cabinet, and relate its flavor to an event that has happened recently in your daily life.

33. Parallel Universe : Imagine you, but in a completely different life based on making a different decision that impacted everything else.

34. Mad Scientist : Create a piece based on a science experiment going terribly, terribly wrong.

35. People You Have Known : Make each line about different people you have met but lost contact with over the years. These could be old friends, passed on family, etc.

36. Last Words : Use the last sentence from the nearest book as the inspiration for the first line of your poem.

37. Fix This : Think about something you own that is broken, and write about possible ways to fix it. Duct tape? A hammer and nails?

38. Suspicion : Pretend you are a detective and you have to narrow down the suspects.

39. Political News : Many famous poets found inspiration from the current politics in their time. Open up a newspaper or news website, and create inspired by the first news article you find.

40. The Letter D : Make a list of 5 words that start with all with the same letter, and then use these items throughout the lines of your verse. {This can be any letter, but for example sake: Daisy, Dishes, Desk, Darkness, Doubt}

41. Quite the Collection : Go to a museum, or look at museum galleries online. Draw your inspiration from collections of objects and artifacts from your favorite display. Examples: Pre-historic days, Egyptians, Art Galleries, etc.

42. Standing in Line : Think of a time you had to stand in line for something. Maybe you were waiting in a check-out line at the store, or you had to stand in line to enter a concert or event.

43. Junk Mail Prose: Take some inspiration from your latest junk mail. Maybe it’s a grocery store flyer announcing a sale on grapes, or an offer for a credit card.

44. Recipe : Write your poem in the form of a recipe. This can be for something tangible, such as a cake, or it can be a more abstract concept such as love or happiness. List ingredients and directions for mixing and tips for cooking up your concept to perfection.

45. Do you like sweaters? Some people love their coziness, others find them scratchy and too hot. Use your feelings about sweaters in a poem.

46. After Party : What is it like after all party guests go home?

47. Overgrown : Use  Little Shop of Horrors  for inspiration, or let your imagination run wild on what might happen if a plant or flower came to life or started spreading rapidly to take over the world.

48. Interference: Write a poem that is about someone or something coming in between you and your goals.

49. On Shaky Ground: Use an earthquake reference or metaphor in your poem.

50. Trust Issues : Can you trust someone you have doubted in the past?

51. Locked in a Jar: Imagine you are a tiny person, who has been captured and put into a jar for display or science.

52. Weirder Than Fiction: Think of the most unbelievable moment in your life, and write a poem about the experience.

53. Fast Food: Write a poem about fast food restaurants and experiences.

54. Unemployed: Write a poem about quitting or being fired from a job you depended on.

55. Boxes: What kinds of family secrets or stories might be hiding in that untouched box in the attic?

56. No One Understands : Write about what it feels like when no one understands or agrees with your opinion.

57. Criminal Minds : Write a poem from the perspective of a high-profile criminal who is always on the run from law enforcement.

58. Marathon Runner : Write a poem about what training you might be doing to accomplish a difficult challenge in your life.

59. Trapped : Write about an experience that made you feel trapped.

60. Passing the Church : Write a poem about noticing something interesting while passing by a church near your home.

61. Backseat Driver: Write about what it’s like to be doing something in your life and constantly being criticized while trying to move ahead.

62. Luster: Create a descriptive poem about something that has a soft glow or sheen to it.

63. Clipboard: Write a poem about someone who is all business like and set in their ways of following a system.

64. Doctor: Write a poem about receiving advice from a doctor.

65. First Car : Write an ode to your first car

66. Life Didn’t Go As a Planned : Write about a recent or memorable experience when nothing went according to plan.

67. Architect : Imagine you are hired to design a building for a humanitarian cause you are passionate about.

68. The Crazy Cat Hoarder : Write about someone who owns far too many cats.

69. Queen : Write a poem from the perspective of a queen.

70. Movie Character : Think of a recent movie you watched, and create a poem about one character specifically, or an interaction between two characters that was memorable.

71. Potential Energy : Write about an experience where you had a lot of potential for success, but failed.

72. Moonlight : Write about an experience in the moonlight.

73. Perfection : Write about trying to always keep everything perfect.

74. You Are Wrong : Write a poem where you tell someone they are wrong and why.

75. Sarcasm : Write a poem using sarcasm as a form of illustrating your point.

76. Don’t Cry : Write a poem about how not to cry when it’s hard to hold back the tears.

77. Listen Up: Write a poem telling someone they are better than they think they are.

78. Flipside : Find the good in something terrible.

79. Maybe They Had a Reason : Write a poem about someone doing something you don’t understand, and try to explain what reasons they might have had.

80. How to Drive : Write a poem that explains how to drive to a teenager.

81. Up & Down the Steps: Write a poem that includes the motion of going up or down a staircase

82. Basket Case: Has there ever been a time when you thought you might lose your mind? Jot your feelings and thoughts down in verse form.

83. Lucky Guess:  Many times in our life we have to make a good guess for what is the best decision. Use this poetry idea to write about feelings related to guessing something right – or wrong.

84. Dear Reader:  What audience enjoys reading the type of poetry you like to write? Craft a note to your potential audience that addresses their biggest fears, hopes, and dreams.

85. All or Nothing : Share your thoughts on absolutist thinking: when one’s beliefs are so set in stone there are no exceptions.

86. Ladders in the Sky : Imagine there are ladders that take you up to the clouds. What could be up there? What feelings do you have about climbing the ladders, or is their a mystery as to how they got there in the first place?

87. Always On My Mind: Compose a poem about what it’s like to always be thinking about someone or something.

88. Paranoia : What would it be like if you felt like someone was watching you but no one believed you?

89. Liar, Liar: How would you react to someone who lied to you?

90. Secret Word: What’s the magic word to unlock someone’s access to something?

91. For What It’s Worth: Use a valuable object in your home as inspiration as a poetry prompt idea.

92. Coming Home to Secrets: Imagine a person who puts on a good act to cover up a secret they deal with at home.

93. Productivity: Talk about your greatest struggles with time management and organization.

94. Defying Gravity: Use words that relate to being weightless and floating.

95. Signs of the Times : How has a place you are familiar with changed over the past 10 years?

96. Sleepless Nights : What ideas and feelings keep you up at night? What’s it like when you have to wake up in the morning on a night you can’t sleep?

97. You Can’t Fire Me, I Quit : Use one of the worst job related memories you can think of as a creative writing prompt.

98. By George : You can choose any name, but think of 3-5 notable figures or celebrities who share a common first name, and combine their personalities and physical characteristics into one piece of poetry. For example: George Washington, George Clooney, George Harrison.

99. Shelter : Write a poem about a time you were thankful for shelter from a storm.

100. Cafeteria : Create a poem inspired by the people who might be eating lunch in a cafeteria at school or at a hospital.

101. Dusty Musical Instruments : Base your poem around the plight of a musician who hasn’t picked up the guitar or touched a piano in years.

Love these prompts? The printable, ad-free version of these poetry prompts can be used offline or in the classroom! Get them at our Etsy Shop .

There are unlimited possibilities for ways you can use these poem ideas to write poetry. Using a list like this can greatly help you with getting into the habit of writing daily – even when you don’t feel inspired to write.

While not every poem you write will be an award-winning masterpiece, using these poem starters as a regular exercise can help you better your craft as a writer.

I hope you enjoy these poetry prompts – and if you write anything you’d like to share inspired by these creative poetry writing prompts, let us know in the comments below – we love to see how others use writing ideas to create their own work!

And of course, don’t forget to get the ad-free poetry prompt cards printable version if you’d like to use these prompts offline, in the classroom or with your small group!

Chelle Stein wrote her first embarrassingly bad novel at the age of 14 and hasn't stopped writing since. As the founder of ThinkWritten, she enjoys encouraging writers and creatives of all types.

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Writing About Poetry

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Writing about poetry can be one of the most demanding tasks that many students face in a literature class. Poetry, by its very nature, makes demands on a writer who attempts to analyze it that other forms of literature do not. So how can you write a clear, confident, well-supported essay about poetry? This handout offers answers to some common questions about writing about poetry.

What's the Point?

In order to write effectively about poetry, one needs a clear idea of what the point of writing about poetry is. When you are assigned an analytical essay about a poem in an English class, the goal of the assignment is usually to argue a specific thesis about the poem, using your analysis of specific elements in the poem and how those elements relate to each other to support your thesis.

So why would your teacher give you such an assignment? What are the benefits of learning to write analytic essays about poetry? Several important reasons suggest themselves:

• To help you learn to make a text-based argument. That is, to help you to defend ideas based on a text that is available to you and other readers. This sharpens your reasoning skills by forcing you to formulate an interpretation of something someone else has written and to support that interpretation by providing logically valid reasons why someone else who has read the poem should agree with your argument. This isn't a skill that is just important in academics, by the way. Lawyers, politicians, and journalists often find that they need to make use of similar skills.
• To help you to understand what you are reading more fully. Nothing causes a person to make an extra effort to understand difficult material like the task of writing about it. Also, writing has a way of helping you to see things that you may have otherwise missed simply by causing you to think about how to frame your own analysis.
• To help you enjoy poetry more! This may sound unlikely, but one of the real pleasures of poetry is the opportunity to wrestle with the text and co-create meaning with the author. When you put together a well-constructed analysis of the poem, you are not only showing that you understand what is there, you are also contributing to an ongoing conversation about the poem. If your reading is convincing enough, everyone who has read your essay will get a little more out of the poem because of your analysis.

What Should I Know about Writing about Poetry?

Most importantly, you should realize that a paper that you write about a poem or poems is an argument. Make sure that you have something specific that you want to say about the poem that you are discussing. This specific argument that you want to make about the poem will be your thesis. You will support this thesis by drawing examples and evidence from the poem itself. In order to make a credible argument about the poem, you will want to analyze how the poem works—what genre the poem fits into, what its themes are, and what poetic techniques and figures of speech are used.

What Can I Write About?

Theme: One place to start when writing about poetry is to look at any significant themes that emerge in the poetry. Does the poetry deal with themes related to love, death, war, or peace? What other themes show up in the poem? Are there particular historical events that are mentioned in the poem? What are the most important concepts that are addressed in the poem?

Genre: What kind of poem are you looking at? Is it an epic (a long poem on a heroic subject)? Is it a sonnet (a brief poem, usually consisting of fourteen lines)? Is it an ode? A satire? An elegy? A lyric? Does it fit into a specific literary movement such as Modernism, Romanticism, Neoclassicism, or Renaissance poetry? This is another place where you may need to do some research in an introductory poetry text or encyclopedia to find out what distinguishes specific genres and movements.

Versification: Look closely at the poem's rhyme and meter. Is there an identifiable rhyme scheme? Is there a set number of syllables in each line? The most common meter for poetry in English is iambic pentameter, which has five feet of two syllables each (thus the name "pentameter") in each of which the strongly stressed syllable follows the unstressed syllable. You can learn more about rhyme and meter by consulting our handout on sound and meter in poetry or the introduction to a standard textbook for poetry such as the Norton Anthology of Poetry . Also relevant to this category of concerns are techniques such as caesura (a pause in the middle of a line) and enjambment (continuing a grammatical sentence or clause from one line to the next). Is there anything that you can tell about the poem from the choices that the author has made in this area? For more information about important literary terms, see our handout on the subject.

Figures of speech: Are there literary devices being used that affect how you read the poem? Here are some examples of commonly discussed figures of speech:

• metaphor: comparison between two unlike things
• simile: comparison between two unlike things using "like" or "as"
• metonymy: one thing stands for something else that is closely related to it (For example, using the phrase "the crown" to refer to the king would be an example of metonymy.)
• synecdoche: a part stands in for a whole (For example, in the phrase "all hands on deck," "hands" stands in for the people in the ship's crew.)
• personification: a non-human thing is endowed with human characteristics
• litotes: a double negative is used for poetic effect (example: not unlike, not displeased)
• irony: a difference between the surface meaning of the words and the implications that may be drawn from them

Cultural Context: How does the poem you are looking at relate to the historical context in which it was written? For example, what's the cultural significance of Walt Whitman's famous elegy for Lincoln "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed" in light of post-Civil War cultural trends in the U.S.A? How does John Donne's devotional poetry relate to the contentious religious climate in seventeenth-century England? These questions may take you out of the literature section of your library altogether and involve finding out about philosophy, history, religion, economics, music, or the visual arts.

What Style Should I Use?

It is useful to follow some standard conventions when writing about poetry. First, when you analyze a poem, it is best to use present tense rather than past tense for your verbs. Second, you will want to make use of numerous quotations from the poem and explain their meaning and their significance to your argument. After all, if you do not quote the poem itself when you are making an argument about it, you damage your credibility. If your teacher asks for outside criticism of the poem as well, you should also cite points made by other critics that are relevant to your argument. A third point to remember is that there are various citation formats for citing both the material you get from the poems themselves and the information you get from other critical sources. The most common citation format for writing about poetry is the Modern Language Association (MLA) format .

• Our Mission

Every Student Can Be a Poet

Five easy-to-implement strategies to make poetry writing accessible and fun for all students.

Each year, when I tell my students that we are going to write poetry, a few are excited, but the majority let out an audible sigh. They often have the misconception that poetry is about following a lot of rules and using words that they don’t understand. They’re more open and excited when the focus shifts toward sharing their ideas and feelings with others in a creative format.

With each new type of poetry I teach, I work through writing a poem with them and talk through my thinking. Showing students that their teacher’s writing is far from perfect and sometimes comes out a lot different than envisioned empowers them to create their own work. I also model the risk-taking of starting a poem and the beauty of improvement through revision.

The poetry-writing process can become more inclusive and engaging when you offer a variety of poetry-writing exercises.

Blackout Poetry

Start with a page from any text and ask students to choose words from that text to create a poem. They black out any words they don’t want in their poem with a marker. They then rewrite all the remaining words into a poem.

Ask students to plan what they want to black out by lightly underlining in pencil before they begin marking through words. The only rule is that they must use these words in the order that they appear.

Students enjoy using texts that seem uninteresting at first glance, such as pages out of discarded grammar books. They love turning something boring into a fun poem.

Blackout poetry is a good starting point for new poets because the words are already on the page and students only need to determine which words to use. This strategy can also be used as an interdisciplinary assignment in which students use text from specific content to create a poem about that content, such as using the Bill of Rights to create a poem about the Revolutionary War.

Word-Scramble Poetry

This strategy begins with a pile of words cut out on individual pieces of paper. They can be specific words chosen by the teacher or words collected from students. Students organize the words to create any poem they would like without adding new words. This strategy allows students to see that there is not a right way to write a poem, and everyone leaves class with a completed poem. When I model this for students, they love to see me moving words around, changing my mind and wishing so much for words that I don’t have.

There are several variations of the word-scamble poetry method. One involves giving all students the same group of words and discovering how many different ideas are formulated using those same words. Another involves giving students different groups of words and allowing them to trade words. A last variation involves a bit of stealing by the teacher: Periodically walk around the classroom and distribute new words or take some words away.

My Life in ___ Words

Students are given the task of writing the story of their life using only the same number of words as their age. This helps students practice word choice and takes a little of the pressure off because it is, by default, a short piece.

A variation of this method is to use a different cap on the number of words that students may use. I’ve asked students to write about a specific topic using fewer than five or 10 words.

Prose to Poetry

Students write out their ideas for a poem without worrying about format. They are encouraged to write freely about whatever emotion or topic they would like to convey in their poem. Then students follow four steps to turn the prose into poetry:

• Decide what emotion or idea is most important for you to convey in your poem, and keep that in mind as you make revisions.
• Cut the word count by at least half by eliminating unneeded words and phrases. Highlight the most important words and phrases that you want to keep and delete the rest.
• Highlight what you think is the most important phrase, and make it your title.
• Rearrange the remaining words and phrases in a way that helps you convey your idea. Consider starting and ending all lines with a noun, adjective, or verb.

My Worst Poem

Ask students to write the worst poem ever about something they feel strongly about. Then have them go through a few revisions, making edits to turn it into something they are proud to share. This takes the pressure off of getting something on paper. Once they get over the stress of what to write and just start writing, they almost always realize that their “worst poem” isn’t that bad at all.

Celebrating Successes

After working through a few of these activities, students often comment on how surprised they are about how many poems they wrote and how much fun they had. I end the unit celebrating their writing with a poetry café, where students share their poems with their classmates and enjoy a few snacks. Creating easy and accessible exercises for poetry writing can turn skeptical students into poets.

13 Poetry Lesson Plans For High School

Teach your students what a poem is as well as all the important information necessary while  teaching poetry, like: vocabulary, sound devices, types of poetry, figurative language, how to analyze a poem, and how to find rhyme scheme.

In this resource, you will receive a packet of graphic organizers/guided notes along with a Powerpoint lesson that teaches the following terminology:

poem, speaker, line, stanza, quatrain, couplet, cinquain, tercet, refrain, symbol, theme, mood

tone, imagery, juxtaposition, oxymoron, pun, paradox, allusion, proverb, foot, iamb, iambic pentameter, enjambment, anaphora, metonymy

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

simile, metaphor, personification, idiom, hyperbole, irony

SOUND DEVICES

rhyme, rhyme scheme, slant rhyme, rhythm, meter, alliteration, consonance, assonance, onomatopoeia, repetition

TYPES OF POETRY

narrative, lyrical, haiku, ballad, sonnet, limerick, free verse, acrostic, concrete, blank verse, blues poem, elegy, ode, prose, villanelle

HOW TO ANALYZE A POEM

HOW TO DETERMINE RHYME SCHEME

This resource includes a copy of the poem “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe and 26 close reading questions. The analysis includes an in-depth look at academic vocabulary, poetic devices, and literary elements in the poem. (An answer key is also provided.)

Poetic and Literary Devices Covered in this Activity:

alliteration

• rhyme scheme
• gothic literature

In this  poetry analysis activity,  your students will read and answer questions regarding the famous poem  “To an Athlete Dying Young” by A. E. Housman.  Next, your students will listen to the song  “If I Die Young” by The Band Perry  that carries a similar message. Then, students will take a closer look at how these two texts relate. Comparing and contrasting these paired texts will help your students better understand point of view, tone, mood, and theme! Add music to make poetry fun for students! This resource includes:

• Full text of the poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” by A. E. Housman
• Analysis questions for the poem “To an Athlete Dying Young”
• Song analysis questions based on the lyrics “If I Die Young” by The Band Perry
• Compare and contrast question about the song and poem
• EDITABLE copy of the questions so you can make modifications if needed
• ANSWER KEYS for everything

In this  Paired Texts Poetry Analysis , your students will analyze the two poems:  “An Obstacle” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman & “Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas.

This resource includes:

• Full text of “An Obstacle” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Due to copyright law, I am unable to provide a full text of the poem “Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas)
• Graphic Organizer that closely examines both poems for: meaning, tone, figurative language, setting, imagery, and theme (PDF)
• Answer key for poem analyses
• Constructed Response task which requires students to develop an answer in paragraph form. (The first CR question asks students to compare the themes in each poem. The second CR question requires students to personally connect with the theme.)
• Editable copy (word document) of the poetry analysis graphic organizer

As your students watch the 1989 Film  Dead Poets Society  (directed by Peter Weir), have them answer these  film analysis questions  to help them better comprehend and understand the film’s meaning and purpose. Additionally, have them personally connect to the theme of the film by  writing their own free verse poem  in response to Walt Whitman’s poem “O Me! O Life!” The film is 2 hours and 8 minutes in length.

Included in this lesson:

• 22 Comprehension and Analysis questions based on the film  “ Dead Poets Society” — these questions require students to connect to the characters in the film and use inferencing skills
• Answer key to the film’s analysis questions
• Free Verse Writing Activity: prompt and rubric in response to Walt Whitman’s poem “O Me! O Life!”
• Editable copy of the lesson for teachers to make modifications if needed

Teach your students all about  Sonnets  with a unique analysis of  William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 138.

1) First, use the Powerpoint presentation to familiarize your students with:

• Sonnet definition and structure
• Shakespearean Sonnets
• Petrarchan Sonnets
• Spenserian Sonnets
• Miltonic Sonnets
• Iambic pentameter
• Two-part thematic Structure
• Rhyme Scheme

Guided notes worksheet included!

2) Then, have your students analyze Shakespeare’s Sonnet 138 by answering comprehension and literary analysis questions. Answer key included!

3) Lastly, have your students  write their own original Shakespearean Sonnet . Directions and guidelines included.

Students will read and  analyze the famous poem by John Keats, “Ode On A Grecian Urn.”  This resource is great for any poetry unit!

This lesson includes:

• Full text of the poem “Ode On A Grecian Urn”
• 14 Questions about the poem: a mix of comprehension and literary analysis questions
• Write Your Own Ode Poem Activity for Students (Directions and Requirements)
• EDITABLE Word Document so you can make modifications if you wish to

Teach your students all about  Blackout Poetry with this fun lesson and activity!

In this resource, you will receive:

• Teacher Guide
• Powerpoint lesson on Blackout Poetry with step by step directions for students to create their own blackout poems in a variety of ways
• 10 Examples of blackout poems
• 40 Pages of printable texts your students can use to make their own poetry
• Editable word document Rubric and Prompt for students

In this  High School Poetry Packet , your students will read, study, and analyze six famous poems! Perfect for any Poetry Unit!

This packet is a wonderful tool because you can have students complete the literary analysis questions in a variety of ways: whole-class, independently, or collaboratively.

The 6 poems included in this packet are:

• Sonnet V by Shakespeare
• “Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost
• “I’m happiest when most away” by Emily Brontë
• “The Tyger” by William Blake
• “When I have Fears That I May Cease to Be” by John Keats
• “If” by Rudyard Kipling

In this packet, students will work on poetry skills such as: rhyme scheme, rhyme, imagery, assonance, consonance, caesura, anaphora, alliteration, theme, tone, mood, personification, enjambment, connotation, and more.

Your students are going to love this  Poetry Digital Escape Room!  Students will read and analyze the poem  “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost.

They will solve puzzles in this peaceful scene of snowy woods, glistening mountaintops, and a beautiful, serene frozen lake. In this  360°  digital escape room, students will try to escape the woods before the sun goes down! This activity is designed to work for a laptop, tablet, or smart phone.

This game requires reading comprehension strategies, knowledge of poetic devices, and critical thinking skills. Watch the preview video and see exactly what’s inside the digital escape room!

Included in this download are teacher instructions, student instructions (digital), the master lock graphic organizer, answer keys, the full text of the poem, and a reflection sheet (optional).

Assign your students  a one pager poetry analysis project  and have your students share their understanding of ANY POEM by imaginatively blending their written ideas with colorful images from the text. You can pick one poem for your whole class to use or have all your students pick their own individual poems! Students’ artwork make for unique and creative analyses of the literature and also make great bulletin boards!

Included in this purchase is:

• Student directions for the one pager project
• Rubric for the one pager project
• Example one pager (based on the poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas)
• 10 BLANK TEMPLATES (printable — optional)
• EDITABLE word document so teachers can modify instructions or rubric

Students are encouraged to include several of these literary devices, poetic devices (sound devices), and figurative language elements into their final projects: metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, imagery, pun, oxymoron, paradox, idiom, allusion, symbolism, assonance, consonance, alliteration, anaphora, rhyme, rhyme scheme, repetition, onomatopoeia, cacophony, mood, tone, and theme.

This resource includes a  Poetry Assessment for high school  students (9th-12th grade ELA). You will receive a printable PDF copy of the test as well as an  EDITABLE  word document in case you would like to make modifications. A detailed answer key is also included!

The format of this test includes:

• 10 fill-in-the-blank questions with a word bank
• 8 matching questions with poem types
• 5 matching questions with sound devices
• 7 matching questions with figurative language
• A poetry analysis of two poems:  “A Psalm of Life”  by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and the Sonnet  “Death, be not proud”  by John Donne.
• Students will answer 5 multiple choice questions regarding each poem
• 1 constructed response where students will compare the themes of each poem in a minimum of two fully developed paragraphs

(41 questions in total including the written response)

The Poetry Test covers the following literary terms:

narrative poem

lyrical poem

onomatopoeia

personification

Have your students create a collaborative poster and learn about  William Shakespeare  in a fun and engaging way!

Your students will create an author biography by researching Shakespeare and establishing his profile on a poster.

Students will learn about Shakespeare and his body of work as an influential author.

Additionally, they will learn the importance of collaboration and effective communication. This project is perfect for   National Poetry Month.

Project Steps:

1) To construct the author study poster, your students will work in groups to conduct research on Shakespeare.

2) Students will then transfer their findings to boxes on the poster.

3) Next, they will work together to color or paint the pieces of the poster.

4) Lastly, students will tape together the final product.

The poster is made up of six pieces of paper, which can be printed on regular copy paper or card stock.

Once taped together, the final product will be  28″ x 15″  and can last a lifetime if you laminate it!

This resource includes the following:

• Step by Step Student Directions (PDF & editable word document)
• Author Study Project Rubric (PDF & editable word document)
• Author Study Graphic Organizer for Students (PDF & editable word document)
• 6 Blank Coloring Pages that come together as one beautiful poster (PDFs)
• William Shakespeare Author Study Answer Key
• Example of Final Project: Completed Text & Fully Colored Body

Check out more from my LITERARY LEGENDS Collection:

• Emily Dickinson
• Langston Hughes
• George Orwell
• Robert Frost
• Walt Whitman

This resource is a  FULL POETRY UNIT for High School English, Grades 9-12!

You will get a collection of various lessons, activities, and projects, plus an awesome digital escape room, and final test! I’ve also included a schedule for teachers to follow day-by-day! This bundle is so diverse and your students will read at least 18 different poems within this unit!

Included in this  high school poetry unit bundle:

• Introduction Poetry Lesson & Guided Notes
• The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe Poem Close Reading
• To an Athlete Dying Young by A. E. Housman & Song Comparison Activity
• Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night & An Obstacle Paired Texts Analysis
• Dead Poets Society Movie Guide & Free Verse Poem Writing
• Sonnet 138 William Shakespeare, Sonnet Lesson & Writing Activity
• Ode On A Grecian Urn | Poem by John Keats & Ode Writing Activity
• Blackout Poetry Lesson and Creative Art Project
• Poetry Packet: Analysis of 6 Poems
• Poetry Digital Escape Room using Robert Frost Poem
• Poetry One-Pager for ANY POEM
• Editable Poetry Test with Answer Key
• William Shakespeare Author Study: Collaborative Poster Project!
• Teacher guide with day by day schedule for 4 weeks of Poetry

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Poetry Explained

How to Write a Poetry Essay (Complete Guide)

Unlock success in poetry essays with our comprehensive guide. Uncover the process to help aid understanding of how best to create a poetry essay.

While many of us read poetry for pleasure, it is undeniable that many poetry readers do so in the knowledge that they will be assessed on the text they are reading, either in an exam, for homework, or for a piece of coursework. This is clearly a daunting task for many, and lots of students don’t even know where to begin. We’re here to help! This guide will take you through all the necessary steps so that you can plan and write great poetry essays every time. If you’re still getting to grips with the different techniques, terms, or some other aspect of poetry, then check out our other available resources at the bottom of this page.

This Guide was Created by Joe Samantaria

Degree in English and Related Literature, and a Masters in Irish Literature

Upon completion of his degrees, Joe is an English tutor and counts W.B. Yeats , Emily Brontë , and Federico Garcia Lorca among his favorite poets. He has helped tutor hundreds of students with poetry and aims to do the same for readers and Poetry + users on Poem Analysis.

How to Write a Poetry Essay

• 1 Before You Start…
• 2 Introductions
• 3 Main Paragraphs
• 4 Conclusions
• 6 Other Resources

Before You Start…

Before we begin, we must address the fact that all poetry essays are different from one another on account of different academic levels, whether or not the essay pertains to one poem or multiple, and the intended length of the essay. That is before we even contend with the countless variations and distinctions between individual poems. Thus, it is impossible to produce a single, one-size-fits-all template for writing great essays on poetry because the criteria for such an essay are not universal. This guide is, therefore, designed to help you go about writing a simple essay on a single poem, which comes to roughly 1000-1200 words in length. We have designed it this way to mirror the requirements of as many students around the world as possible. It is our intention to write another guide on how to write a comparative poetry essay at a later date. Finally, we would like to stress the fact that this guide is exactly that: a guide. It is not a set of restrictive rules but rather a means of helping you get to grips with writing poetry essays. Think of it more like a recipe that, once practiced a few times, can be modified and adapted as you see fit.

The first and most obvious starting point is the poem itself and there are some important things to do at this stage before you even begin contemplating writing your essay. Naturally, these things will depend on the nature of the essay you are required to write.

• Is the poem one you are familiar with?
• Do you know anything about the context of the poem or the poet?
• How much time do you have to complete the essay?
• Do you have access to books or the internet?

These questions matter because they will determine the type, length, and scope of the essay you write. Naturally, an essay written under timed conditions about an unfamiliar poem will look very different from one written about a poem known to you. Likewise, teachers and examiners will expect different things from these essays and will mark them accordingly.

As this article pertains to writing a poverty essay, we’re going to assume you have a grasp of the basics of understanding the poems themselves. There is a plethora of materials available that can help you analyze poetry if you need to, and thousands of analyzed poems are available right here. For the sake of clarity, we advise you to use these tools to help you get to grips with the poem you intend to write about before you ever sit down to actually produce an essay. As we have said, the amount of time spent pondering the poem will depend on the context of the essay. If you are writing a coursework-style question over many weeks, then you should spend hours analyzing the poem and reading extensively about its context. If, however, you are writing an essay in an exam on a poem you have never seen before, you should perhaps take 10-15% of the allotted time analyzing the poem before you start writing.

The Question

Once you have spent enough time analyzing the poem and identifying its key features and themes, you can turn your attention to the question. It is highly unlikely that you will simply be asked to “analyze this poem.” That would be too simple on the one hand and far too broad on the other.

More likely, you will be asked to analyze a particular aspect of the poem, usually pertaining to its message, themes, or meaning. There are numerous ways examiners can express these questions, so we have outlined some common types of questions below.

• Explore the poet’s presentation of…
• How does the poet present…
• Explore the ways the writer portrays their thoughts about…

These are all similar ways of achieving the same result. In each case, the examiner requires that you analyze the devices used by the poet and attempt to tie the effect those devices have to the poet’s broader intentions or meaning.

Some students prefer reading the question before they read the poem, so they can better focus their analytical eye on devices and features that directly relate to the question they are being asked. This approach has its merits, especially for poems that you have not previously seen. However, be wary of focusing too much on a single element of a poem, particularly if it is one you may be asked to write about again in a later exam. It is no good knowing only how a poem links to the theme of revenge if you will later be asked to explore its presentation of time.

Essay plans can help focus students’ attention when they’re under pressure and give them a degree of confidence while they’re writing. In basic terms, a plan needs the following elements:

• An overarching answer to the question (this will form the basis of your introduction)
• A series of specific, identifiable poetic devices ( metaphors , caesura , juxtaposition , etc) you have found in the poem
• Ideas about how these devices link to the poem’s messages or themes.
• Some pieces of relevant context (depending on whether you need it for your type of question)

In terms of layout, we do not want to be too prescriptive. Some students prefer to bullet-point their ideas, and others like to separate them by paragraph. If you use the latter approach, you should aim for:

• 1 Introduction
• 4-5 Main paragraphs
• 1 Conclusion

Finally, the length and detail of your plan should be dictated by the nature of the essay you are doing. If you are under exam conditions, you should not spend too much time writing a plan, as you will need that time for the essay itself. Conversely, if you are not under time pressure, you should take your time to really build out your plan and fill in the details.

Introductions

If you have followed all the steps to this point, you should be ready to start writing your essay. All good essays begin with an introduction, so that is where we shall start.

When it comes to introductions, the clue is in the name: this is the place for you to introduce your ideas and answer the question in broad terms. This means that you don’t need to go into too much detail, as you’ll be doing that in the main body of the essay. That means you don’t need quotes, and you’re unlikely to need to quote anything from the poem yet. One thing to remember is that you should mention both the poet’s name and the poem’s title in your introduction. This might seem unnecessary, but it is a good habit to get into, especially if you are writing an essay in which other questions/poems are available to choose from.

As we mentioned earlier, you are unlikely to get a question that simply asks you to analyze a poem in its entirety, with no specific angle. More likely, you’ll be asked to write an essay about a particular thematic element of the poem. Your introduction should reflect this. However, many students fall into the trap of simply regurgitating the question without offering anything more. For example, a question might ask you to explore a poet’s presentation of love, memory, loss, or conflict . You should avoid the temptation to simply hand these terms back in your introduction without expanding upon them. You will get a chance to see this in action below.

Let’s say we were given the following question:

Explore Patrick Kavanagh’s presentation of loss and memory in Memory of My Father

Taking on board the earlier advice, you should hopefully produce an introduction similar to the one written below.

Patrick Kavanagh presents loss as an inescapable fact of existence and subverts the readers’ expectations of memory by implying that memories can cause immense pain, even if they feature loved ones. This essay will argue that Memory of My Father depicts loss to be cyclical and thus emphasizes the difficulties that inevitably occur in the early stages of grief.

As you can see, the introduction is fairly condensed and does not attempt to analyze any specific poetic elements. There will be plenty of time for that as the essay progresses. Similarly, the introduction does not simply repeat the words ‘loss’ and ‘memory’ from the question but expands upon them and offers a glimpse of the kind of interpretation that will follow without providing too much unnecessary detail at this early stage.

Main Paragraphs

Now, we come to the main body of the essay, the quality of which will ultimately determine the strength of our essay. This section should comprise of 4-5 paragraphs, and each of these should analyze an aspect of the poem and then link the effect that aspect creates to the poem’s themes or message. They can also draw upon context when relevant if that is a required component of your particular essay.

There are a few things to consider when writing analytical paragraphs and many different templates for doing so, some of which are listed below.

• PEE (Point-Evidence-Explain)
• PEA (Point-Evidence-Analysis)
• PETAL (Point-Evidence-Technique-Analysis-Link)
• IQA (Identify-Quote-Analyze)
• PEEL (Point-Evidence-Explain-Link)

Some of these may be familiar to you, and they all have their merits. As you can see, there are all effective variations of the same thing. Some might use different terms or change the order, but it is possible to write great paragraphs using all of them.

One of the most important aspects of writing these kind of paragraphs is selecting the features you will be identifying and analyzing. A full list of poetic features with explanations can be found here. If you have done your plan correctly, you should have already identified a series of poetic devices and begun to think about how they link to the poem’s themes.

It is important to remember that, when analyzing poetry, everything is fair game! You can analyze the language, structure, shape, and punctuation of the poem. Try not to rely too heavily on any single type of paragraph. For instance, if you have written three paragraphs about linguistic features ( similes , hyperbole , alliteration , etc), then try to write your next one about a structural device ( rhyme scheme , enjambment , meter , etc).

Regardless of what structure you are using, you should remember that multiple interpretations are not only acceptable but actively encouraged. Techniques can create effects that link to the poem’s message or themes in both complementary and entirely contrasting ways. All these possibilities should find their way into your essay. You are not writing a legal argument that must be utterly watertight – you are interpreting a subjective piece of art.

It is important to provide evidence for your points in the form of either a direct quotation or, when appropriate, a reference to specific lines or stanzas . For instance, if you are analyzing a strict rhyme scheme, you do not need to quote every rhyming word. Instead, you can simply name the rhyme scheme as, for example, AABB , and then specify whether or not this rhyme scheme is applied consistently throughout the poem or not. When you are quoting a section from the poem, you should endeavor to embed your quotation within your line so that your paragraph flows and can be read without cause for confusion.

When it comes to context, remember to check whether or not your essay question requires it before you begin writing. If you do need to use it, you must remember that it is used to elevate your analysis of the poem, not replace it. Think of context like condiments or spices. When used appropriately, they can enhance the experience of eating a meal, but you would have every right to complain if a restaurant served you a bowl of ketchup in lieu of an actual meal. Moreover, you should remember to only use the contextual information that helps your interpretation rather than simply writing down facts to prove you have memorized them. Examiners will not be impressed that you know the date a particular poet was born or died unless that information relates to the poem itself.

For the sake of ease, let’s return to our earlier question:

Have a look at the example paragraph below, taking note of the ways in which it interprets the linguistic technique in several different ways.

Kavanagh uses a metaphor when describing how the narrator ’s father had “fallen in love with death” in order to capture the narrator’s conflicted attitudes towards his loss. By conflating the ordinarily juxtaposed states of love and death, Kavanagh implies the narrator’s loss has shattered his previously held understanding of the world and left him confused. Similarly, the metaphor could suggest the narrator feels a degree of jealousy, possibly even self-loathing, because their father embraced death willingly rather than remaining with the living. Ultimately, the metaphor’s innate impossibility speaks to the narrator’s desire to rationalize their loss because the reality, that his father simply died, is too painful for him to bear.

As you can see, the paragraph clearly engages with a poetic device and uses an appropriately embedded quotation. The subsequent interpretations are then varied enough to avoid repeating each other, but all clearly link to the theme of loss that was mentioned in the question. Obviously, this is only one analytical paragraph, but a completed essay should contain 4-5. This would allow the writer to analyze enough different devices and link them to both themes mentioned in the question.

Conclusions

By this stage, you should have written the bulk of your essay in the form of your introduction and 4-5 main analytical paragraphs. If you have done those things properly, then the conclusion should largely take care of itself.

The world’s simplest essay plan sounds something like this:

• Tell them what you’re going to tell them
• Tell them what you’ve told them

This is, naturally, an oversimplification, but it is worth bearing in mind. The conclusion to an essay is not the place to introduce your final, groundbreaking interpretation. Nor is it the place to reveal a hitherto unknown piece of contextual information that shatters any prior critical consensus with regard to the poem you are writing about. If you do either of these things, the examiner will be asking themselves one simple question: why didn’t they write this earlier?

In its most simple form, a conclusion is there, to sum up the points you have made and nothing more.

As with the previous sections, there is a little more to a great conclusion than merely stating the things you have already made. The trick to a great conclusion is to bind those points together to emphasize the essay’s overarching thread or central argument. This is a subtle skill, but mastering it will really help you to finish your essays with a flourish by making your points feel like they are more than the sum of their parts.

Finally, let’s remind ourselves of the hypothetical essay question we’ve been using:

Remember that, just like your introduction, your conclusion should be brief and direct and must not attempt to do more than it needs to.

In conclusion, Kavanagh’s poem utilizes numerous techniques to capture the ways in which loss is both inescapable and a source of enormous pain. Moreover, the poet subverts positive memories by showcasing how they can cause loved ones more pain than comfort in the early stages of grief. Ultimately, the poem demonstrates how malleable memory can be in the face of immense loss due to the way the latter shapes and informs the former.

As you can see, this conclusion is confident and authoritative but does not need to provide evidence to justify this tone because that evidence has already been provided earlier in the essay. You should pay close attention to the manner in which the conclusion links different points together under one banner in order to provide a sense of assuredness.

You should refer to the poet by either using their full name or, more commonly, their surname. After your first usage, you may refer to them as ‘the poet.’ Never refer to the poet using just their first name.

This is a good question, and the answer entirely depends on the level of study as well as the nature of the examination. If you are writing a timed essay for a school exam, you are unlikely to need any form of referencing. If, however, you are writing an essay as part of coursework or at a higher education institution, you may need to refer to the specific guidelines of that institution.

Again, this will depend on the type of essay you are being asked to write. If you are writing a longer essay or writing at a higher educational level, it can be useful to refer to other poems in the writer’s repertoire to help make comments on an aspect of the poem you are primarily writing about. However, for the kind of essay outlined in this article, you should focus solely on the poem you have been asked to write about.

This is one of the most common concerns students have about writing essays . Ultimately, the quality of an essay is more likely to be determined by the quality of paragraphs than the quantity anyway, so you should focus on making your paragraphs as good as they can be. Beyond this, it is important to remember that the time required to write a paragraph is not fixed. The more you write, the faster they will become. You should trust the process, focus on making each paragraph as good as it can be, and you’ll be amazed at how the timing issue takes care of itself.

Other Resources

We hope you have found this article useful and would love for you to comment or reach out to us if you have any queries about what we’ve written. We’d love to hear your feedback!

In the meantime, we’ve collated a list of resources you might find helpful when setting out to tackle a poetry essay, which you can find below.

• Do poems have to rhyme?
• 10 important elements of poetry
• How to analyze a poem with SMILE
• How to approach unseen poetry
• 18 Different Types of Themes in Poetry

Home » Poetry Explained » How to Write a Poetry Essay (Complete Guide)

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Poetry Out Loud

Lesson plans.

Poetry Out Loud is not intended to replace classroom activities like creative writing. In fact, the two naturally complement each other. For that reason, we have created a number of optional writing activities and lesson plans for teachers.

Do you have some great Poetry Out Loud lesson plans? Email us at [email protected] to share your ideas!

For further ideas on poetry instruction, visit the  Poetry Foundation’s Learning section.

 “My favorite part of Poetry Out Loud is how, by hearing the nuances of each person’s delivery, I feel like I know them – even though in most cases, we’ve only just met. There’s something very personal about the way one gives a poem, and it’s truly incredible to see.” Greer Kennedy, 2024 Vermont Champion

Downloadable PDF Lesson Plans

Poems Put to Use  (PDF) Students write about poems being put to use and, in the process, imagine the practical advantages of poem memorization and recitation.

The Tabloid Ballad  (PDF) This lesson teaches students about the typical metrical forms and narrative structure of the ballad by having them write ballads based on comic, even outrageous source material.

The Tone Map  (PDF) As students learn to name the tones of voice that the poem moves through, they learn to describe mixed emotions and to distinguish subtle shifts in tone and mood. 

Poetry, Celebrity, and the Power of Connotation  (PDF) Students learn to recognize some of the most common strategies that poets use when writing about historical figures. With these in mind, students then hunt up and present other poems about historical figures.

Golden Shovel   (PDF) Students learn to read and write poems through a new form.

In Another’s Voice  (PDF) This lesson focuses on poems that enter into a voice other than the poet’s, perhaps not even a human voice, so that students can explore the dramatic possibilities within a poem.

Keeping Score  (PDF) In this lesson, students practice close readings of poems by analyzing the style—what musicians call the “dynamics” —of the poem: its volume, speed, language, syntax, lineation, and punctuation.

Poetry As Ceremony   (PDF) This lesson focuses on poems that have the sound of ritual, often with an incantatory rhythm that can guide students in memorization and performance.

Visualizing Voice  (PDF) In this lesson, students will practice close reading by deciding points of emphasis within a poem.

Line Dancing  (PDF) This exercise will help students become more comfortable with line breaks, to think about the ways in which they can inform not only the meaning of a poem on the page, but also how understanding line breaks may aid in the performance of poetry out loud as well.

Lesson Plans by Eileen Murphy that complement Poetry Out Loud

Sonic Patterns: Exploring Poetic Techniques Through Close Reading Students use the idea of a composed memory and their knowledge of sonic patterns to draft, revise, and share their own original text.

Speaking Poetry: Exploring Sonic Patterns Through Performance Students engage in a variety of vocal activities and performance techniques based on word sounds and then prepare a recitation for small group performances and compare their interpretative choices as part of the reflection process.

Trending Post : 12 Powerful Discussion Strategies to Engage Students

Poetry Activities: Six Simple Ways to Make Poetry Instruction Engaging

So you have to teach poetry, and it’s not your favorite. Or maybe you love it, but your students just don’t share that same passion. In either scenario, you’re in good company. For some reason, poetry is just one of those things that people tend to  love or  hate . There’s not much middle ground. Don’t worry. There’s hope! Fun poetry activities can bring units to life.

I used to dread poetry. Everything I can remember about poetry from high school was so boring. Over the years, I’ve learned to appreciate it…probably because as an English teacher, I’ve had to study it more intensely and find ways to make it applicable and relevant to students. I’m not that great at feigning interest, so I’ve had to get creative with my poetry instruction in order to find ways that I can  truly be excited about teaching it.

Whether it’s National Poetry Month or just a part of your regular curriculum, hopefully these ideas will give you some inspiration and direction if you’re just not excited about the prospect of spending some of your precious classroom instruction on verse. These approaches have worked in my classroom in terms of engaging students with reading, analyzing, and writing about poetry and related skills.

Entice them with music.

No matter what grade I’m teaching, I always begin my poetry units with music for obvious reasons: students love it, music  is poetry, it sets a positive atmosphere, it’s relevant. Any school-appropriate song can be studied as poetry.

I usually select a piece after determining my goal. For example, students can use poetry to analyze the author’s voice, to study grammar rules, to determine vocabulary from context clues, to read through a critical lens, or to study rhythm and rhyme.

Beginning by determining the learning goal naturally narrows down the music selection. Analyzing music as poetry can be a powerful and memorable learning experience. You can access my free analyzing poetry assignment here .

Write poems that are fun and nonthreatening.

When students who dislike poetry are asked to write a sonnet or a villanelle, they are often scared away before even putting their pencil to paper. It’s a lot to ask a student who feels they can’t relate to a genre to understand it well enough to write an example.

While standards do require that students read complex texts and write for a wide variety of purposes, they don’t specifically state that students must demonstrate the ability to write a complex poem. If your students happen to enjoy that type of assignment,  you’re blessed! For the rest of us, why not make poetry less stress?

Incorporate choice…

We can offer choice assignments. In the past, after studying various types of poems, I’ve let my students choose what type of poem they want to write.

Fun and nontraditional poems can inspire students to produce original pieces beyond our imaginations. Concrete poems, creative nonfiction , nonsense poems, bio poems, six-room poems, blackout poetry, and acrostics are just a handful of examples that prove allowing a different style of creativity to creep into poetry instruction can revolutionize the entire unit.

Put students in charge…

If you’re not a non-traditional poem expert, don’t let that scare you away! Make it a research assignment where students study the type of poem they want to write, become the masters, and teach the class about those styles.

In reflecting about allowing choice as it relates to writing poems, I’m reminded of a time one of my students surprised me with his work during a multigenre research project . He wrote twenty limericks, and he connected all of them into one larger poem about the relationships between cats and dogs.  That  was impressive. Never in my wildest dreams would I have asked students to write twenty connected limericks, but because I had given students the freedom to express their imaginative side through their own means, I was truly rewarded with some amazing work.

Focus on reading comprehension.

Sometimes students just need to know that we aren’t going to ask them to read a poem, discuss it, write about it, complete a project on it, and then memorize it. It’s possible that once in a while, we kill a poem by coming at it from too many angles, and it’s overwhelming for students.

I’ve had success with making poetry less stressful when I only ask students to complete one task, like read it and comprehend it. The comprehension part might come through class discussion, through writing, or both. I like using simple comprehension journal topics when I ask students to respond to poetry because it helps them to process their thoughts before or after sharing with the class.

Use picture books.

Children’s picture books are gold mines for poetry, even at the secondary level. Many have elements of verse we can analyze, like rhyme scheme, sound devices, structure, and voice. Read a book to the entire class and discuss it, or pass out different books to small groups and have them analyze an aspect of the poetry.

I’ve used  Skippyjon Jones to teach assonance and alliteration in the past, and students can’t get enough of it. Dr. Seuss books are another excellent resource. The Pout-Pout Fish is one of my favorites. An alternate way you can use picture books to teach poetry is to use a wordless book, like  Flotsam,  and have students write a stanza of poetry to accompany each page.

Use poetry to teach a writing skill .

Heading into a poetry unit, sometimes I’m thinking, How am I going to get through this unit so we have enough time to work on our research papers?  It’s true that ELA teachers have a lot on their plates. Reading, writing, grammar, poetry, vocabulary… the list goes on. Teaching English works best for me when I blend the concepts taught in each unit.

When we study poetry, for instance, I might ask the students to focus specifically on analyzing the concept of diction . We can talk about how each of the words the poet selected carries power. Through figurative language, denotation, connotation, symbolism, imagery, and more, authors paint pictures with their words. When I transition into my writing unit, my students are already familiar with the importance of word choice as it relates to message and voice.

Play games.

I’m all about the games in my classroom. They allow students to practice skills in a way that fosters laughter and learning simultaneously. With poetry, the opportunities for games are numerous, especially if you focus specifically on types of poetry or figurative language.

My two favorite figurative language games are Truth or Dare and Get Schooled! My kids enjoy these activities, and (perhaps even more important) I get a stitch out of watching them review the terms, learning from one another as they discuss definitions and examples with a unique approach. This poetry challenge is fun to use with a variety of poems.

With a little bit of ingenuity, poetry units can be the highlight of your school year, even if it’s not your favorite part of teaching ELA. Hopefully these simple takeaways have inspired you to try something new with your next poetry unit. If you have successful poetry activities or lessons to share, we’d love to hear about them. Please drop your success stories in the comments. Let’s learn together!

13 Ways Pictures Inspire Students to Write Poetry

Writing nonfiction inspired poetry, paired text analysis: short films and poetry.

Some lovely ideas here for taking the fear out of poetry that students often feel. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you so much! Yes, so many students dislike poetry. I’ve had to get creative with my approaches. Using these techniques also makes teaching poetry more enjoyable and manageable for me (it’s not my favorite, either). 🙂

Some lovely ideas for taking the fear out of poetry that students often feel. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for offering this. It’s encouraging.

You’re welcome, Ivory! I’m happy to share my ideas, and I hope they help you.

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20 Easy Poetry Writing Prompts and Exercises

Although I mostly write fiction now, I started out writing poems. My MFA is even in poetry. I’ve taught beginning poetry workshops at university and also in some fairly unusual settings.

I know a lot of people can use ideas for poems, poetry writing prompts, and inspiration. Even if you write poetry all the time, one of these idea starters might spark your muse or take your writing in a fresh direction. And if you’re a teacher—whether you teach creative writing, English, or grade school—you might be able to adapt one of these for your class!

My favorite thing about poetry is that there aren’t any real rules about how to write a poem. When you find your creative inspiration—whether it’s love, life, or something else—you can just let the words flow. (You can always shape it up later.)

Here are some idea starters, prompts, and exercises that have worked for me before as a poet. You might want to pin or bookmark them for future reference!

1. Pick a song on your iPod, phone, or a playlist at random and let it influence you as you quickly write a first draft of a poem.

2. Go to a café, library, or fast food restaurant. Sit where you can see the door. Write a poem about the next person who walks in.

3. You can also do this in a public place where there are a lot of people talking: write a poem based on an overheard conversation.

4. Write a poem about a wild animal. Mary Oliver, who passed away recently and who was such a great talent and inspiration, has written many poems like this, including “The Hermit Crab,” “ The Shark ,” and “ Wild Geese .”

5. Write a poem inspired by a piece of art. (By the way, the word for a poem or literary work inspired by visual art is ekphrasis . Pretty cool, right?)

6. Write a poem with a refrain: a line or a few lines that repeat, like the chorus of a song.

7. This isn’t the easiest poetry-writing exercise…but I’ve gotten some good poems this way!

Set your alarm for two hours earlier than you usually wake up. Put a notebook and pen next to your bed. When you wake up, free-write for about fifteen minutes. (“Free-writing” means “writing down whatever pops into your head, without thinking too hard about it.”) If you woke up in the middle of a dream, use the dream as inspiration; otherwise, just write whatever comes into your head. Go back to sleep. Later, turn your free-writing into a poem.

8. Write a poem that’s an open letter to a whole group of people.

9. Write a poem that’s a set of directions or instructions.

10. Write a poem about a food. The poet Kevin Young has many examples to inspire you, including “Ode to Gumbo”:

11. Write a poem in which every line begins with the same word. You can change that in revision…or maybe you won’t want to.

12. For this one, you’ll need to either write in a notebook or journal, or on your phone. Go to a store that would be a weird place to write a poem—like a convenience store, a department store, or a drugstore—and write a quick poem.

13. Write a poem that focuses on one color. Federico García Lorca’s poem “Somnambulist Ballad,” translated from the Spanish, or Diane Wakoski’s poem “Blue Monday” might inspire you.

14. Pretend you’re a fictional character from a book, movie, or TV show. Write a poem in their voice.

15. Write an acrostic poem. The first letter of each line spells out a word vertically down the left-hand side of the page. Even for serious poets who would never try to publish an acrostic poem, this is a great exercise to get creative juices flowing.

16. lose your eyes, flip through a book, and put your finger on a page. Whatever word you’re pointing at, use it as a poem title and write that poem.

17. Write a poem late at night, by hand, by candlelight.

18. Fill a page with free-writing using your non-dominant hand. This can help you tap into less rational, more creative thought patterns.

19. Write a poem with very long lines. Walt Whitman’s collection Leaves of Grass might inspire you.

20. Write a poem saying goodbye to someone or something. It could be a happy poem, a sad poem, or both.

I hope you enjoyed this list of creative writing exercises and poetry prompts!

Would you like some more ideas? My book 5,000 Writing Prompts  has 80 more poetry-writing exercises in addition to the ones on this list, plus hundreds of master plots by fiction genre, dialogue and character prompts, and much more.

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Do you have a method or exercise that inspires you? Let us know in the comments! I’ve said it before, but I learn so much from the comment section, and I always appreciate it. Thanks for reading, and happy writing!

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13 thoughts on “ 20 easy poetry writing prompts and exercises ”.

I took a class I thought was on creative writing but the instructor turned out to be a poet. She had us write a short story about a snow storm. She gave us specific things that had to be in it, like a snow shovel and various other objects. Over the next few meeting we condensed the story down until we had the basis for a poem. At the end of the semester, after we had moved on to other things, she asked me if she could submit my poem in a contest for submission in the school’s literary publication. I did not win butI I was thrilled to be nominated. I did however, have a haiku poem in that publication. At the time, I was disappointed the class was slanted more to poetry than creative writing, but what I learned there helped me win some poetry contests along my journey.

Bonnie, I love it that something that started out disappointing turned out to have a silver lining! We really do learn from all kinds of writing.

Thank you for sharing this wealth of information! I have many methods of exercise when it comes to writing. Being creative in other ventures helps my writing and helps me move past “blocks.” I will write poetry or listen to music, but I find the most helpful is being outside, in my garden or simply playing fetch with my dog and looking around at nature to inspire me.

Hi, Savannah! Being outside inspires me, too, and it’s really easy for me to forget about that. I’m so glad you brought that up!

What a wonderful list. While I don’t (can’t?) write poetry, I do enjoy reading it. I had to laugh at #18. When I write with my non-dominant (left) hand I tend to write backward. Others need a mirror to read it, but I don’t. I will be back to try out a couple of your prompts. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Jo! I think anyone can write poetry, but that doesn’t mean everyone enjoys it, of course! That’s funny about writing backwards with your left hand—I don’t think I could do that if I tried. Thanks for reading, and commenting!

Thanks, for sharing this, and I took a creative writinh class in college and even found a website that has all sorts of poetry styles, and forms with examples of each one and definitions as well. It definitely helped me with my poetry, and I also read two books on wriing poetry as well.

Thank you so much!

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How to Write a Poem: In 7 Practical Steps with Examples

Learn how to write a poem through seven easy to follow steps that will guide you through writing completed poem. Ignite a passion for poetry!

This article is a practical guide for writing a poem, and the purpose is to help you  write a poem!  By completing the seven steps below, you will create the first draft of a simple poem. You can go on to refine your poetry in any way you like. The important thing is that you’ve got a poem under your belt. 

At the bottom of the post, I’ll provide more resources on writing poetry. I encourage you to explore different forms and structures and continue writing poetry on your own. Hopefully, writing a poem will spark, in you, a passion for creative writing and language. 

Let’s get started with writing a poem in seven simple steps: 

• Brainstorm & Free-write
• Develop a theme
• Create an extended metaphor
• Add figurative language
• Plan your structure
• Write your first draft
• Read, re-read & edit

Now we’ll go into each step in-depth. And, if your feeling up to it, you can plan and write your poem as we go.

Step 1: Brainstorm and Free-write 

Find what you want to write about 

Before you begin writing, you need to choose a subject to write about. For our purposes, you’ll want to select a specific topic. Later, you’ll be drawing a comparison between this subject and something else. 

When choosing a subject, you’ll want to write about something you feel passionately about. Your topic can be something you love, like a person, place, or thing. A subject can also be something you struggle with . Don’t get bogged down by all the options; pick something. Poets have written about topics like: 

And of course…  cats   

 Once you have your subject in mind, you’re going to begin freewriting about that subject. Let’s say you picked your pet iguana as your subject. Get out a sheet of paper or open a word processor. Start writing everything that comes to mind about that subject. You could write about your iguana’s name, the color of their skin, the texture of their scales, how they make you feel, a metaphor that comes to mind. Nothing is off-limits. 

Write anything that comes to mind about your subject. Keep writing until you’ve entirely exhausted everything you have to say about the subject. Or, set a timer for several minutes and write until it goes off. Don’t worry about things like spelling, grammar, form, or structure. For now, you want to get all your thoughts down on paper. 

ACTION STEPS: 

• Grab a scratch paper, or open a word processor 
• Pick a subject- something you’re passionate about
• Write everything that comes to mind about your topic without editing or structuring your writing 
• Make sure this free-writing is uninterrupted
• Optional-  set a timer and write continuously for 5 or 10 minutes about your subject 

Step 2: Develop a Theme 

What lesson do you want to teach? 

Poetry often has a theme or a message the poet would like to convey to the reader. Developing a theme will give your writing purpose and focus your effort. Look back at your freewriting and see if a theme, or lesson, has developed naturally, one that you can refine. 

Maybe, in writing about your iguana, you noticed that you talked about your love for animals and the need to preserve the environment. Or, perhaps you talk about how to care for a reptile pet. Your theme does not need to be groundbreaking. A theme only needs to be a message that you would like to convey. 

Now, what is your theme? Finish the following statement: 

The lesson I want to teach my readers about  (your subject)  is ______

Ex. I want to teach my readers that spring days are lovely and best enjoyed with loving companions or family. 

• Read over the product of your free-writing exercise.  
• Brainstorm a lesson you would like to teach readers about your subject. 
• Decide on one thing that is essential for your reader to know about your topic.
• Finish the sentence stem above. 

Step 3: Create an (extended) Metaphor 

Compare your subject to another, unlike thing. 

To write this poem, you will compare your subject to something it, seemingly, has nothing in common with. When you directly compare two, unlike things, you’re using a form of figurative language called a metaphor. But, we’re going to take this metaphor and extend it over one or two stanzas- Stanzas are like paragraphs, a block of text in a poem- Doing this will create an extended metaphor. 

Using a metaphor will reinforce your theme by making your poem memorable for your reader. Keep that in mind when you’re choosing the thing you’d like to compare your subject to. Suppose your topic is pet iguanas, and your theme is that they make fantastic pets. In that case, you’ll want to compare iguanas to something positive. Maybe you compare them to sunshine or a calm lake. This metaphor does the work or conveying your poem’s central message. 

• Identify something that is, seemingly, unlike your subject that you’ll use to compare.
• On a piece of paper, make two lists or a Venn diagram. 
• Write down all the ways that you’re subject and the thing you’ll compare it to are alike. 
• Also, write down all the ways they are unalike.
• Try and make both lists as comprehensive as possible.  

Step 4: Add more Figurative Language 

Make your writing sound poetic. 

Figurative language is a blanket term that describes several techniques used to impart meaning through words. Figurative language is usually colorful and evocative. We’ve talked about one form of figurative language already- metaphor and extended metaphor. But, here are a few others you can choose from.

This list is, by no means, a comprehensive one. There are many other forms of figurative language for you to research. I’ll link a resource at the bottom of this page. 

Five types of figurative language:

• Ex. Frank was as giddy as a schoolgirl to find a twenty-dollar bill in his pocket. 
• Frank’s car engine whined with exhaustion as he drove up the hill.  
• Frank was so hungry he could eat an entire horse. 
• Nearing the age of eighty-five, Frank felt as old as Methuselah.  
• Frank fretted as he frantically searched his forlorn apartment for a missing Ficus tree. 

There are many other types of figurative language, but those are a few common ones. Pick two of the five I’ve listed to include in your poem. Use more if you like, but you only need two for your current poem.   

• Choose two of the types of figurative language listed above 
• Brainstorm ways they can fit into a poem 
• Create example sentences for the two forms of figurative language you chose

Step 5: Plan your Structure 

How do you want your poem to sound and look? 

If you want to start quickly, then you can choose to write a free-verse poem. Free verse poems are poems that have no rhyme scheme, meter, or structure. In a free verse poem, you’re free to write unrestricted. If you’d like to explore free verse poetry, you can read my article on how to write a prose poem, which is a type of free verse poem. 

Read more about prose poetry here.  

However, some people enjoy the support of structure and rules. So, let’s talk about a few of the tools you can use to add a form to your poem. 

Tools to create poetic structure:

Rhyme Scheme – rhyme scheme refers to the pattern of rhymes used in a poem. The sound at the end of each line determines the rhyme scheme. Writers label words with letters to signify rhyming terms, and this is how rhyme schemes are defined. 

If you had a four-line poem that followed an ABAB scheme, then lines 1 and 3 would rhyme, and lines 2 and 4 would rhyme. Here’s an example of an ABAB rhyme scheme from an excerpt of Robert Frost’s poem,  Neither Out Far Nor In Deep: 

‘The people along the sand (A)

All turn and look one way. (B) 

They turn their back on the land. (A) 

They look at the sea all day. (B) 

Check out the Rhyme Zone.com if you need help coming up with a rhyme!

Read more about the ins and outs of rhyme scheme here.

Meter – a little more advanced than rhyme scheme, meter deals with a poem’s rhythm expressed through stressed and unstressed syllables. Meter can get pretty complicated ,

Check out this article if you’d like to learn more about it.

Stanza – a stanza is a group of lines placed together as a single unit in a poem. A stanza is to a poem what a paragraph is to prose writing. Stanzas don’t have to be the same number of lines throughout a poem, either. They can vary as paragraphs do. 

Line Breaks – these are the breaks between stanzas in a poem. They help to create rhythm and set stanzas apart from one another. 

• Decide if you want to write a structured poem or use free verse
• Brainstorm rhyming words that could fit into a simple scheme 
• Plan out your stanzas and line breaks (small stanzas help emphasize important lines in your poem) 

Step 6: Write Your Poem 

Combine your figurative language, extended metaphor, and structure.

Poetry is always unique to the writer. And, when it comes to poetry, the “rules” are flexible. In 1965 a young poet named Aram Saroyan wrote a poem called  lighght.  It goes like this- 

That’s it. Saroyan was paid $750 for his poem. You may or may not believe that’s poetry, but a lot of people accept it as just that. My point is, write the poem that comes to you. I won’t give you a strict set of guidelines to follow when creating your poetry. But, here are a few things to consider that might help guide you:

• Compare your subject to something else by creating an extended metaphor 
• Try to relate a theme or a simple lesson for your reader
• Use at least two of the figurative language techniques from above 
• Create a meter or rhyme scheme (if you’re up to it) 
• Write at least two stanzas and use a line break 

Still, need some help? Here are two well-known poems that are classic examples of an extended metaphor. Read over them, determine what two, unlike things, are being compared, and for what purpose? What theme is the poet trying to convey? What techniques can you steal? (it’s the sincerest form of flattery) 

“Hope” is a thing with feathers  by Emily Dickenson.

“The Rose that Grew From Concrete”  by Tupac Shakur. 

• Write the first draft of your poem.
• Don’t stress. Just get the poem on paper. 

Step 7: Read, Re-read, Edit 

Read your poem, and edit for clarity and focus .

When you’re finished, read over your poem. Do this out loud to get a feel for the poem’s rhythm. Have a friend or peer read your poem, edit for grammar and spelling. You can also stretch grammar rules, but do it with a purpose. 

You can also ask your editor what they think the theme is to determine if you’ve communicated it well enough. 

Now you can rewrite your poem. And, remember, all writing is rewriting. This editing process will longer than it did to write your first draft. 

• Re-read your poem out loud. 
• Find a trusted friend to read over your poem.
• Be open to critique, new ideas, and unique perspectives. 
• Edit for mistakes or style.

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Continued reading on Poetry

A Poetry Handbook

“With passion, wit, and good common sense, the celebrated poet Mary Oliver tells of the basic ways a poem is built—meter and rhyme, form and diction, sound and sense. She talks of iambs and trochees, couplets and sonnets, and how  and why  this should matter to anyone writing or reading poetry.”

Masterclass.com- Poetry 101: What is Meter?

Poetry Foundation- You Call That Poetry?!

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6 comments on “How to Write a Poem: In 7 Practical Steps with Examples”

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Poetry 101: Resources for Beginners

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How to Read a Poem

Reading poetry well is part attitude and part technique. Curiosity is a useful attitude, especially when it's free of preconceived ideas about what poetry is or should be. Effective technique directs your curiosity into asking questions, drawing you into a conversation with the poem.

Where to Start

Book Recommendations

We asked dozens of notable poets to reveal the books they frequently recommend to students or new poetry readers.

Groundbreaking Books

Know which books have most dramatically influenced today's poetry landscape.

Featured Essays

The Great Figure: On Figurative Language by D. A. Powell

When we think of great poems that we love, we think of the ways in which the language casts a certain light upon some occasion or subject to create a new and impressive way of listening, seeing, experiencing the world.

Another and Another Before That: Some Thoughts on Reading by Carl Phillips

If all we can ever know comes filtered through the lens of our own experience, and if we are readers, some part of our very selves will be the result of what we have read. Reasons for Poetry by William Meredith Poets, in the large Greek sense of makers, are crucial to a culture. They respond newly, but in the familiar tribal experience of language, to what new thing befalls the tribe.

Someone Reading a Book Is a Sign of Order in the World by Mary Ruefle

Reading...is a great extension of time, a way for one person to live a thousand and one lives in a single lifespan, to watch the great impersonal universe at work.

Death to the Death of Poetry by Donald Hall

I believe in the quality of the best contemporary poetry; I believe that the best American poetry of our day makes a considerable literature.

Browse Anthologies

Many poetry readers discover new work by reading anthologies.

Featured Resources

Poetry Glossary

A brief guide to understanding basic terms, including the various elements of figurative language, poetic devices, forms, and meter.

Poetry Forms & Techniques

Overviews of everything from traditional forms, such as the ode, to more experimental styles, such as OULIPO.

Schools & Movements

Introductions to the founding principles and poets associated with various literary trends, from Romanticism to Ethnopoetics.

Reading Guides

Reading poetry will make you a better reader. If you write poetry, reading poetry will make you a better poet. As former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky has said: "Poetry connects us with our deep roots, our evolution as an animal that evolved rhythmic language as a means of transmitting vital information across the generations. We need the comfort and stimulation that this vital part of us gets from the ancient art." Here are some guides to help you as you begin.

Walt Whitman

Whitman's great subject was America, but he wrote on an expansive variety of smaller subjects to accomplish the task of capturing the essence of this country.

Emily Dickinson

Drawing from primarily musical forms such as hymns and ballads, and modifying them with her own sense of rhythm and sound.

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes became the voice of black America in the 1920s, when his first published poems brought him more than moderate success.

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Home » Blog » 132 Best Poetry Prompts and Ideas to Spark Creativity

132 Best Poetry Prompts and Ideas to Spark Creativity

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Many great minds considered poetry to be the superior form of art. It transcends mortality and the transience of human life and becomes an eternal monument of people’s existence and creativity. Poetry that was written hundreds of years ago can still mesmerize, astonish, inspire, move, horrify, and elevate us.

Creative Poetry Writing Prompts

There is an unlimited number of themes that can be used to produce great poetry. Inspiration can find its way in a myriad of ways, so this is a chance for you to get your creative juices flowing. Poetry prompts can be of great help when you are trying to find your poetic voice or trying to step outside your comfort zone. We hope that your poem inspired by these ten sets of themes will bring the best of your writing skills.

Ideas for Poems About Different Types of Emotions

It is no wonder that the first set of poetry prompts is dedicated to emotions. Poetry is a form almost synonymous with people’s emotional footprints. These 10 poetry prompts cover a wide range of human emotions, so dive in deep!

• Write a poem about a moment when you felt overwhelmingly joyful. Try to convey this emotion by depicting the setting, the time, and what prompted this strong feeling of happiness and joy. Was it a personal success? Perhaps a wish you’ve had for years finally came true. Whatever it was, draw from your own life experience.
• Sadness is a complex emotion that all of us have felt. Sadness often gives birth to the most poetical literary pieces because many people have experienced grief or unhappiness at a certain point in their lives. Write about the cause of your sadness. Perhaps you experienced the loss of a loved one, and perhaps it was a professional failure.  Oftentimes, people feel sad when they have their trust betrayed by a person they consider a friend.
• When was the last time you felt truly angry? Think of a moment when you suffered injustice at your workplace or you were deceived by a person you love and trust. Writing a poem about anger can be a powerful poetic expression and a way to deal with your anger.
• Write a poem about a time when you felt scared. It can be told from the perspective of a frightened child or, perhaps, an adult afraid for his/her life. Sometimes, fear is connected to certain expectations and uncertainties about the future.
• Imagine that you feel very proud. What prompted this feeling of pride? Being proud is usually the result of an accomplishment on a personal or a private level.
• Write a poem about a time in your life when you felt brave and powerful. Describe the circumstances that led to this outburst of bravery in a personal or professional setting. Let the reader feel the confidence and resolution in your actions through the power of verse.
• Alienation is a feeling that can be soul-crushing. All people experience some moments in life when they feel as if they don’t quite fit in or are overlooked. The feeling of alienation is often linked to the feeling of low self-worth. Write about how you managed to overcome this feeling and who or what helped you in the process. Many people will recognize themselves in a poem about personal alienation.
• Another poetry prompt about an emotion is writing about anxiety. In these modern times filled with busy schedules, it is more than expected that people would feel anxious. Take a deep look within and try to discover the source of anxiety in your own life. Sometimes it is the workplace, sometimes it’s your love life, but sometimes people have existential crises that lead to anxiety due to life’s uncertainty and complexity.
• Pessimism is a theme widely explored in poetry. People often feel pessimistic due to a variety of problems in their lives. Writing a poem about pessimism may inspire people to try and find another way to look at the world by seeing things from a new perspective.
• On the opposite side of the specter is optimism. A poem about being optimistic often falls in the category of carpe diem poems, or poems about seizing the day and making the best of every opportunity that presents itself in our lives. Write poetry about a bright time in your life when you felt that every new day offered a new chance to become better, happier, and more successful.

Ideas for Poems About Love

For many people, love represents the meaning of life. With its so many forms, love is an eternal spring for inspiration all over the world and across generations. Check out some poetry prompts related to love.

• A mother holding her baby for the first time is one of the most intense human experiences. Try to capture the deepest connection between two human beings that happens instantly. Find a new way to depict the unconditional love that is born with the birth of the baby.
• Write a poem about the love between siblings. Siblings, especially when they are younger, sometimes have strange ways of showing their love for one another. Write about the big and small gestures that describe the loving connection between brothers and sisters.
• Do you believe in love at first sight? Describe the setting, the time, and the situation in which two strangers meet and instantly develop strong feelings of affection. You can write it in the form of a dialogue or use love letters. You can also give their perspectives in different stanzas.
• The theme is “a marriage proposal.” Imagine that this poem is written by a person who is planning to propose to their partner. List all the reasons why you think that these two lovers are perfect for each other.
• Love stories are never absolutely perfect. Write about a fight between two spouses. Describe the circumstances and the reasons for experiencing anger towards the person you love. Present both sides of the argument. Try to find an elegant solution to the fight and end the poem with a reconciliation. 
• Not every fight ends in making peace. Unfortunately, some love stories end in divorce. Write about the complex feelings that the two ex-lovers experience in the process.
• Unrequited love can be horrible and depressing. The world’s greatest literature includes poems about unrequited love. Try to draw from either personal experience or from people who are close to you. How did you try to win the other person over? What was the major obstacle? Were you disillusioned about love afterward?
• Write a poem about the one who got away. Start by describing the first date, the first kiss, the first fight, and the last fight before the end of the romance. Write about the expectations you both had from the relationships, the red flags, the disappointment, and the lost love.
• Write a poem about the love between your grandparents. How did they show their affection for one another? Which small love gestures did you enjoy witnessing as a child? What did you learn from seeing how much they still care for each other? Try to portray the respect and devotion of a long-lasting relationship.
• Talk about love in general. Write about the reasons why it is a vital part of human experience. Meditate upon your own experiences regarding different kinds of love. Write about the ways in which love makes us better people. Find different ways to depict the manner in which love enriches our souls.

Ideas for Poems About Life in General

Life is mysteriously beautiful, complex, difficult, and painful. You can show your appreciation for it by writing on at least one of the following ten poetry prompts.

• Growing old is an important part of the life cycle. Some people fear the inevitable end so much that they don’t live their life to the fullest. Others are older and wiser, so they happily pass their knowledge and wisdom to future generations. Write about your own experience or how the old age of family members has affected your own life.
• Write a poem about a specific accomplishment in your life and how it has improved you as a person.
• The main theme of the poem is “the life cycle.” Everything that is born eventually dies, and the cycle starts again.
• Write a poem about the experience of a couple who is expecting a baby. Write about the overwhelming emotions, love, affection, and care that the future parents feel.
• There are many obstacles in life, and facing them is an important aspect of a person’s life. Write a poem about the potential hardships in life and how they affect people’s lives.
• Write a poem from a child’s point of view. Remember how you used to perceive the world and how you tried to explain things to yourself using a child’s logic. The poem will depict the sweetly naïve child’s perceptions of the world.
• Write a poem about hope. Life is hard and complex as it is, so hope is often our driving force. Think of a time when you were hopeful.
• Write a poem about a usual, boring day. Find poetry in the monotony of life.
• Write a poem about traveling to a foreign country. Capture the essence of changing scenery, and dwelling on the way traveling makes us more open-minded.
• Think of a time when you were badly hurt. Write a poem about how you dealt with the pain.    

Ideas for Poems About Death

People and writers from every culture and generation in the world have been obsessed with understanding death and what comes after it. It brings sadness, nostalgia, and wisdom. These ten poetry prompts can stir your imagination and inspire philosophical thought about the most mysterious concept in the world.

• Write a poem about the fondest memory you have of a person who had passed away. Why is this memory so special? How did you feel when this person died?
• Death is often personified. Write a poem addressing Death as a person. What is it that you would like to tell him? What would you want to ask him?
• Imagine that you are Death, and you hate your vocation. How do you justify your actions? You can use a lighter tone for the poem.
• Write a poem about a person who had a near-death experience. What happened to them? How did they survive? Did they change for the better after it?
• Write a poem about a real or an imaginary genocide.
• Write a poem about a person trying to deceive Death and reach immortality.
• Write a poem about the death of a pet. What did you do to help you deal with the loss?
• Imagine that you have only a day to live. What would you do?
• Write a poem about the first time you understood the concept of death.
• How do you want to be remembered after you die? Write a poem about how your death is going to affect your loved ones.

Ideas for Poems About Philosophy

People are gifted with intelligence, wisdom, and the power to think in abstract ways. People’s quest to understand the meaning of life and the world surrounding us is a fantastic basis for writing poetry prompts. Some poetry prompts related to philosophy are as follows:

• Write a poem about what you perceive to be the meaning of life.
• Friendship is a type of human connection that makes people happier and healthier in every possible way. Write a poem about your best friend or somebody you’ve lost.
• The thirst for knowledge is a concept that defines us as a human race. Write a poem about the eternal quest for knowledge.
• Imagination is a distinctly human quality. Write a poem about the role imagination plays in creating art.
• Write a poem inspired by the Machiavellian quote that the goal justifies the means.
• Write a poem about people’s ancient desire to explain natural phenomena by inventing elaborate mythological stories.
• Write a poem about the good and the bad aspects of humility.
• Patience teaches us a valuable lesson about controlling our desires. Write a poem about a time when you had to be patient when you wanted something.
• Write a poem about the benefits of daily meditation.
• Write a poem about perfection. Think of the combination of aesthetics and ethics and how perfection can be achieved.  

Ideas for Poems About Everyday Things

Sometimes, the most poetic compositions are created out of the simplicity of life. These ten poetry writing prompts can help inspire you to find poetry in the smallest of things around you.

• Write a poem about your everyday little rituals.
• Write a poem about raindrops slowly falling down the window glass while you’re thinking about your life in general.
• Write a poem about a relaxing walk in the park. Use natural imagery, but also try to depict the noises you hear: rustling, splashing, chirping, etc. 
• Write a short poem about the simple pleasure one gets from eating a juicy piece of fruit.
• Pets are an important part of our lives. Write a poem about the joyfulness of playing with your pet.
• Everybody makes mistakes, so write a poem about apologizing to somebody for something you’ve done.
• Write a poem about a sunny morning when you went out and bought some flowers from a flower shop.
• Eating a dessert might be the most relaxing and enjoyable part of dinner. Write a short poem about eating a delicious dessert.
• Write a poem about a time when you didn’t have electricity due to a heavy storm, so you had to read a book using candlelight.
• Think of an activity that relaxes you before falling asleep, and write a poem about it. Perhaps the activity can be listening to Mozart!

Ideas for Poems About Time

Time, even for scientists, is one of the most interesting concepts. Its abstractness has served as an inspiration point for many philosophical and literary works. The following poetry writing prompts can guide you into writing poetry about the different complexities of the notion of time.

• Write a poem about a childhood memory that still brings you joy when you think about it.
• Write a poem about the modern age we live it. What is positive and what is negative about living today
• Think of a lost opportunity because the timing wasn’t right. Write a poem about the importance of using every opportunity, which is difficult because people often find excuses for their failures.
• Write about a person who has wasted his/her youth. This person feels immensely remorseful.
• Waking up after having spent a few months in a coma can make people reevaluate their life choices and decisions.
• Write a poem about a time in the past when you experienced an epiphany – a sudden realization of great truth.
• Write about the development of human life, starting from the time a person is a toddler.
• Describe the sunset and use it as a metaphor for the end of a person’s life.
• Describe the sunrise and link it metaphorically to the concept of birth.
• Write a poem about an antique clock.

Ideas for Poems About Different Forms of Art

Poetry has always been regarded as one of the most sophisticated aspects of human existence. As a form of art, it is inevitably connected to other forms of art. These ten creative writing prompts can inspire poetry pieces that combine different art forms.

• Write a poem about the feelings that overcome you while listening to your favorite music.
• Write a poem about a Shakespearean play.
• Write a poem about a mysterious painter.
• Write a poem from the perspective of ballet shoes.
• Describe the images and stories painted on a Grecian urn.
• Imagine that you are a famous painter looking at a freshly finished piece. Write a poem about the painter’s perceptions of a painting.
• Write a poem about a day spent in a museum.
• Write a poem about a film character that you admire.
• Write a poem that will instruct actors on the manner that they should act, which is similar to Prince Hamlet’s speech to the players.
• Write a modernized version of a famous speech taken from a Renaissance play.

Ideas for Poems About Historical Events

Historia est magistra vitae. Indeed, history teaches us about life. Numerous works have been written celebrating historical events, so this is your chance to use verses to do the same. Some creative poetry writing prompts related to historical events are as follows:

• Imagine that you lived in the period of Alexander the Great. Write a poem about him.
• Write a poem about the hardships in World War I.
• Write a poem about life in the Industrial Revolution in England.
• Write a poem about Martin Luther King.
• Imagine that you are an archaeologist who makes a startling discovery in Egypt.
• Imagine you saw the apple falling on Sir Isaac Newton’s head.
• Write a poem about Queen Elizabeth I. She was an exceptional monarch who deserved literary praise.
• Write a poem about the trial of Galileo Galilei.  
• You are Alexander Bell, the person who invented the telephone. How is the world different because of you?
• Write a poem about Archimedes and his “eureka” moment.   

Ideas for Poems About Religion and Spirituality

If something truly separates us, humans, from the other forms of life on this planet, it is spirituality. The belief in a higher power is a distinctively human quality. Delve deeper into your own beliefs and spirituality and put your religious experience into words through these poetry writing prompts.

• How can you restore the faith in God in somebody who seems to have lost it? How can you help this person find his way again?
• Imagine that you are one of the three Magi following a star to Bethlehem.
• Write a poem about a moment you felt that you were one with nature.
• Describe your feelings after meditation. Write about the setting, your surroundings, and the feelings that come rushing in.
• Write a poem about the afterlife. It doesn’t have to be your own perception. It can be inspired by major religions.
• Think of a religious temple you’ve visited. How did it make you feel? Where was it? Is it real or imaginary?
• Everybody has experienced personal hardships. Write a poem about a difficult period in your life and about your prayers to overcome it.
• The death of a close family member or a spouse can be the most traumatic experience in a person’s life. Write about your relationship with God after you lost somebody you loved. Did it change?
• Write a poem about temptation. Did you give in to the temptation? How did you feel after that?
• Imagine that you are God for only a day. What would you do with your power?

Ideas for Poems About Family Life

Family life is at the core of a healthy society. Family ties can bring you joy, sadness, love, pride, etc. Use the following poem-based writing prompts to express your understanding of family life.

• Write a poem about a child who gets a puppy as a Christmas present.
• Describe a family trip to the ZOO with poetic words. The tone can be lighter, and it can be told from the children’s point of view.
• Write a poem about a family summer vacation. Draw inspiration from jumping into the water, sunbathing, building sand castles, and exploring cities’ architecture and culture. A summer vacation brings out the best in every family, so you could go back to your own childhood in order to depict a realistic representation of the feeling.
• You are celebrating Christmas with your extended family. Write a poem about the conversation around the dinner table.
• Imagine that you are a mother or a father expecting a child. You have created a new heartbeat in the world. Try to depict the wonders that surround procreation.
• You are planning a surprise birthday party for your father, and you’ve invited all of his close friends into his home.
• Write a poem celebrating your parent’s 40-year anniversary. Tell them why this is a special event for you, how much they’ve touched your life, and how much affection you have for them.
• Imagine that you are stuck with your sibling in an elevator for two hours. What will be the topic of your conversation?
• Write a poem about leaving the home you were born in and moving to a new place. Use your words to portray the strong feelings of nostalgia and the memories that arise from packing your life in cardboard boxes.
• Write a poem about an ill family member. Use your words to make them feel better and to bring hope that everything will turn out alright in the end.

Ideas for Poems About Nature and Traveling

Nature is a powerful and mesmerizing force that sustains us. We are a part of nature, and nature is within all of us. These ten poem-based writing prompts can serve as an inspiration for you to create an homage to this planet.

• Write a poem about the beginning of spring and the new cycle of life. Use natural imagery, colors, and active verbs that would signify the awakening of nature.
• Think of a city that you haven’t visited yet but you really want to. Why is it so? Is it because it is exotic? Is it because of its architecture? Perhaps you are more interested in the people and their culture.
• Write a poem about a natural phenomenon. Are you astonished by it? Is it devastating for people? Focus on the power of nature.
• Imagine that you are a raindrop and describe your journey.
• Many poems have been written about the Sun and the Moon. Try to find a different angle when writing about them.
• Write a poem about meeting an interesting/mysterious/funny person on a train in a foreign country. How did you start the conversation? How long did you talk? Did you explore the city together?
• Imagine that you are on top of Mount Everest.  How do you feel? Who are you with? How can you inspire other mountaineers to conquer the highest mountain peak?
• The ocean, unlike the earth, can’t be conquered by humans. The ocean is too powerful, and people are at his mercy during every voyage, regardless of the length. Write a poem about the respect people should have for this large body of water.
• Write a poem about the change of seasons and the passing of time.
• Imagine that you’ve been granted to power to fly for a month. Where would you go? Why? How do you think your life and perceptions will change after that month?

Ideas for Poems With Supernatural Elements

Human’s imagination is limitless and astonishing. Centuries ago people would come together to tell stories, often incorporating supernatural elements in their accounts. By doing so, they were able to cause catharsis.

Mythologies were created because people couldn’t explain natural phenomena. The fight between personifications of good and evil has been of great interest to millions of literature lovers. Here are 12 poetry prompts to help you get started.

• Imagine that you are moving into what others believe to be a haunted house.
• How far would you go to save a loved one? Would you make a deal with the devil?
• You are a sage who gives advice to people you believe have kind hearts.
• You are a dragon defending your family from human invaders.
• Write a poem about a princess locked in a high tower who isn’t allowed to look at the real world outside her windows.
• You find a magic ring in your grandmother’s old casket. You can heal whomever you want at the expense of another human being.
• A man who presumably has died at sea returns on Halloween to his old house to visit his grieving mother.
• You have the ability to communicate with trees and gain wisdom.
• Write a poem from the point of view of a werewolf.
• Write a poem about the three Fates who decide on the fate of a baby.
• Imagine that the world is slowly disappearing, and nobody can explain how. Offer a solution to the problem.
• You have the ability to foretell the future. You see a great tragedy on a large scale that is to happen in a month. What do you do to stop it? Can you really alter the future with your actions?

Tips for Writing Good Poetry

A few tips that you should follow to become good at writing poetry are as follows:

1. Read Good Poetry

To enhance your poetry writing skills, immerse yourself in the world of poetry. Approach it leisurely, allowing the words of treasured poems to resonate within you without delving too deeply into their significance.

Alternatively, engage in thoughtful analysis. Maybe explore the metaphorical depths of Robert Frost’s verses or meticulously examine the language and structure of William Shakespeare’s sonnets.

2. Attend Poetry Reading Sessions

Enjoying poetry doesn’t have to be about analyzing its technical parts like alliteration and metaphors. Instead, it can be a musical experience. Poetry slams, with their lively poems read aloud, offer a chance to appreciate the rhythm and sounds of poetry. Many bookstores and coffee shops host poetry readings, which provide both entertainment and lessons for aspiring writers.

When you listen to the sounds of well-crafted poems, you’ll discover the art behind their construction—the flow of syllables, repetition of sounds, unexpected rhymes, and skillful line breaks. Once you’ve witnessed the impact of poetry read aloud, you’ll have a new perspective on its beauty. It will help you develop better ideas for a poetry writing prompt.

3. Use Writing Prompts for Short Poems

Start with smaller poems, like haikus or simple rhymes, to ease into poetry writing. They’re less daunting than lengthy epics. Focus on quality over quantity while working on poetry writing prompts. A well-crafted free verse poem with a few lines can be more impressive than a sloppy epic with a complex meter.

4. Don’t Focus Too Much on the First Line

Don’t be discouraged if you can’t find the perfect opening line for your poem. Go to the second line and continue writing the whole poem. Return to the opening line later when you have more ideas. Remember, the first line is only a small part of the complete work. Don’t overemphasize its significance.

5. Make Use of Literary Devices

Poetry, similar to other writing genres, benefits greatly from the incorporation of literary devices. Enhance your poetry writing prompts by infusing it with metaphors, allegories, vivid imagery, and other literary techniques.

While it may be more straightforward for writers to employ these devices in less structured forms like free verse, doing so within traditional forms with strict rhyme and meter requirements presents a greater challenge.

6. Tell a Story

Writers can always tell a story through a poetry writing prompt. Ideas that can be conveyed in a novel, short story, or essay can also find expression in creative poetry writing prompts.

As with other forms of English writing projects, communication is essential in poetry. If you have a desire to share stories through your poetry prompt, pursue that inspiration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Check out the answers to some frequently asked questions:

1. Can a poetry writing prompt enhance creativity?

A poetry prompt can be a starting point for writers to explore new ideas and expressions. It can help you let your imagination run wild on the blank page and experiment with language.

2. How can I find inspiration for poetry writing?

You can seek inspiration from anything to write a poem. Use all your five senses to produce good content by following the prompts. Happy writing!

3. How should I start a catchy poem?

Think about the initial impression that you want to leave on your readers while crafting the opening line of your poem. But don’t think too much and start writing.

4. How can I write a good love poem?

Good writers often use their memories and past experiences to write a love poem. Decide on a form and pick your words carefully. Use different literary devices in the lines and always express yourself and the emotions you feel through the poem.

5. Can poems be very short?

You are not required to write a specific number of lines to call it a poem. You are free to write and decide the length of the poem.

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How to Write a Poem: A Step-by-Step Guide

Poetry is . . . song lyrics without the music? Writing that rhymes? A bunch of comparisons and abstract imagery that feels like a code for the reader to decipher?

The answer to all of the above is yes, but poetry encompasses much more. Poetry is a broad literary category that covers everything from bawdy limericks to unforgettable song lyrics to the sentimental couplets inside greeting cards. Poetry’s lack of rules can make it feel hard to define but is also what makes poetry enjoyable for so many to write. 

If you’ve ever wondered how to write a poem, read on. Writing poetry doesn’t have to be daunting—we’re going to demystify the process and walk you through it, one step at a time.  

Write confidently Grammarly helps you choose the perfect words Write with Grammarly

What is a poem?

A poem is a singular piece of poetry. 

Poems don’t have to rhyme; they don’t have to fit any specific format; and they don’t have to use any specific vocabulary or be about any specific topic. But here’s what they do have to do: use words artistically by employing figurative language . With a poem, the form is as important as the function—perhaps even more so.

In contrast, prose is writing that follows the standard sentence and paragraph structure. Prose, while it takes many different forms and tones, largely mimics human speech patterns. 

The purpose of a poem

Poetry expresses emotions and conveys ideas, but that’s not all it can do. Poets tell stories, teach lessons, and even communicate hidden messages through poetry. When you listen to music with lyrics, you’re listening to poetry. 

When you’re writing poetry, keep your goal in mind. Are you writing to evoke emotion? To perform your poem at an open mic night? To get a good grade on your assignment? Although there aren’t any hard and fast rules for writing poetry, there are some fundamental guidelines to keep in mind: 

• Show, don’t tell. The goal is to provoke an emotion in the reader.
• Less can be more. While it’s perfectly acceptable to write long, flowery verse, using simple, concise language is also powerful. Word choice and poem length are up to you. 
• It’s OK to break grammatical rules when doing so helps you express yourself.

Elements of poetry

The key elements that distinguish poetry from other kinds of literature include sound, rhythm, rhyme, and format. The first three of these are apparent when you hear poetry read aloud. The last is most obvious when you read poetry.

One thing poetry has in common with other kinds of literature is its use of literary devices. Poems, like other kinds of creative writing , often make use of allegories and other kinds of figurative language to communicate themes. 

In many cases, poetry is most impactful when it’s listened to rather than read. With this in mind, poets often create sound, whether to be pleasing, jarring, or simply highlight key phrases or images through words. Read this short poem “The Cold Wind Blows” by Kelly Roper aloud and listen to the sounds the letters and words make: 

Who knows why the cold wind blows

Or where it goes, or what it knows.

It only flows in passionate throes

Until it finally slows and settles in repose.

Do you hear the repeated “ose” sound and how it mimics the sound of wind gusts? Poets create sound in a variety of ways, like alliteration , assonance, and consonance. 

Poetry has rhythm. That’s what often makes it so attractive to set to music. 

A poem’s rhythmic structure is known as its meter . Meter refers to:

• The number of syllables in each line
• The stressed and unstressed syllables in each line 

These syllables are grouped together to form feet , units that make up a line of poetry. A foot is generally two or three syllables, and each combination of two or three stressed and unstressed syllables has a unique name. 

You probably recognize the term iambic pentameter from English class. It comes up a lot in high school English classes because Shakespeare wrote in it frequently, and Shakespeare is frequently read in high school English classes. An iamb is a two-syllable foot where the second syllable is stressed: duh-DUH. Pentameter means that each line in the poem has five feet or ten total syllables. 

Iambic pentameter is just one of the many kinds of rhythm a poem can have . Other types of feet include the trochee , two syllables where the first syllable is stressed (DUH-duh), and dactyl , three syllables where only the first is stressed (DUH-duh-duh). When a poem only has one foot per line, it’s in monometer; when there are two feet per line, it’s in dimeter; and so on. 

Stressed and unstressed syllables aren’t the only way you can create rhythm in your poetry. Another technique poets frequently embrace is repetition. Repetition underscores the words being repeated, which could be a phrase or a single word. In her poem “Still I Rise”, Maya Angelou repeats the phrase “I rise” with increasing frequency as the poem progresses, changing it from “I’ll rise” in the first stanzas to a repeated “I rise” toward the ending, to emphasize her unbreakable spirit:

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

With poetry, rhythm and rhyme go hand in hand. Both create musicality in the poem, making it pleasurable to recite and listen to. 

Rhymes can appear anywhere in a poem, not just at the ends of alternating lines. Take a look at all the places Lewis Carrol uses rhymes in this excerpt from “Jabberwocky”:

One, two! One, two! And through and through

      The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

He left it dead, and with its head

      He went galumphing back.

When you’re reading poetry, one of the first things you’ll likely notice is its formatting. Simply put, poems just aren’t formatted the same way as prose. Sentences end in weird places, there are blank lines between the different sections, one word might have a line all to itself, or the words might be arranged in a shape that makes a picture on the page. 

One of poetry’s defining characteristics is that it doesn’t adhere to the same formatting that prose does. You (most likely) won’t find sentences and paragraphs in poetry. Instead, you’ll find stanzas, lines, and line breaks. 

A stanza is the poetic equivalent of a paragraph. It’s a group of lines that (usually) adheres to a specific rhyme or rhythm pattern. For example, a quatrain is a four-line stanza in which the second and fourth lines rhyme. An isometric stanza is a stanza of any length where each line has the same meter. 

Literary devices

Literary devices aren’t limited to prose—many, perhaps even most, poems incorporate one or more literary devices. Literary devices commonly found in poetry include:

• Figurative language
• Juxtaposition
• Onomatopoeia
• Personification

Often, poets use literary devices in conjunction with other poetic elements. One famous example of a poem that layers multiple literary devices is Margaret Atwood’s “[you fit into me]”:

you fit into me

like a hook into an eye

a fish hook

an open eye

In the first stanza, Atwood uses a simile, a type of figurative language , to create an initially pleasant image: a hook and eye closure, a small metal hook that neatly fits into an appropriately sized metal loop to fasten clothing. Then the second stanza juxtaposes this with a jarring image: a fish hook plunged into an eyeball. These images together, formatted as two stark sections separated by a break, express the poem’s uncomfortable, visceral theme. 

Types of poetic forms

There are many different types of poems. Some have very strict style rules, while others are classified according to the topics they cover rather than their structure. When you’re writing poetry, keep the form you’re writing in mind as you brainstorm—with forms that involve rhyming or require a specific number of syllables, you’ll probably want to jot down a list of go-to words that fit into your chosen format before you start writing. 

A haiku is a three-line poem that always fits this format: The first and third lines contain five syllables and the second line contains seven syllables. 

A limerick is a five-line poem that follows a strict AABBA rhyme scheme. Though they often discuss humorous subjects, this isn’t a requirement—the only requirement is that it fits this precise rhyme pattern.  

A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem that was often used by Shakespeare and Petrarch. Although a sonnet’s exact rhyme scheme varies from poem to poem, each sonnet has some kind of consistent rhyme pattern.

Here’s a tip: Grammarly’s  Citation Generator  ensures your essays have flawless citations and no plagiarism. Try it for citing sonnets in Chicago , MLA , and APA styles.

Blank verse

Blank verse poetry is written in a specific meter that, as a rule, does not rhyme. Although this specific meter is often iambic pentameter, that isn’t a requirement for blank verse poetry—the only requirements are that it does not stray from its meter (whichever meter the poet chose) and that it doesn’t rhyme. 

With free verse, anything goes. When you read a poem that doesn’t appear to fit any specific format, you’re reading free verse poetry. 

An ode is a poem that celebrates a person, an event, or even an object. An ode uses vivid language to describe its subject. 

Elegies are poems that, like odes, pay tribute to specific subjects. However, rather than being purely celebratory, an elegy is generally a reflection on its subject’s death and includes themes of mourning and loss. 

How to write a poem

Writing a poem isn’t the same as writing a short story , an essay, an email, or any other type of writing. While each of these other kinds of writing requires a unique approach, they all have one thing in common: they’re prose. 

Poetry isn’t prose, as we explained above. And that’s what makes it feel like the wildcard of creative writing. 

With poetry, going through the standard writing process can feel like a creativity killer. That doesn’t mean you should just sit down, scrawl out a poem, and call it a day. On the contrary, when you’re writing poetry, you might find that skipping one or more stages in the traditional writing process will help you be more creative. 

Of course, you might also find that following the writing process helps you explore and organize your thoughts before you start to write. The usefulness of starting with brainstorming, then moving onto outlining, then starting to write only once you’ve got an outline varies from poet to poet and even poem to poem. Sometimes, inspiration strikes and the words just start flowing out of your mind and onto the page. 

Here are a few tips to help you get started and write your next poem:

1 Decide what you want to write about

Unless you’ve been assigned to write a poem about a specific topic, the first step in writing a poem is determining a topic to write about. Look for inspiration around you, perhaps in nature, your community, current events, or the people in your life. Take notes on how different things make you feel and what they drive you to think about. 

Freewriting can be a helpful exercise when you’re searching for the perfect topic to write a poem about. You can use a writing prompt as a jumping-off point for your freewriting or just jot down a word (or a few) and see where your mind guides your pen, stream-of-consciousness style. 

Once you have a topic and a theme in mind, the next step is to determine which kind of poem is the best way to express it. 

2 Determine the best format for your topic

Your poem doesn’t have to adhere to any specific format, but choosing a format and sticking to it might be the way to go. By opting to write in a particular format, like a sonnet or a limerick, for example, you constrain your writing and force yourself to find a way to creatively express your theme while fitting that format’s constraints. 

3 Explore words, rhymes, and rhythm

If you’ve decided to write your poem in a specific format, read other poems in that format to give yourself a template to follow. A specific rhythm or rhyme scheme can highlight themes and clever wordplay in your poem. For example, you might determine that a limerick is the most effective way to make your readers laugh at your satirical poem because the format feels like it has a built-in punchline. 

4 Write the poem

Now it’s time to write! Whether you opt for using a pen and paper, typing on a laptop, or tapping on your phone, give yourself some uninterrupted time to focus on writing the poem. 

Don’t expect to write something perfect on the first try. Instead, focus on getting your words out. Even if your lines don’t rhyme perfectly or you’ve got too many or too few syllables to fit the format you chose, write what’s on your mind. The theme your words are expressing is more important than the specific words themselves, and you can always revise your poem later. 

5 Edit what you’ve written

Once you have a draft, the next step is to edit your poem. You don’t have to jump right from writing to editing—in fact, it’s better if you don’t. Give yourself a break. Then in a day or two, come back to your poem with a critical eye. By that, we mean read it again, taking note of any spots where you can replace a word with a stronger one, tighten your rhythm, make your imagery more vivid, or even remove words or stanzas that aren’t adding anything to the poem. When you do this, you might realize that the poem would work better in another form or that your poem would be stronger if it rhymed . . . or if it didn’t. 

Reading your poem aloud can help you edit it more effectively because when you listen to it, you’ll hear the poem’s rhythm and quickly notice any spots where the rhythm doesn’t quite work. This can help you move words around or even completely restructure the poem. 

If you’re comfortable sharing your poetry with others, have somebody else read your poem and give you feedback on ways you can improve it. You might even want to join a writing group, online or off, where you can workshop your poetry with other writers. Often, other people can spot strengths and weaknesses in your work that you might not have noticed because your perspective is too close to the poem. A more distanced perspective, as well as perspectives from readers and writers of different backgrounds, can offer up ways to make your writing stronger that you hadn’t considered before. 

Give your writing extra spark

When you’re writing poetry, you’re allowed to break the rules. In fact, you’re encouraged to break the rules. Breaking the rules artistically is one of the key differences between writing poetry and writing prose. 

But making mistakes isn’t the same as breaking the rules. Mistakes in your poetry, like misspelled words and incorrect punctuation, can distract readers from what you’re communicating through your words. That’s where Grammarly comes in. Grammarly catches any mistakes or tone inconsistencies in your work and suggests ways you can make your writing stronger. The outcome: writing with confidence and getting better at breaking the rules on purpose.

Browse Course Material

Course info.

• Prof. Mary Fuller

Departments

As taught in.

• American Literature

Learning Resource Types

Reading poetry, assignments, session 1: recognizing patterns.

• Pound, Ezra. “ In a Station of the Metro .” In Personae . New Directions, 1990. ISBN: 9780811211383.

Write up a roughly 300 word introduction of yourself especially as in terms of your relationship with poetry. What is your background: prior knowledge, authors or works you like, don’t like or are curious about, good and bad experiences, things you’d like to learn or talk about in the class, things you know from other disciplines (linguistics!) that might be useful.

Session 2: Making Poetry in English

Print out the readings, mark them up, and bring with you to class next week. The assignment below gives questions to think about as you read the poems.

Assignment: Prose to Poetry

Session 3: From Evidence to Analysis

• William Shakespeare, “ Sonnet 116 .” Poetry Foundation.
•  Vendler, Helen. The Art of Shakespeare’s Sonnets . Harvard University Press, 1999, pp. 113-115. ISBN: 9780674637122. [Preview with Google Books .]

Read the sonnet (multiple times) and Vendler’s analysis. Come with questions.

Assignment : Informal Essay I

Session 4: Etymologies and Rhythms

Make a copy of the readings, mark them up, and bring with you to class next week. In the process, please glance at the poets’ bios and make a note of where and when they lived and any key facts—just the basics!

Assignment: Poetry Analysis I

Assignment: Etymologies and Rhythms

Session 5: Language as System(s)

• Dizikes, Peter. “ From Contemporary Syntax to Human Language’s Deep Origins .” MIT News Office . June 11, 2014.
• Dizikes, Peter. “ The Writing on the Wall .” MIT News Office . February 21, 2018.
• Sun, Jessica. “ Where Did Language Come From? ” Feb. 4, 2018. YouTube.
• Miyagawa, Shigeru, Robert Berwick, and Kazou Okanoya. “ Emergence of Structure .” Frontiers Research Foundation, 2013.

Read enough to get an idea about Miyagawa’s two major research projects.

Come up with questions to ask Miyagawa in class about:

• The research (points of clarification, but also why these projects, how did they come about, how are they finding evidence—anything is fair game).
• Language in general, from a linguist’s point of view (How do you make a sentence out of words? What is a sentence? How do we know where to put stress on words or syllables? Etc.).
• Issues with translation between languages. How different are human languages from each other, anyway?

Session 6: The Shape of Sentences and the Shape of Information

We’re going from words to sentences and looking at some more cool poems. Take a look at the class notes for session 6 (PDF - 1.2MB) .

Assignment: The Shape of Sentences

Assignment : Informal Essay II

Session 7: Reading Line Breaks

• Wordsworth, William. “ A Slumber did my Spirit Seal .” Poetry Foundation.
• Brooks, Gwendolyn. “ We Real Cool .” In The Bean Eaters . Literary Licensing, 2012. ISBN: 9781259274481. 
• Williams, William Carlos. “ The Red Wheelbarrow .” In The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams: Volume I, 1909-1939 . New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1991. ISBN: 9780811211871. 
• Williams, William Carlos. “ Poem (“As the Cat”) .” Poetry . July, 1930.
• Schussler, Jennifer. “ The Forgotten Man Behind William Carlos William’s ‘Red Wheelbarrow’. ” New York Times . July 6, 2015.
• Eliot, T.S. “ The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock .” In Collected Poems 1909-1962 Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991. ISBN: 9780151189786.
•  Eliot, T.S. “ Reflections on Vers Libre .” In Selected Prose of T.S. Eliot Edited by Frank Kermose. Harvest Books, 1975. ISBN: 9780156806541. 

This week, the poems are mostly short and very spare, so that we can really bear down on the phenomenon of what it does to end a line (but not a sentence). Consider this: line breaks affect the rate at which information is delivered. Sometimes (as in the Wordsworth poem) they seem to contain their own information.

There is also some brief prose reading.

• Eliot’s comments will help you think about how to describe rhythm in poems that are not uniformly metrical, and you should find it useful to hear how a practitioner thinks about it. 
• Since you’ll be meeting Tyehimba Jess, let’s start hearing what he has to say.
• Williams’ poems are about as stripped down as Ezra Pound’s “In a Station of the Metro,” so it’s interesting to read an article that fills in what he was seeing and gives us some context. What can we do with the information?

Session 8: Fixed Forms, Rhymed and Otherwise

This week’s poems are fixed forms : forms with tight constraints on variables like number of lines, meter, line-length, rhyme, or line ending words. First, sonnets: by three sixteenth century authors participating in the vogue of writing long sequences of sonnets devoted to (mostly) unrequited love, and then by four twentieth century authors who use the form to different ends. Second, villanelles: another poem by Bishop, and one by Martha Collins (a wonderful poet who lives hear Harvard Square). Finally, a poem that invents a new form, initially as a tribute to Brooks and now used by other writers. Hayes has a weekly column in the NYT Magazine featuring a poem by someone else that he likes with a few sentences about why; if this tickles your fancy, check it out.

Assignment: Poetry Analysis II

Assignment: Sonnets and Rhythm

Assignment : Informal Essay III

Session 9: New Work in Computer-Generated Poetry

•  Montfort, Nick.  Truelist.  Counterpath, 2017. ISBN: 9781933996639.

Rather than ask that they read particular section or sections of The Truelist, I’d like to have each person in the class engage with several aspects of the project:

• The printed book (they don’t have to buy it, but read some from it, see the material artifact).
• The program that generated the book-length poem .
• My complete studio recording of the book .

If people want to read it all, of course, or read a few sections, that’s great.

Session 10: Sound Patterns and Sense

Take a look at the class notes for session 10 (PDF - 1.3MB) .

You know most of the drill (poems, poets, annotate). In a previous session, we looked at poems characterized by end-rhymes organized in predictable patterns. Today, we’re going to broaden the optic on repeated sounds. I would like you to look hard at either assonance and consonance (repeated vowel or consonant sounds) in the sonnet, or track the pattern of rhyming sounds especially but not exclusively at the end of lines in Herbert. It might be useful to know that Herbert was a clergyman (that is, he would have worn a collar, which becomes a sign of both the religious vocation and its demands for certain kinds of personal sacrifices). “Collar” is also a homonym of (sounds identical to) “choler,” an older word for “anger,” and this other word invoked by sound is also relevant.

Andrew Marvell was a contemporary of Milton’s; this short poem is among a number by this poet written in the persona of a mower (that is, a laborer who cut grass)—for reasons again having to do with poetic traditions of writing in the voice of “simple people” who worked with the natural world. Sylvia Plath is the only 20th poet in the reading. Coincidentally, the New York Times published an obituary for her today, part of a project to redress important and systemic omissions in their record. The bio on Poetry Foundation is probably more relevant for us, but here is the extended NYT piece if it interests you. 

Assignment: Poetry Analysis III

Session 11: Reading a Difficult Poem (1)

Assignment: Difficult Poem (Group Project and Presentation)

Assignment : Essay Revision

Session 12: Reading a Difficult Poem (2)

Some takeaways from our discussion of “The Waste Land,” parts 1-3:

The poem links together myth and its own historical moment.

Myth: the Arthurian legend of the Fisher King—guardian of the Holy Grail, wounded and impotent because of a transgression at his court. While the king is wounded, the kingdom is infertile—they are waiting for rescue.

History: the moment is Europe after World War I—recovering not only from the material shocks and losses of a massive war, but the sense that an earlier political and social order was revealed to be bankrupt. No sense of agency for “fixing” the predicament, prospects for renewal not yet evident. Passion is dead, prophecy fraudulent, the living are almost dead, and the reader is also implicated in this situation.

At both high and low levels of society, relations between men and women have been thrown into crisis. In “Game of Chess,” no way out of a room that is stifling and artificial. Traumatized man is unable to use his voice, woman speaks only in imperatives, conversation is repetitive and seems to go nowhere. In the pub, a sense of being trapped, silenced, used up, abandoned. Loss of generative connections between human beings; a toxic environment.

This world is devoid of new meanings, and relies on scavenging scraps from the past. Conventional poetic forms highlight how much the present has declined from the past. Every rule violation is possible, but none are shocking—all is desensitized. Human behavior becomes mechanical while machines take on a threatening agency; language decays almost to the point of meaninglessness. Can the scavenged scraps be used to form a picture? Is there the possibility of a new design?

Assignment : Difficult Poem (Report on “The Waste Land”)

Session 13: How Do Metaphors Work?

We’ll be exploring the territory opened up by (for instance) the “if there were water” passage in Eliot’s “The Waste Land”: imaginative, counterfactual, and figurative language, aka, everything that is not being directly observed or declared to be so, aka, what’s in the poem that would not be in a photograph.

Assignment : Metaphors

Session 14: Guest Lecture: Tyehimba Jess

•  Jess, Tyehimba.  Olio . Wave Books, 2016. pp. 12-29. ISBN: 9781940696201.

DuBois, W.E.B. “ Of Spiritual Strivings of the Negro People .” Chapter 1, of Souls of Black Folk .  CreateSpace, 2017. ISBN: 9781505223378.

A few weeks ago, we looked briefly at a corona of sonnets from Olio, written in the voice of the Fiske Jubilee Singers. These are distributed throughout the book, and they serve as punctuation between its sections. Each of these sonnets appears on a page with banners above and below listing the names of black churches where violence occurred, with a date.

Now we’ll read two extended sections from Olio, each centered on the historical figure of a particular musician: Thomas Wiggins, a blind pianist who performed while in slavery, and Sissieretta Jones, a soprano whose career took off in the early twentieth century. (Both are in Olio’s character list, and you can discover more at BlackPast .) As you may suspect from reading these two sections as well as the “Double Shovel,” each section of the book does something a little (or a lot) different with form, even while following the career of a historical person.

You’ll see poems in two voices, poems connected to each other by first and last lines, sonnets, free verse, transcripts of archival documents, and prose poems (that may not be an exhaustive list!). But Olio has some unifying interests across this virtuoso display of formal mastery. One is the set of ideas linking masking, persona, double-consciousness, double voices that you’ve seen in “Double Shovel” (and will also see in the two sections for today). Another is the set of ideas associated with freedom and constraint or bondage, as historical facts, artistic choices, imaginative experiences. Like many poets before him, Jess is interested in the conditions of making art, something that never happens in a vacuum. Music—the literal subject of this book—has since ancient times been a metonymy for poetry. So we are reading both a poetic documentary about history and a meditation on how to have, find, and use an authentic voice. Let’s use this class to identify some questions to ask the poet on Friday.

Session 15: How Does Allusion Work? (History)

Assignment: Poetry Analysis IV

Session 16: Guest Lecture: Charles Shadle

• Shadle, Charles. “ Six Dickinson Songs (PDF - 2.3MB) .” Courtesy of Charles Shadle. Used with permission.

Charles Shadle is a prolific and talented American composer who teaches advanced music theory and composition at MIT; he’ll be talking about six short poems by the 19th c. poet Emily Dickinson—a contemporary of Walt Whitman’s (and of the Civil War)—which he scored for soprano and clarinet. Interpretation of poetry takes many forms, and this is one of them—which will focus us quite a bit on sound and on hearing/voicing as interpretation, as well as on ideas about choice of texts and how the composer (and performers) understand them.

Dickinson’s poems may remind you, in some ways, of Shakespeare’s sonnets: they are at the same time general, private, and elliptical—that is, they are focused closer to the level of the self than the level of public or civic discourse, and largely work with vivid figures rather than objective description. At the level of form, they are radically innovative in ways it took decades for audiences to come to terms with, experimenting with syntax, rhyme, and punctuation; at the level of material production, Dickinson worked almost exclusively in manuscript, allowing her to create her own forms of punctuation, provide alternative versions of a line in a single final draft version, and to exert complete control over the appearance, order—and readership—of her work. The paper booklets considered as Dickinson’s final versions are held at Harvard’s Houghton Library. (The 18th century poet William Blake makes for an interesting comparison: Blake’s radical political and artistic vision led him to self-publish books that integrated text and visual art, each hand-colored by the poet).

Session 17: Guest Lecture: Kimberly Brown

•  Clifton, Lucille.  The Book of Light . Copper Canyon Press, 1992. pp. 11-13, 44-47. ISBN: 9781556590528.

Emily Dickinson lived in Amherst, MA, and attended the precursor of Mt. Holyoke. Our guest speaker, Kimberly Brown, is a professor of English and Africana Studies at Mt. Holyoke, as well as an MLK Fellow in Literature and WGS at MIT. Lucille Clifton (1936-2010) is her favorite poet. The NYT review of Clifton’s collected works comments that “[h]er verse was spare, plainspoken and shorn of rhyme, so much so that when she placed the words “salt” and “fault” together in one poem in the late 1980s, she was moved to warn readers of this potential speed bump by titling it “Poem With Rhyme in It.” Those qualities may have led one anonymous reader on Amazon to comment that she was “our modern-day Emily Dickinson.”

Session 18: Guest Lecture: Martha Collins, Translating Poetry

• Collins, Marth and Kevin Prufer, eds. Into English: Poems, Translations, Commentaries. Graywolf Press, 2017. pp. 71–75, 163–167. ISBN: 9781555877824. 

Assignment: Analytic Essay

Sessions 19–23: Student Presentations 

Assignment : Final Presentation Report

Analytic Essay

Your best work for this class has combined close observation of evidence with a coherent narrative about how the poem works and produces meaning; anyone could read such an essay and feel they have heard new layers of meaning that give the work more resonance and make experiencing it more satisfying and engaging. That’s really how to think about the work of writing about poetry: be a welcoming and trustworthy guide to other readers.

This essay focuses on one of the poems we’ve read this month—your choice—with one additional element.

For essays on either flavor of this assignment, please provide a title that is not the title of the poem, but gives some idea of your interpretation, the questions you address, or what you find most interesting about the work.

The essay should be 4 pages (roughly 1000 words).

A: Frost, “Birches”; Hughes, “Harlem”; Cohen, “Lit”; Pardlo, “Double Dutch”; Jess, work from “Olio”; Trethewey, “Incident.”

For essays about the poems in A, I’d like you to incorporate something that the poet has said about poetry in general, or his or her work in particular, that seems useful or relevant to you in understanding the poem. If you’re working on Olio, you may have notes of your own. For the other poets, try these resources:

• Frost, Robert. “Comment on Birches.” [preview with Google Books ]
• “ Education by Poetry ,” Amherst Alumni Council address, November 15, 29.
• On music, style and dreams deferred .
• “ Breaking Bubbles .”
• “ Cave Canems 20th Anniversary ,” a background on an organization that formed a “home for black poetry.”
• On syncopated sonnets at TedXNashville.
• “ The Language is Constructing our Ideas More Than We are Deploying the Language ”, an interview with Gregory Pardlo in which he talks about improvisation vs. form, April, 2017.
• Interview with Gregory Pardlo, July 10, 2015; Pardlo talks about the role of conventions and talks about the idea of the “difficult” poem.
• More interviews on Pardlo’s website .
• “ Contributer Interview: Andrea Cohen (2011) ,” Cohen on humor, influences, diction, and more.
• “ Poetry Breaks: What Poetry Is .”
• “ Poetry Breaks: Where Ideas Come From .”
• A 2007 interview with Mosaic .
• On metaphorical language and more.
• On geography and the American South .
• On the “ruthlesseness” of viewing the world as a poet , as well as the role of photography.
• On photography and more .
• On repetition and the layering of images .

B: Lowell, “For the Union Dead”; Pardlo, “For Which It Stands.”

For essays about the two poems above, I’d like you to incorporate information about a couple of the poem’s important allusions (condensed references to external places, events, texts, and so on), for which a more complete understanding of something briefly referenced in the poem expands our understanding of what it says. This is one of the only times I will encourage you to use Google, at least as a place to start!

Read T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land.” We have linked to a hypertext edition of the text that comes with notes.

Eliot, T.S. The Waste Land . W.W. Norton & Company, 2000. ISBN: 9780393974997.

Group Project and Essay

The assignment for each group will be to take one assigned section of the poem, identify some passages that seem of particular interest or importance, and prepare to lead a discussion centered on those passages for 20–30 minutes of next class. We will look together at the last two sections of the poem and each group should be prepared to make an argument (claims backed up by evidence, perhaps related to the sections you worked on) about how these concluding sections should be understood.

Begin by reading the whole poem, preferably without stopping to look anything up, maybe even out loud—just hear it. If anything strikes you, highlight it as something to come back to. Look up the things you need to look up or check on the second or third reading. (And notice that some of the footnotes in the annotated version will be Eliot’s own.)

I would suggest that each group member pick a passage that interests you (say, 10–20 lines, more if you want, but not much more). Share with your group, comment on each other’s passages—questions, thoughts, votes—and try to converge around the passages you would like to bring into class. Whatever your process, you should memorize at least five lines from your section of the poem.

Come into class prepared to talk about your ideas, raise questions, and lead a discussion. Use (or don’t use!) any kinds of presentation tools you think will be helpful, but that shouldn’t be the point of the exercise. This is your time, and your chance at working together with the tools we’ve developed and your own analytic skills on a famously difficult and memorable and compelling poem. It’s not necessary to explain or claim to understand everything about “The Waste Land.” Sometimes simply describing an opaque passage can prove very helpful; ditto asking the kinds of questions about syntax, lexical levels, sound, rhythm, and other irregularities and irregularities that we’ve been talking about over the last few weeks. These are areas where I’m very confident you can come up with some truly interesting and original insights; the same is not true for the poets’ biography or historical context. (Sorry, but that kind of work has its own challenges and it’s not what we’re setting up to do at this moment).

Finally, keep your notes as the basis for a five page essay to be worked up in the future (and after an expansion and revision of one of your three short papers).

Report on “The Waste Land”

This paper should have two parts (which don’t have to be rhetorically unified—just draw a line!): 1–1.5 pp. report of process of your presentations (how your group approached working on the poem, what you yourself did and tried to do with the poem, anything you might do differently); 3.5–5 pp. on your findings. (The essay as a whole should be roughly 5 pages or 1300–1700 words).

The second part of the paper should look more like the revision you just completed than like the short reports. How does your section of the poem work (give an overview), and what kinds of conclusions can you how reach about it? With those insights in hand, what kinds of larger observations, questions, or arguments are you led to about the poem more broadly? It’s appropriate to register your level of certainty or uncertainty about any conclusions; and as always, to credit others in your group or the class (etc.) whose ideas helped advance your thinking, as well as to footnote outside sources.

General quality control: when you are writing about a piece of literature, imagine that what you writing should make sense to someone who has also read the poem but does not have the text in front of them. So you will need to quote text that you want the reader to think about or notice things about, and you should also give enough context that the reader can place the quotation—both locally (what’s happening, who’s speaking, etc.) and more generally (where are we in the section—early, late, in a long para, a single line fragment—etc.). Best practice is usually to quote a phrase rather than isolated words (esp. words of different kinds), and make sure the grammar of that phrase is clear.

Here I’m quoting an entire line, but in a way that’s unclear and confusing because the syntax is incomplete—and context is missing:

     “In section 1, it says ‘My cousin’s, he took me out on a sled.’”

This would be better:

     “Early in section 1, a cosmopolitan aristocrat named ‘Marie’ recalls a visit to ’the archduke’s, my cousin’s’ house, when ‘he took me out on a sled, and I was frightened.’”

I’m adding in the next line, about her reaction, because it begins to suggest the emotional tone of the memory and thus why it is significant to the character and thus the poem.

Take one of your three short papers, on the formal patterns and other objective features of the poem your chose, and shape it into a more formal, 1500 word essay.

A good literature essay asks, and attempts to answer, some interesting questions about the text, and does so using ample textual evidence. Textual evidence is the term of art for the kinds of observations we’ve been making over the last several weeks about our poems: what the poem says and doesn’t say, its patterns of sound, rhythm, and syntax (along with the way these may or may not synchronize with each other), lineation, word choice and lexical levels, verb forms, things that are made present vs. things whose ideas are invoked by figurative language, and so on. Now you get to think about what it all means, what it adds up to, for what kinds of conclusions can it serve as evidence, how it might be useful in talking about a “big picture” view of the poem. From the other direction, you could think of your job as framing an interesting question about the poem for which the evidence you have helps to provide an answer. I think of this process as making a mosaic—finding a way to place the different pieces I have such that the outline of something can emerge.

Now that I’ve said “outline,” a few words about structure. I would highly recommend two practices: outline your draft as you go, and be willing to reconsider, if necessary, the sequence in which you make your points. The first will help in doing the second, and is also good practice for disciplines in which “reading an article” really means, scanning the section headings.

As you work, continue to pay close attention to what the poem says, both directly and by inference. Please stay away from generalizations (“throughout history, human beings have…,” “Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers in English”), from information I can find for myself on Wikipedia, and from subjective observations that can’t be solidly linked to evidence in the poem. Consider, if only provisionally, the hypothesis that poets say exactly what they mean to say, rather than trying to say something obscurely in verse that might be said more clearly and effectively in prose. (Prose may shape our reading habits, and create certain kinds of expectations that might lead us to feel that way). It’s always worth trying to paraphrase especially difficult or mystifying sections, as a discovery exercise.

In going from “report” to “essay,” you should cut back on the first person and on narrative about your own process (of course, you can walk the reader through a process of coming to understand the poem but you should know where it’s heading). So for instance, a report might very legitimately have content like this: “I don’t see a rhyme scheme… Actually, now I can see the poem does have one.” In the essay, you’d want to do something like this: “the poem’s regular rhyme is subtle enough that we may not hear it at first.” Also be prepared to prune evidence observed in version one that ends up not being critical to the analysis (e.g., “like other sonnets, this one is written in iambic pentameter.”)

A quick word on introductions and conclusions: the job of the conclusion is to step back, review the questions, the evidence, and the argument, and say, “what do I now know? How confident am I? And what do I not know?” The introduction should be the last thing you write. It should be written from the perspective of already knowing everything the essay will say, which is simply not possible until you have said it. It can do some basic orientation about what the poem is and is about, very briefly; and it should set up for the reader the kind of direction you’re going to take in the essay. Without giving away your most interesting conclusions, make the reader curious about what they will be.

 Steele, Timothy. All the Fun’s in How You Say a Thing: An Explanation of Meter & Versification. Ohio University Press, 1999. pp. 1–51.  ISBN: 9780821412602.

Reading Exercises

• Steele alludes a couple of times in the introduction to how the English language has changed over time, and we’ll talk this week about a few relevant consequences. Basic fact—an earlier Germanic language (Old English, aka Anglo-Saxon) got mashed up with French at the time of the Norman conquest, 1066. By the 1300s these had merged into a new language—Middle English—by time of Shakespeare in 1500s, things had settled down into modern English. Why do we care? Because the two largest sources of English words, Old English and French/Latin, provide us with words that sound different, have different rhythms, and just feel different even when they mean the same things. If you want to pin down the particular sound or tone of a given poem, looking at the sources of its words gives you something objective to go on.
• Beowulf opening lines in Old English | Beowulf text
• Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf text | Seamus Heaney reading Beowulf | Intro to Beowulf (read part 2)
• Chaucer’s Prologue to the Canterbury Tales read aloud | General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, Lines 1-18  
• To build on our conversation about meter, you have “meter exercises” that will ask you to make two lists and write two sentences in different metrical patterns with the components suggested. Meter Exercises (PDF)

Final Presentation Report

Your final essay, like the previous “report on a difficult poem” assignment, should be based on your work for the group presentation, and has three elements. You can separate them with lines, or try to integrate; probably 1 should be the longest, then 2, then 3.

1. Analysis

You’ve had some experience now with writing detailed observations and analysis of texts, and I’ll expect these to play some role in your report. This report is also an opportunity to incorporate insights developed in class into a more organized form of argument, or to be more expansive about things you didn’t have the chance to talk about in the presentation. It is up to you how you balance between overview (“Dylan as an artist”) and close analysis of text (“the closing lines of OCD”); but think carefully about the most compelling mix, and make sure that your claims and observations about the specifics of the works you discuss are carefully linked to lines/moments that can serve as evidence and give some precision and focus to what you say. (Quote the text; reference video clips with minute:second; make sure to provide the particular AV material you’re referencing). Put the reading, question-asking, and synthesizing skills you developed to work on this material that you picked out.

2. So what?

This time, you don’t need to offer an account of the group’s process, although feel free to add any observations that occur in the context of talking about the material; what I’d like to ask instead is that you give a sense of why this group of works attracted your group’s attention, and merited the attention of the class. I’m not asking for a defense of aesthetic value (“these poems are as good as Shakespeare’s/ should be on the syllabus of every literature class/etc.”) but rather for your take on what we learn about when we learn about this work.

3. Your work.

You’ll have a chance in subject evaluations to rate the class and say (anonymously) what did and didn’t work—this feedback is almost always useful, and always read, at least by me. Here, though, let’s get celebratory: what would you give yourself credit for learning over the course of this semester? What was the thing you understood that you would be most excited to teach or pass on to someone else?

5–6 pp., 1500–1800 words.

There are three informal essays due throughout the term. They should be 3 pages. See the calendar for details on dates.

Here’s what I’m looking for in the short paper. In these first few weeks of the class, we’re focusing on various objective features of poems:

• patterns of rhythm
• patterns of sound
• patterns of syntax (the grammar of sentences)
• kinds of words
• kinds of images
• kinds of lines

Ultimately, this kind of examination of the poem as a formally shaped linguistic artifact underpins larger understandings of what it says, what it does, and the aesthetic or emotional effects it produces. But right now, I want you to stay in information-gathering mode.

Pick one of the poems that we will have read by the due date of this paper, and record everything you are able to observe about the poem—from class discussion and your own examination. It’s fine to have intuitions and responses, and good to record them, even to transform them into questions (“there is something strange about this line—what makes it stand out?”). But try not to have a thesis—as Bunk says on “The Wire,” have “soft eyes.” Detail and precise description are more important.

Obviously, this is not a formal essay; think of it as a combination of a blog and a lab report. You’re writing up the results of questions you have asked about the poem. You’ll need to make sure that you have a way to describe clearly and precisely what you’re observing, and you’ll need to find some kind of shape for what you write. (For instance, a sequence of questions that you’ve asked). A final sentence or paragraph detailing the 3–5 most interesting things you noticed would be a plus, but since you aren’t making an argument, you won’t need a conclusion!

Frost, Robert. “ Birches .” In The Poetry of Rober Frost . Henry Holt and Co., 1979. ISBN: 9780805005028.

Hughes, Langston. “ Harlem .” In Selected Poems of Langston Hughes . Vintage Classics, 1990. ISBN: 9780679728184.

Pardlo, Gregory. “ Double Dutch .” In Totem . The American Poetry Review, 2007. ISBN: 9780977639533.

Cohen, Andrea. “ Lit .” The New Yorker. February 16, 2015.

Dunbar, Paul “ We Wear the Mask .” In The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar . Dodd, CreateSpace, 2017. ISBN: 9781475157574.

 Jess, Tyehimba. “Booker-Washington Double Shovel.” In  Olio . Wave Books, 2016. ISBN: 9781940696201.

• The two parts of metaphor are generally designated as tenor , or thing meant (“I”), and vehicle , or thing identified with (“the walrus”).
• Langston Hughes’ poem (not unlike Shakespeare’s “Shall I compare thee…”) considers a series of different similes for understanding of how a temporal process will unfold: think about what each one offers and the domains from which the vehicles of these comparisons are drawn. (These are both tight, short poems that are also worth thinking about in light of many of the formal questions we’ve been exploring—but I’ll focus on their figures of speech).
• To notice in Pardlo’s poem: domains from which comparisons are drawn (and what do these tell us about the object described); when he uses simile, and when metaphor (mark these up on your copy!).
• To notice in Frost’s poem: all this and when the poem shifts from describing something observed to describing something not observed, but imagined.
• Finally, Jess’s poem builds on Dunbar’s metaphor of wearing a mask as a way of talking about double consciousness (and this idea of doubleness is important in his book as a whole). There is more complexity in this poem and its multiple versions than I find easy to talk about here, but let’s at least begin exploring.

Bishop, Elizabeth “ At the Fishhouses .” In  The Complete Poems, 1927-1979. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1983. ISBN: 978037451872.

Heaney, Seamus. “ Digging .” In Death of a Naturalist . Faber and Faber, 2006. ISBN: 9780571230872.

Moore, Marianne. “ The Fish .” Poets.org.

Things to mark up/questions to ask when you read a poem:

• Are there regularities in line length?
• What controls or motivates the end of a line?
• If yes, are there places of important variation in pattern or emphasis?
• Are units of meaning (phrases and sentences) aligned with units of meter, so lines end with punctuation—or not?
• Are there places that stand out as different?
• What places and times exist in the poem?
• Where? “offstage”, near/far in Frost.
• When: remembered past, Yeats; past + ongoing present, Whitman.
• Who is speaking? Pronouns: I, we, they.
• Are there key terms (“home”) being evaluated and/or vocabularies of words grouped under related concepts (worth and value)?

These are questions to ask about a poem: if they seem boring/trivial OR too hard/confusing to answer, they might not be the most revealing questions about a given poem. But all are worth trying!

Shakespeare, William. “ Sonnet 18 ”, “ Sonnet 60 ”, “ Sonnet 65 .” Poetry Foundation.

Spenser, Edmund. “ Amoretti LXXV ”, “ Amoretti LXXXI .” Poetry Foundation.

Sidney, Philip. “ Astrophil and Stella 1 ”, “ Astrophil and Stella 31 .” Poetry Foundation.

Larkin, Philip. “ Sad Steps .” In Collected Poems . Farrar, Straus and Grioux, 2004. ISBN: 9780374529208.

Brooks, Gwendolyn. “ my dreams, my works, must wait till after hell .” In Selected Poems . Harper & Row, 1963. ISBN: 9780060909895.

Brooks, Gwendolyn. “ the rites for Cousin Vit .” In The Norton Anthology of Poetry Fifth Edition . W.W. Norton and Company, 2005. ISBN: 9780393979206.

Johnson, James. “ Lift Every Voice and Sing .” In Complete Poems . Penguin Classics, 2000. ISBN: 9780374518172.

Bishop, Elizabeth. “ One Art .” In The Complete Poems 1926-1979 . Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1983. ISBN: 9780374518172.

Collins, Martha. “ The Story We Know .”  Poetry . December, 1980.

Hayes, Terence. “ The Golden Shovel .” In Lighthead . Penguin Books, 2010. ISBN: 9780143116967.

Things to mark up/questions to ask when you read a poem (a running list):

This is an expansion of the questions in the first poetry analysis.

• Are there repetitions, exact (“cold dark deep and absolutely clear”) or with variation (“the squat pen rests [, snug as a gun.][. I’ll dig with it]”)? Pay attention to them!
• If the lines aren’t all the same number of syllables (aka, in a regular meter), does variation in line length correlate to anything in the poem?
• If there is (as in Moore, “The Fish,” e.g.), how do topics (and sometimes sentences) get distributed in and across stanzas?
• Think also about repeated patterns of syntax as contributing to rhythm (e.g., 3x “Adjective was the noun I verbed,” in Dunbar), and notice where these patterns of syntax change (as in the last line of that poem).
• Are there places that stand out as different, as in, the only end-stopped line or enjambment or caesuras?
• Or does the general “habit” of the poem (e.g., to end each line with punctuation) change at some point?
• Does the verb tense or mood shift (e.g. from past to present, from declarative—“I saw”—to conditional—“I would have seen”)?
• Where: “offstage”, near/far in Frost.
• Who is speaking and being spoken to or about? Pronouns: I, we, they, you (who?), one (so formal and impersonal!).

Questions to ask about a poem: if they seem boring/trivial OR too hard/confusing to answer, they might not be the most revealing questions about a given poem. But all are worth trying!

Punctuation Examples

[1] Cold dark deep and absolutely clear,

[2] element bearable to no mortal,

[3] to fish and to seals . . . One seal particularly

[4] I have seen here evening after evening.

Lines 1, 2, and 4 are end-stopped : they conclude with punctuation. Line 3 has a midline pause (any kind of punctuation): that’s a caesura . The sentence that begins after “…” continues across the line ending with no pause: that’s enjambment .

Shakespeare, William. “ Sonnet 12 .” Poetry Foundation.

Herbert, George. “ The Collar .” Poetry Foundation.

Stevens, Wallace. “ Poetry is a Destructive Force .” In The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens . Vintage, 2015.

Marvell, Andrew. “ The Mower to the Glow-worms .” Poetry Foundation.

Plath, Sylvia. “ Daddy ” and “ Morning Song .” In Collected Poems . Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2018.

This is a continuation of the previous two poetry analysis pages.

• Mise-en-scene: what does the writer make visibly present in the scene(s) of the poem? If you were to draw the poem, what would or could be shown in that drawing?
• Imagery: what is present in the language of the poem that would not be shown? (Things in the second category, present as concept, are “imagery”, or more exactly, “figurative language”). E.g.  “Between my finger and my thumb, the squat pen rests, snug as a gun”: “finger,” “thumb,” and “pen” would be present in a visual representation of the poem, “gun” would not—it’s a simile.
• Literal language: love is a powerful emotion. Trimming rose bushes will produce more roses to pick.
• Similes are figures of comparison: a is like b, a is as x as b, etc.
• Metaphors are figures of identity: a is b. Or, I say “b,” meaning “a.”
• Assonance: same vowel sounds repeated. Br ee ze/wh ee l
• Consonance: same consonant sounds repeated (including inside words) br ight/ze br a
• Alliteration: repeated sounds at the beginning of words. br ight/ br eeze, ee l/ ea sy
• Chiasmus: repetition and reversal (can be applied to syllables, words and clauses as well as sounds). Br eez e/ ze br a
• Masculine rhyme: 1 vowel, or vowel + consonant. E.g.: b e /m e , br eeze /fr eeze
• Feminine rhyme: 2 syllables, - initial consonant). E.g.: br eezy / easy
• End-rhyme: words at the end of the line rhyme with the end of another nearby line.
• Internal rhyme: words anywhere in the line rhyme with words anywhere in another nearby line.

 Jess, Tyehimba.  Olio . Wave Books, 2016. pp. 12–29. ISBN: 9781940696201.

Things to mark as you read:

• Simile: the figure of speech that asserts a resemblance between two things that goes beyond their membership in a common class: “I was like a ship adrift on the ocean,” as distinct from “I am, like Arthur Bahr, a professor of Literature.” Generally signaled by “A is like B” or “A is as B.”
• Metaphor: the figure of speech that asserts identity between two non-identical things: “I am the walrus,” as distinct from “I am a professor.”
• Metonymy: the figure of speech that identifies a thing by a term closely related to it: “What does Building 14 think about instituting a requirement in computational thinking?” as distinct from, “What do faculty in GSL, CMS/W, and Literature think about…?”
• Synecdoche: the figure of speech that identifies a thing by naming something that is a smaller part of it

Our ordinary speech is full of metonymies and synecdoches, many of which are conventional to the point that they don’t stand out as non-literal, much less poetic. (Actually, the same is true for some metaphors: e.g., the “face” of a clock). So these may require some active attention to identify. Always a possibility, too, is that something literally described (e.g., Williams’ cat) may additionally function as a synecdoche for a larger class of things (e.g. agents in a narrative with a rising and falling trajectory). Tests of plausibility and explanatory value always apply—does a conjecture of this kind make better and more consistent sense of the poem? But the typical compression of (especially) shorter poems makes appealing the possibilities of layering literal (it’s a cat) and figurative (that cat typifies a larger class of agents) meanings in the same space.

The two parts of metaphor are generally designated as tenor , or thing meant (“I”), and vehicle , or thing identified with (“the walrus”). It can be useful to think about the larger domain from which the vehicle is drawn (the sea, the Arctic, creatures that swim, the natural world in general, things that are out of place in Kendall Square…).

Whitman, Walt. “ A March in the Ranks Hard-Pressed .” In Walt Whitman: Complete Poetry and Selected Prose . Houghton Mifflin Company, 1959.

Harned, Thomas Biggs, and Walt Whitman. Thomas Biggs Harned Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman: Recovered Cardboard Butterfly and Notebooks, 1847-Circa 1863 to 1864; Notebooks; Circa 1863 to 1864, Washington Hospital Notebook . 1863.

Whitman, Walt. “ The Artilleryman’s Vision .” In Leaves of Grass . Digireads, 2016.

Yeats, W.B. “ Easter 1916 .” In The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats . Digireads, 2018.

Frost, Robert. “ The Death of the Hired Man .” In North of Boston . CreateSpace, 2012.

• One of the macro features that distinguishes poem from prose is lineation—the text of the journal entry wraps across the whole page just as this text does, but the text of the poem is broken into lines. We should also think about—given that this poem isn’t generated using the metrical “rule” of a ten-syllable, five-beat lines (like “The Death of the Hired Man” is)—how does Whitman decide it’s time to end a line? Is it possible to identify and articulate the rules of the game he’s decided to work with in this poem? If you have an intuition, add it—but let’s also discuss in class.
• Old way: workers were compensated with room and board and a share of the harvest proceeds, so that they lived on the farm year-round, and were paid in case only once a year.
• New way: workers are paid “fixed wages” daily or weekly, and employment is more transient. Also pertinent: farm workers had been more like apprentices, learning the trade and saving up to become farmers themselves. This kind of upward mobility (“bettering” yourself) was sensitive to factors like declining prices for agricultural goods, increasing land prices, and increased mechanization of agriculture, which raised the cost associated with going from laborer to farmer.
• Read the Yeats poem commemorating an unsuccessful and violently punished uprising against British rule in Ireland (there’s a nice Poem Guide that gives helpful background). I’ve included it in part for contrast: the short lines and end-rhymes make it more obviously “poem-like.” My question for you: what do you think is the dominant rhythm of this poem, in terms of stressed/unstressed syllables? Can you single out a line that makes a good example? This question I’ll ask in class!

Brooks, Gwendolyn. “ my dreams, my works, must wait till after hell .” In Selected Poems . Harper & Row, 1963.

Brooks, Gwendolyn. “ the rites for Cousin Vit .” In The Norton Anthology of Poetry Fifth Edition . W.W. Norton and Company, 2005.

You can see what it looks like if we assign color to the lines of a sonnet to show their end rhymes.

In other words, instead of writing the rhyme pattern as ABBA ABBA … (for instance), we can show it using different font colors:

When I consider how my light is spent, Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide, And that one Talent which is death to hide, Lodged with me useless, though my Soul more bent, To serve therewith my Maker, and present, My true account, lest he returning chide; “Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?” 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 mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state Is kingly: thousands at His bidding speed, And post o’er land and ocean without rest; They also serve who only stand and wait.”

Pick one author and one sonnet; copy the poem, and use color to indicate the rhyme scheme. Before class, look at all the sonnets to see what kinds of changes get rung on the form, and what kinds of line groups within the 14 line whole get defined by rhyme.

Milton, John. “ When I consider how my light is spent (Sonnet 19) .” John Milton Reading Room.

Dunbar, Paul. “ The Debt .” In The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar . CreateSpace, 2017. ISBN: 9781475157574. 

Frost, Robert. “ Acquainted with the Night .” In The Poetry of Robert Frost . Edited by Edward Lathem. Henry Hold & Company, 1969. ISBN: 9780805005028.

Gay, Ross. “ Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude .” In Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude . University of Pittsburgh Press, 2015. ISBN: 9780822963318.

Kirsch, Adam. “ Professional Middle-Class Couple, 1927 .” Poetry . April, 2003.

Reading Exercises:

After picking out these readings, I realized that all of them (except for the Frost poem) all revolve around ideas of economy: what you owe others, what you are entitled to, what you can or can’t give back. (Not unrelated to “Death of the Hired Man,” actually).

A little background and clarification on the Milton sonnet, the oldest and also the most densely allusive of these readings: Milton writes this sonnet in mid-life. As a young man, he had formed the massively ambitious goal of writing in English a great epic poem comparable to Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid—and later would achieve that goal with Paradise Lost. But at this point, he was middle-aged, had not yet produced the poem, and had lost his vision (like James Joyce, he produced his major work while blind)—thus, “this dark world,” in which “light [is] deny’d,” etc. Another thing to note: line 3 refers to the New Testament parable of the talents (reference given in the online text). “Talent,” in the parable, refers to a unit of money, and the parable concerns what you should properly do with money that has been given to you as a loan. Milton is also playing on the more contemporary meaning of “Talent” as giftedness. What are we obligated to give back, given our talents?

As ever, print out, read, and reread the poems, and bring your marked up copies to class; look particularly for the four things I’ve underlined below.

Another thing that changed when Old English met French/Latin was grammar. A quick and dirty explanation: when we write a sentence like “Jim kicks Jill,” it’s understood that Jim does the kicking (is the subject of the verb) and Jill is the target (is the direct object of the verb). There are all kinds of other rules for adding phrases and qualifiers around those core words, that we learn as we learn to speak. Some other languages do things differently. To show that a word is the direct object, instead of putting after the verb, these languages attach a tag to the word that says “direct object”—and then it can go anywhere. You could write “Jillen Jim kicks” and have it mean the same thing as our original sentence. Some of these case endings persist in pronouns (I/me, he/him), so you can say, “Him I don’t like.” Old English used word endings instead of word order to identify the parts of sentences.

However, in poetry you will see a lot of inverted word order—that’s something to look for both in untangling complicated sentences, and thinking about poetic technique. Syntax is one of the places where poets sometimes push at the boundaries of what language allows to be done while still remaining intelligible.

Another aspect of syntax to think about: delaying delivery of a word or key phrase can leave the whole meaning of the sentence in suspense, another useful effect. (Look for that in the Gay and Kirsch poems).

Two other things to look for in these readings: elision (when readers have to mentally supply words that are necessary for a sentence to be complete—Gay and, especially, Milton do this for concision); any patterns created using phrases (as distinct from patterns of sound or rhythm as such).

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Step by Step: Poetry Unit for Elementary Classrooms

Week One of the Poetry Unit Plan – Figurative Language

Week Two – Introduction to Poetry

Engaging Poetry Elements Activity

Fourth Grade Poetry Writing

Weeks Three & Four –Write Original Poetry

More Ideas for Your Poetry Unit Lesson Plans

Creative Writing Prompts

Games to Review Your Poetry Unit

9 Fun Poetry Lessons to Add to Your Next Unit

Poetry Out Loud Lesson Plans

Poetry Writing Lessons

Happy Poetry Writing! It’s such a fun way to expand your students’ writing capabilities, and I hope these poetry lesson ideas help you! And if you’re looking for more ways to engage your students, I’ve got tons of ideas in my free Classroom Community Planner . Download it for free here to keep the fun going after your elementary poetry unit!

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Poetry Writing Lessons for Kids

There are many different ways to write poems as well as lots of techniques you can learn to help you improve your writing skill. Here are many of the poetry writing lessons for children that I have created to help you become a better poet, including how to write funny poetry, poetic rhythm, poetic forms and other styles of verse, as well as lesson plans for teachers and video lessons.

How to Write Funny Poetry

• Chapter 1: Writing Poetry
• Chapter 2: How to Rhyme
• Chapter 3: Choosing a Topic
• Chapter 4: Making it Funny
• Chapter 5: Types of Funny Poems

Rhythm in Poetry

• You Can Scan, Man
• I Am the Iamb
• Okie Dokie, Here’s the Trochee
• More than Two Feet

Poetic Forms

A poetic “form” is a set of rules for writing a certain type of poem. These rules can include the number of lines or syllables the poem should have, the placement of rhymes, and so on. Here are lessons for writing several common poetic forms.

• How to Write an Acrostic Poem
• How to Create Book Spine Poetry
• How to Write a Cinquain Poem
• How to Write a Clerihew
• How to Write a Concrete or “Shape” Poem
• How to Write a Diamante Poem
• How to Create a “Found Poem”
• How to Write a Free Verse Poem
• How to Write a Haiku
• How to Write a Kenning Poem
• How to Write a Limerick
• How to Write Lyric and Dramatic Poetry
• How to Write a Sonnet
• How to Write a Tanka Poem
• How to Write a Triolet

Other Poetic Styles

There are many different styles of poems. These are not “poetic forms” because they don’t usually have firm rules about length, syllable counts, etc., but they are common enough that many well-known children’s poets have written poems like these.

• How to Write an Alphabet Poem
• How to Write an Alliteration Poem
• How to Write an Apology Poem
• How to Write a “Backward” Poem
• How to Write an Exaggeration Poem
• How to Write a “Favorite Things” List Poem
• How to Write a Funny Epitaph Poem
• How to Write a Funny List Poem
• How to Write a Traditional “Mother Goose” Nursery Rhyme
• How to Write a Fractured Nursery Rhyme
• How to Write an “I Can’t Write a Poem” Poem
• How to Write Nonsense Verse
• How to Write an Onomatopoeia Poem
• How to Write an Opposite Day Poem
• How to Write a “Playing With Your Food” Poem
• How to Write a Repetition Poem
• How to Write Riddle Rhymes
• How to Write a “Roses are Red” Valentine’s Day Poem
• How to Write a Silly Song Parody
• How to Write a Tongue Twister

Reciting Poetry

• How to Host an Open Mic Poetry Party
• How to Host a Poetry Slam
• How to Recite a Poem Like an Expert

Other Poetry Writing Lessons

• Can You Make Up Words?
• Describe the Sky – A Poetry Creativity Workout
• Evoking the Senses in a Poem
• Five Ways to Overcome Writer’s Block
• How to Start a Poetry Journal
• “Forced Rhymes” and How to Avoid Them
• That Doesn’t Sound Right to Me
• Twenty Fun Writing Prompts for Kids

Poetry Lesson Plans for Teachers

• Alliteration and Assonance Lesson Plan
• Onomatopoeia Poetry Lesson Plan
• Personification Poetry Lesson Plan
• Rhyme Schemes Lesson Plan
• Sensory Poetry Lesson Plan: Bringing Poems to Life Through the Five Senses
• Simile and Metaphor Lesson Plan

Video Poetry Lessons

• Awesome Acrostics – A video poetry writing lesson
• How to Rhyme – A video poetry writing lesson

Poetry Dictionaries and Rhyming Words Lists

When reading these lessons, you may come across some unfamiliar words. If you see a poetic term and don’t know what it means, you can always look it up in the Poetic Terms Dictionary. Poetry4kids also has a rhyming dictionary and a list of rhyming words you can use to help you write poems.

• Poetic Terms Dictionary for Kids

Rhyming Dictionary for Kids

• Rhyming Words Lists

Other Useful Poetry-Writing Lessons

There are loads of websites on the Internet that offer helpful lessons for children on how to write poems. Here are a few you may find useful:

• How to Teach Poetry Writing in Four Easy Lessons
• Poetry Worksheets and Printables

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How to Use “I am From” Poems in Class

• February 18, 2020

Writing can be so personal. Especially when we’re asking kids to write in their real voice, about things that matter to them. So I’m always in search of writing assignments that help students write about their lives in ways that feel doable and beautiful, inspiring and easy. From there students can begin to add layers of complexity and allow themselves to be vulnerable in the writing if they feel ready.

I love the “I am from” poem. At some point fifteen years ago I stumbled across the idea of having students write these poems, inspired by George Ella Lyon’s poem, “Where I’m from” (l isten to the audio ) or ( read the text ). Lyon weaves together vivid images from her life as a girl, drawing on little things like art projects she did, products she used, things her parents said, as well as sensory details from her life experience, to create a window into her past. It’s a striking poem, and also an easy one to understand and to emulate (perfect for class!).

So when I put together my very first poetry unit, the “I am from” poem was our opening poetry workshop. I guided students to brainstorm about sensory experiences, sayings, and people from their childhoods and then choose their favorite bits and pieces to put into the basic structure of an “I am from poem,” each verse of which goes something like this:

“I am from…. From … and … I am from … and …..

So if a student had brainstormed imagery like this: 

• raisins lined up on crunchy peanut butter celery
• my worn-out red ping pong paddle with the handle duct-taped on
• my Dad’s loud laugh
• my brother’s protection

It went so well. From what I can tell after years of running this workshop and also hearing from other teachers, it almost always does . “I am from” poems practically write themselves, celebrating the lives of their writers in powerful ways.

Many of my students have chosen to perform their “I am from” poems as spoken word pieces in our poetry slams over the years. I remember a particularly powerful one a student wrote about the city of Sofia, Bulgaria when I was teaching there. The imagery describing the city – its history, its strange mishmash of architecture, the student’s own connections to it – stunned me.

The other day I saw a bulletin board featuring “I am from” poems alongside group photos of students i n my friend Brynn’s Instagram – she goes by “The Literary Maven” there. It got me thinking about how this beautiful form of writing poetry might be used to create more kinds of displays and collaborations. I discovered the  I am From project online , that celebrates how art can be used to help us understand each other’s backgrounds and build bridges in this divided time for our nation.

So today I want to share some ideas for building on the “Where I’m from” writer’s workshop, integrating art and writing, classroom and community.

The first step toward any larger project is to have students explore the form. That means reading Lyon’s poem and beginning to brainstorm and write their own “I am from” poems.

Instructions for this already exist all over the internet, so I’ll just link to this s uper simple template  and  a more open-ended set of instructions  here.

Next, once you’ve got lines, verses, and poems to work with, how might that lead into something larger?

Literatura de Cordel

I first learned about Literatura de Cordel from Eileen Landay of Brown University, when I interviewed her about arts integration last winter.

Says Eileen of the roots of this form in Brazil, “People would write poems or short books, and they would take them to the marketplace and they would hang them on, what is in effect, a clothesline. And other people would come along and buy those. And the idea of original work kind of hanging, available for other people to see and do things with… we’ve done so much with the idea of the cordel.”

The “I am From” poem would be beautiful as a cordel, across your classroom, across the school hallways, across a community space. There are so many ways you could do it.

Students could pull their favorite lines and illustrate them on small papers, intermixing them with photos, recipes, newspaper clippings, or any other physical items that bring them back to where they’re from. Then they could each take a section of the cordel and decide how to hang everything.

Everyone in class could choose their favorite lines. Artists in the class (either using digital programs or art materials or both) could illuminate those lines onto paper. Others could take the artwork and move it around on the cordel until it flows as a class poem. Still others could record the poem on audio to submit to a local radio station, photograph it to send to the paper or the “I am From” Project online , or speak with local organizations about bringing the cordel to public spaces.

You might enjoy playing the collaborative radio poem Kwame Alexander created from 1400 community submissions to NPR as part of your unit. Check it out here:  ‘Where I’m from’: A Crowdsourced Poem that Collects your Memories from Home  .

Students in classes across the school could complete the project and choose lines to share in a school cordel, hanging them anywhere. In the coming weeks, those interested could move the lines around throughout the school days, reading them and mixing them in unique ways.

School-Wide or Community Display

You could also build a project-based learning unit around translating the classroom work on the poems into a community display of heritage.

Gail Scudieri, an artist and teacher, led students to create the mural below after someone put offensive graffiti on a school wall. She used the concept of a community quilt as inspiration, letting each student design a square to help illustrate their backgrounds.

Perhaps your students would be interested in writing a grant proposal or working with leaders in your city to find a way to share their poetry and art with their community.

Video Projects

The form also lends itself well to a video project. You could teach students to record their voices as an audio overlay, then either shoot video footage or create a photo slideshow to go along with the audio. This could lead into a class film festival or a collaboration across classes or even schools into a larger community film event.

A visual poem based on “Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon, created by Julia Daniel for Tamalpais High School’s Academy of Integrated Humanities and New Media (AIM), fall 2010.

Interview Projects

My friend Cathleen Beachboard runs an amazing PBL unit in which her students take on community problems. She told me all about it on the podcast this year, and one of the community problems her students work on is the loneliness many older people in their community endure.

It got me thinking about how the “I am from” project might lead to connections between seniors and students. After completing their own poems, students could visit with older people and talk to them about their own lives, writing poems together with them. This could lead into a display of the work in a home for older people. The display could mix and match poetry from both generations, undoubtedly showing ways that we are all connected, as well as showing ways the world is changing.

Earth Day Installation One of my favorite ideas for using this poem structure in a larger project is to connect it to environmental studies. Whether you’re doing a transcendentalism unit, working with students on the topic of climate change, or just interested in addressing environmentalism on earth day or at any other time of year, writing earth-themed “I am from” poems for the purpose of creating some kind of public  art installation would be a fascinating project. You’d need to tweak the imagery brainstorming to focus on things like experiences students have had outdoors, places they’ve been, animals and plants they’ve connected to, weather that’s impacted them, parks they’ve explored, intersections in their lives with water, etc.

I imagine a couple of ways this could look, though you and your students might come up with a totally different concept. I like the idea of having students bring in brown paper from box packing or pieces of cardboard, and cutting them into tree trunks and limbs. Each student could print their poems (or illuminated lines from their poems) onto the tree pieces and add them to the wall. This could easily be a collaborative project, in which students across the school contribute. It could also be something your students set up in a space in the city and then leave additional paper and cardboard and instructions for other people to add to the tree. Perhaps students could create their tree and facilitate others adding to it during some kind of community event, then leave the work behind after the event as a public art piece.

Another, perhaps simpler way to do it, would be to build a tree and then have students add their favorite lines in the form of leaves.

Collaboration Abroad

Finally, the “I am From” poem would lend itself beautifully to a collaboration with a teacher abroad. Having your students write about their homes and heritage and then share their work across to a classroom in another country could lead to great conversations about life in other places, undoubtedly reinforcing our similarities as well as teaching students about a city and country they might never have visited. When I taught abroad in Bulgaria, my student did a collaboration around the theme of home with students in Washington D.C., sharing letters and writing projects. We used a class blog to share our work, but you could also send actual letters or upload work to Google Drive.

If you’re interested in creating a collaboration around an “I am from” project with a teacher far from you, you can find one in my Facebook group, Creative High School English . Just make a post explaining your idea, and see who writes back.

Well, what do you think? I hope you’re fired up to try this poetry workshop out with your students, and find ways to help students share their work with your community. Got another idea for how to use the “I am from” poem? We’d all love to hear about it in the comments below!

Did you know you can learn about all your wish list ELA strategies on your daily commute or walk with The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast ? Explore one-pagers, escape rooms, sketchnotes, creative annotation options, research projects, poetry workshops, and much more through over a hundred quick episodes waiting for you on your favorite podcast player!

I’ll help you find the creative ELA strategies that will light up your classroom. Get ready for joyful teaching!

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I am going to utilize this in my Career Development class when we cover self-awareness. Love it!

I'm so glad you like it! That's wonderful to hear!

I am very glad to read your techniques about poem reading in the classroom.You have to change her method to teach the poems to the students otherwise the students will feel boredom in the classroom. dissertation writing services

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The great thing about poetry is that it has so many different disaplines. Loved this article, thanks for sharing.

Thank you for taking so much time and creativity to show us how to incorporate this into our students’ lives! Just to let you know, the link for the “super simple template” isn’t working anymore. I’d love to see it, if you come across it in another area? This is the link that was in your blog. https://www.sausd.us/site/default.aspx?PageType=19

Hi Jenn, Thanks so much for the info! Shoot me at email at [email protected] and I’ll send you another template. There are lots out there. 🙂

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Poetry Assignment Personal Poetry Writing For the last several class meetings, you have been learning about and writing different forms of poetry:  I POEMS, concrete poems, acrostic poems, found poems, and haiku poems. You also have read about other forms of poetry through class readings and web sites.   Based on your personal poetry writing experiences and your reading about poetry, complete the following assignment.  Be ready to turn in a draft of the assignment next week. You will eventually complete this assignment with your students.     ·        Describe a context in which your students are learning about a nonfiction topic such as a person, place, or event.  For example, students might be studying the Civil War or their neighborhood, or they might be learning about mammals or the rainforest.   ·        Describe the instructional grouping structure: individual, small-group, whole-class, or computer-based   ·        Create a plan for inviting students to gather information about a topic and then to transform that information through poetry writing.   ·        You can choose any form of poetry for students to use.   ·        Your plan should include a description of a mini-lesson that you will teach to support students in writing a poem with precise descriptions and interesting word choices.  That is, your mini-lesson should take place before writing and should help students become aware of how to choose words thoughtfully in order to create effective descriptions.   ·        Be sure to provide a complete reference for the poetry books you will use as your literary models.   ·        Develop an invitation and rubric that you will give to your students.     An follows…   Learning Context Students are in fourth grade; this is a heterogeneous group of students. They are beginning a unit on the geography of North Carolina.   Plan ·        Review the characteristics of an I POEM by sharing the book by Diane Siebert.    ·        Make copies of the text and distribute selected pages to students.   ·        Ask students to highlight specific words and phrases that convey sights, sounds, smells, or textures.   ·        Have students write these words and phrases on chart paper that is displayed on the classroom walls.   ·        MINI-LESSON: Take students on a field trip or walk to a natural setting such as field or creek or wooded area.  Ask them to pick something in the area to become:  grass, tree, creek, soil, rock.  Invite them to sketch the item and to make notes about it.   ·        Invite students to create an I POEM about the item they chose.     ·        Have them share their poems with a partner who will highlight the words and phrases that make use of interesting and precise words to describe the item.   ·        Tell students that they will be able to write another I POEM about North Carolina.   ·        Provide the following invitation and rubric to students.   ·        After students draft their poems, have them work on revising the content based on the rubric.   ·        Then, have students edit their drafts to correct errors in spelling and mechanics.   ·        Invite students to illustrate their final poems and publish them in a class book, your class web-page, or you may choose to display them in the local library.         I am North Carolina. Mountains, plains, beaches, Rivers, caverns, forests-- Those are what you see. And those are the very heart of me!     What if North Carolina could talk?  What would our state have to say about its lands and waters?  What would it tell us about its natural features and resources?   Based on your reading of Chapter 3 in the social studies textbook, choose a geographical feature of North Carolina that interests you.  Find two other books or resources to read about the feature that you have selected.  Then, use the information that you have gathered to draft an I POEM.    You may want to model your poem after by Diane Siebert. Or, you may use one of the other I POEM models that we have learned about.                                   Example of Student Rubric         Yes No Possible Points Is your draft poem about a geographical feature of North Carolina?          5 Did you use an “I” poem format?          5 Does your draft poem describe the feature using interesting and precise words?                          10 Does your draft poem include accurate factual information about the feature you chose?         10 RUBRIC FOR YOUR POETRY ASSIGNMENT Aspects of lesson Possible Points Lesson context is specified: q       content area q       topic of study q       grade level           /4 Mini-lesson: q       Provides support for students by focusing on precise description and interesting word choice q       Is clearly explained            /8 Lesson plan: q       Provides sequenced set of activities designed to support students in gathering information and using it to create a poem           /10 Invitation to students: q       Motivating q       Simple, clear directions q       Inviting format: not too cluttered or too stark           /10 Rubric for students: q       Clear and easy to understand q       Relates directly to what the invitation described         /8 Total     /40 Analysis of Poetry Assignment    (15 points) Free writing courses Famous poetry classics Forums: Poet's • Suggestions My active groups   see all Trade comments Print publishing Rate comments Recent views Membership plan Contact us + HELP Poems / Assignments Poems - The best poetry on the web Newest assignments poems. tuesday class Directions to Follow When collaboration merges, was it lost. I am glad... Browse categories. Send Message Open Profile in New Window 171 COMMENTS 15 Fun Poetry Activities for High School Here are 12 great songs to analyze if you aren't sure where to start: "Across the Universe" by the Beatles. "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan. "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift. "Chasing Pavements" by Adele. "Infinity" by Mariah Carey. "Stereo Hearts" by Gym Class Heroes. "Counting Stars" by One Republic. 101 Poetry Prompts & Ideas for Writing Poems Printable Poetry Prompt Card Examples - Available at Our Etsy Shop 7. On the Field: Write from the perspective of a sports ball {Baseball, Soccer, Football, Basketball, Lacrosse, etc.} - think about what the sports ball might feel, see, hear, think, and experience with this poetry idea!. 8. Street Signs: Take note of the words on signs and street names you pass while driving, walking, or ... Writing About Poetry In order to write effectively about poetry, one needs a clear idea of what the point of writing about poetry is. When you are assigned an analytical essay about a poem in an English class, the goal of the assignment is usually to argue a specific thesis about the poem, using your analysis of specific elements in the poem and how those elements ... 7 Poetry Activities Students Love 5. PICTURE-INSPIRED POETRY. My students always produce their best work when they use images to energize their writing. In this post, you can read about thirteen different ways to use pictures to inspire students to write poetry.. Wordless picture books, old family photographs, political cartoons, famous paintings, and even hashtags can scaffold the poetry writing process by appealing to ... 5 Poetry Activities for Students in Grades 3 to 12 Blackout poetry is a good starting point for new poets because the words are already on the page and students only need to determine which words to use. This strategy can also be used as an interdisciplinary assignment in which students use text from specific content to create a poem about that content, such as using the Bill of Rights to ... 13 Poetry Lesson Plans For High School In this poetry analysis activity, your students will read and answer questions regarding the famous poem "To an Athlete Dying Young" by A. E. Housman.Next, your students will listen to the song "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry that carries a similar message.Then, students will take a closer look at how these two texts relate. Comparing and contrasting these paired texts will help ... How to Write a Poetry Essay (Complete Guide) Main Paragraphs. Now, we come to the main body of the essay, the quality of which will ultimately determine the strength of our essay. This section should comprise of 4-5 paragraphs, and each of these should analyze an aspect of the poem and then link the effect that aspect creates to the poem's themes or message. 100 Poetry Prompts 100 poetry prompts to motivate and inspire you. My first love in writing was poetry. In my early teens, writing poetry was a creative and cathartic way to explore my ideas and vent my emotions. Writing poetry was accessible — all I needed was some paper and a pen. It didn't even require a huge investment of time. Lesson Plans In this lesson, students practice close readings of poems by analyzing the style—what musicians call the "dynamics" —of the poem: its volume, speed, language, syntax, lineation, and punctuation. This lesson focuses on poems that have the sound of ritual, often with an incantatory rhythm that can guide students in memorization and ... Poetry Activities: Six Simple Ways to Make Poetry Instruction Engaging Analyzing music as poetry can be a powerful and memorable learning experience. You can access my free analyzing poetry assignment here. Write poems that are fun and nonthreatening. When students who dislike poetry are asked to write a sonnet or a villanelle, they are often scared away before even putting their pencil to paper. 20 Easy Poetry Writing Prompts and Exercises Whatever word you're pointing at, use it as a poem title and write that poem. 17. Write a poem late at night, by hand, by candlelight. 18. Fill a page with free-writing using your non-dominant hand. This can help you tap into less rational, more creative thought patterns. 19. How to Write Poetry: 11 Rules for Poetry Writing Beginners Teaches Fiction and Storytelling. Teaches Storytelling and Writing. Teaches Creating Outside the Lines. Teaches Writing for Social Change. Teaches Fiction, Memory, and Imagination. Teaches Fantasy and Science Fiction Writing. Teaches Poetic Thinking. Teaches Writing and Performing Poetry. Icons and Their Influences. A list of 50 inspirational topics for writing a poem Write about the moments and people that make you smile and fill your heart with happiness. 6. Friendship. Write about the value of friendship, and how it has positively affected your life. This could also be a poem about saying goodbye to a friend, or remembering a lost friend. 7. Overcoming adversity. How to Write a Poem: In 7 Practical Steps with Examples ACTION STEPS: Identify something that is, seemingly, unlike your subject that you'll use to compare. On a piece of paper, make two lists or a Venn diagram. Write down all the ways that you're subject and the thing you'll compare it to are alike. Also, write down all the ways they are unalike. Poetry 101: Resources for Beginners Poetry 101: Resources for Beginners - How to Read a PoemReading poetry well is part attitude and part technique. Curiosity is a useful attitude, especially when it's free of preconceived ideas about what poetry is or should be. Effective technique directs your curiosity into asking questions, drawing you into a conversation with the poem.read moreWhere to StartBook Recommendations We asked ... 132 Best Poetry Prompts and Ideas to Spark Creativity Many great minds considered poetry to be the superior form of art. It transcends mortality and the transience of human life and becomes an eternal monument of people's existence and creativity. Poetry that was written hundreds of years ago can still mesmerize, astonish, inspire, move, horrify, and elevate us. Creative Poetry Writing Prompts There is an unlimited number of themes that can be ... How to Write a Poem: A Step-by-Step Guide 1 Decide what you want to write about. Unless you've been assigned to write a poem about a specific topic, the first step in writing a poem is determining a topic to write about. Look for inspiration around you, perhaps in nature, your community, current events, or the people in your life. Assignments Print out the readings, mark them up, and bring with you to class next week. The assignment below gives questions to think about as you read the poems. Assignment: Prose to Poetry. Session 3: From Evidence to Analysis. William Shakespeare, "Sonnet 116." Poetry Foundation. Vendler, Helen. The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Harvard ... Step by Step: Poetry Unit for Elementary Classrooms This poetry unit study was three weeks long. In week one, I taught seven Figurative Language elements. Week Two, I introduced poetry - poetic elements, studying poems, brainstorming poem topics, and we dipped our toes into writing poetry. Week Three, we dove into writing our own poems!! You can make this a short poetry unit, or a long one ... Poetry Writing Lessons for Kids Poetry Writing Lessons for Kids There are many different ways to write poems as well as lots of techniques you can learn to help you improve your writing skill. Here are many of the poetry writing lessons for children that I have created to help you become a better poet, including how to write funny poetry, poetic rhythm, poetic forms and other ... How to Use "I am From" Poems in Class A visual poem based on "Where I'm From" by George Ella Lyon, created by Julia Daniel for Tamalpais High School's Academy of Integrated Humanities and New Media (AIM), fall 2010. Interview Projects. My friend Cathleen Beachboard runs an amazing PBL unit in which her students take on community problems. Poetry Assignment Poetry Assignment. Personal Poetry Writing. For the last several class meetings, you have been learning about and writing different forms of poetry: I POEMS, concrete poems, acrostic poems, found poems, and haiku poems. You also have read about other forms of poetry through class readings and web sites. Based on your personal poetry writing ... Assignments Poems Poems about Assignments at the world's largest poetry site. Ranked poetry on Assignments, by famous & modern poets. Learn how to write a poem about Assignments and share it! Login Register Help . Poems Write Groups. All groups; Free writing courses; Famous poetry classics; essay homework paper phd project resume review speech thesis