Poetry

Examples of structured poetic forms include haikus, limericks, and sonnets. Many rules can contradict within poetry, so it can seem difficult to define. A piece of work that rhymes and a piece that does not can still be considered poetry. Less structured types of poetry include the ode, epic, and elegy.

Pick a poem, from the 3 below or The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe.

Please feel free to read all of them but for your poetry activity we ask that you pick one to read through and think about:

Their sentencing, their structure, their length, and the language they use.

Where do you notice characters, setting, time, and atmosphere?

Why might poetry not be as effective or more scary for some audience members?

Compare and Contrast, Read and Enjoy!

Download 'The Raven' here!

Secrets by Miss Kassos

In the dead of night, beneath the moon's pale glow,

Where the shadows dance and eerie whispers flow,

A haunted mansion, shrouded in mystery,

Becomes the perfect stage for a chilling history.

As creaking wooden floorboards echo through the hall,

And haunted ghostly figures glide along the wall,

In the heart of darkness, you should have fear,

For you have not realised, how close it is,

how near.

With terrible secrets hidden in each quiet, dusty room,

And the spirits here are cloaked in a spectral clouded gloom.

You must hold tight to the lantern you’ve brought,

For it is not what you can see, you should be afraid of,

it is what you cannot,

For the light you hold, it will keep the monsters at bay,

The very monster that followed you here today.

Antigonish by Hughes Mearns

Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I wish, I wish he'd go away...

When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn't see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don't you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don't slam the door... (slam!)

Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
Oh, how I wish he'd go away...

I Felt a Funeral in my Brain by Emily Dickinson

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,

And Mourners to and fro

Kept treading - treading - till it seemed

That Sense was breaking through -

And when they all were seated,

A Service, like a Drum -

Kept beating - beating - till I thought

My mind was going numb -

And then I heard them lift a Box

And creak across my Soul

With those same Boots of Lead, again,

Then Space - began to toll,

As all the Heavens were a Bell,

And Being, but an Ear,

And I, and Silence, some strange Race,

Wrecked, solitary, here -

And then a Plank in Reason, broke,

And I dropped down, and down -

And hit a World, at every plunge,

And Finished knowing - then -

Poem Creation Task

Using the poems above as guidance please click the bottom below to receive a worksheet that will ask you to create a poem.

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