POETRY can be placed in 1 of 3 different categories based on the characteristics of the poem: VERSE, BLANK, or FREE
What is VERSE POETRY?
VERSE POETRY is poetry that has a RHYME SCHEME and a CONSISTENT METER.
( VERSE POETRY = RHYME + METER )
EXAMPLE
(This poem has a RHYME SCHEME + A CONSISTENT METER – 10 syllables per line = PENTAMETER )
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
What is BLANK VERSE?
BLANK VERSE is poetry that has a CONSISTENT METER, but DOES NOT RHYME.
( BLANK VERSE = METER + NO RHYME )
EXAMPLE
( This poem has NO RHYME SCHEME, but has a CONSISTENT METER – 10 syllables per line = PENTAMETER )
Mending Wall by Robert Frost
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
What is FREE VERSE?
FREE VERSE is poetry that has NO CONSISTENT METER and DOES NOT RHYME.
( FREE VERSE = NO METER + NO RHYME )
EXAMPLE
( This poem has NO RHYME SCHEME and NO CONSISTENT METER )
Beat! Beat! Drums! by Walt Whitman
