What is Poetry?

According to Wikipedia, poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language—such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre—to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning.

According to the children in our Year 4 and Year 5 class poetry has more meaningful significance. Here are some responses from the children, giving some idea of their depth of poetic understanding-
  # Poetry can be inspire by things around you (Liberty)
  # Poetry can show feelings (Pete)
  # It is when there is a rhyme (Hyla)
  # It is made up of words that are interesting (Hyla)
  # There is a use of the senses such as hearing and seeing (Elise)
  # It can be about joy and happiness (Connor)
  # Poetry can relate to emotions (Sophia)
  # It can be a gift to somebody (Liberty)
  # There are messages about the past and the future (Hyla)
Pretty good effort don’t you think!

Cinquain Poetry

Cinquain Pattern Line1: A noun Line2: Two adjectives Line 3: Three -ing words Line 4: A phrase Line 5: Another word for the noun

Cinquain Pattern Spaghetti Messy, spicy Slurping, sliding, falling Between my plate and mouth Delicious

Cinquain Pattern Mules Stubborn, unmoving Braying, kicking, resisting Not wanting to listen People

 Examples of Rhyming Couplets

In poetry, a couplet is a pair of lines. Typically, they rhyme and have the same meter. They make up a unit or complete thought.

Rhyming Couplets in Literature

"’Tis education forms the common mind,

Just as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined." - Alexander Pope

"Singing he was, or fluting all the day;

He was as fresh as is the month of May." - Canterbury Tales by Chaucer

Rhyming Couplets from William Shakespeare

"The time is out of joint, O cursed spite

That ever I was born to set it right!" – Hamlet

"This precious book of love, this unbound lover,

To beautify him only lacks a cover." - Romeo and Juliet

"For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;

Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds." - Sonnet 94