Thoughts on Poetry

When writing a poem or writing an essay about a poem, a common vocabulary is shared. For poetry, it is not as important for the writer to know the name of the element being utilized as long as the function is clear. The easiest example to use in poetry is alliteration. The poet may use alliteration to quicken the pace of a poem, build tension, or sound playful, but it is not important that the poet be familiar with the term “alliteration” to use the element effectively. However, for analysis purposes, a vocabulary has been adopted to create a forum where poetry can be discussed. While it is not completely necessary that the poet know this vocabulary, being aware of effective poetic elements will no doubt help create more powerful poetry.


Learning to write well requires reading well-written works. When students are able to identify poetic elements in poetry and explain their function, they become more aware of how to incorporate the same elements in their own poetry. By listening to how Yeats uses sound in “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” it became clear how he used sound to create desired effects in the poem. Thus, I attempted to create sound effects in my poem that would correspond to a mood. This is a clever way to introduce students to the idea of writing poetry on their own. If students become competent in analyzing and understanding published poetry, the transition to then writing poetry of their own is much less daunting.


The readings that were performed in class prove that this teaching method is effective. I was very impressed by many of the poems read in class, especially since we were given “strict” guidelines for some of the practices. While it may not seem like these guidelines belong in poetry, they made the process of beginning a poem easier; sometimes getting past the blank page is the hardest part of writing.

take care.