Shakespeare's Sonnets-12:

When I do count the clock that tells the time,
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;
When I behold the violet past prime,
And sable curls, all silvered o'er with white;
When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,
Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,
And summer's green all girded up in sheaves,
Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard,
Then of thy beauty do I question make,
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake
And die as fast as they see others grow;
And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence
Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.

Poem of the day-45: "The Listeners" by Walter De La Mare

"Is there anybody there?" said the Traveller,
Knocking at the moonlit door;
And his horse in the silence champ'd the grasses
Of the forest's ferny door:
And a bird flew up out of the turret,
Above the Trveller's head:
And he smote upon the door again a second time;
'Is there anybody there?" he said.
But no one descended to the Traveller;
No head from the leaf-fringed sill
Lean'd over and look'd into his grey eyes,
Where he stood perplex'd and still.
But only a host of phantom listners
That dwelt in the lone house then
Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight.
To that voice from the world of men:
Stood thronging the faint moon beams on the dark stair,
That goes down to the empty hall,
Hearkening in an air stirr'd and shaken
By the lonely Traveller's call.
And he felt in his heart their strangeness,
Their stillness answering his cry,
While his horse moved, cropping the dark turf,
'Neath the starred and leafy sky;
For he suddenly smote on the door, even
Louder, and lifted his head:-
'Tell them I came, and no one answer'd,
That I kept my word,' he said.
Never the least stir made the listeners,
Though every word he spake
Fell echoing through the shadowiness of the still house
From the one man left awake:
Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup,
And the sound of iron on stone,
And how the silence surged softly backward,
When the plunging hoofs were gone.

- Walter De La Mare

Detailed Wikipedia article on Walter De La Mare:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_De_La_Mare

Grateful thanks to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
===========================================================

Poem of the day-44: "Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind"

Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou are not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly;
Most friendship is feighning, most loving mere folly:
Then heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly,
Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
Thou dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy Sting is not so sharp
As friend remember'd not.
Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then heigh-ho! the holly!
This life is most jolly.

From William Shakespeare's 'AS YOU LIKE IT"

Poem of the day-43: "COME, LASSES AND LADS."

Come, lasses and lads,
get leave of your dads,
And away to the Maypole hie,
For ev'ry fair has a sweetheart there,
And the fiddler's standing by;

For Willy shall dance with Jane,
And Johnny has got his Joan,
To trip it, trip it, trip it, trip it,
Trip it up and down!

"You're out," says Dick; "not I," says Nick,
"'Twas the fiddler play'd it wrong;"
"'Tis true," says Hugh, and so says Sue,
And so says ev'ry one.
The fiddler than began
To play the tune again,
And ev'ry girl did trip it, trip it,
Trip it to the men!

Then, after an hour, they went to a bow'r,
And play'd for ale and cakes;
And kisses too,--until they were due,
The lasses held the stakes.
The girls did then begin
To quarrel with the men,
And bade them take their kisses back,
And give them their own again!

"Good-night," says Harry;
"good-night," says Mary;
"Good-night," says Poll to John;
"Good-night," says Sue
to her sweetheart Hugh;
"Good-night," says ev'ry one.
Some walk'd and some did run,
Some loiter'd on the way,
And bound themselves by kisses twelve,
To meet the next holiday.

- An Anonymous Ballad from the ebook, "OLD BALLADS" from Project Gutenberg
Produced by The Internet Archive Children's Library, Ted Garvin and
the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

Detailed Wikipedia article on "BALLADS":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballads

Grateful thanks to Ted Garvin, the Online Distribute Proofreading Team, The Internet Archive Children's Library and Project Gutenberg.

Shakespeare's Sonnets-11:

As fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou grow'st,
In one of thine, from that which thou departest;
And that fresh blood which youngly thou bestow'st,
Thou mayst call thine when thou from youth convertest,
Herein lives wisdom, beauty, and increase;
Without this folly, age, and cold decay:
If all were minded so, the times should cease
And threescore year would make the world away.
Let those whom nature hath not made for store,
Harsh, featureless, and rude, barrenly perish:
Look, whom she best endow'd, she gave thee more;
Which bounteous gift thou shouldst in bounty cherish:
She carv'd thee for her seal, and meant thereby,
Thou shouldst print more, not let that copy die.

How To-32: "How to Write a Tanka Poem"

How to Write a Tanka Poem

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

A Tanka is a five line poem, usually used to describe nature, but can also be effective in conveying strong emotions. This tutorial will give you a description on how to write one.

Steps

1. Write out the first line of the poem. Remember that it should have five syllables: "Green and lush forest..."
   
2. Create the second line in the poem. This line has seven syllables: "...Trees are reaching toward the sky..."
   
3. Make the third line of the poem. It is supposed to have five syllables: "...Eyes peer from the shrubs..."
   
4. Write the fourth line of the poem. This line has seven syllables: "...A rustle of twigs within..."
   
5. Create the final line in your poem. Keep in mind that the fifth line has seven syllables: "...A bird's call sounds above you..."
   
6. Here is the finished Tanka:"Green and lush forest,Tress are reaching toward the sky,Eyes peer from the shrubs,A rustle of twigs within,A bird's call sounds above you..."

Tips

• The key to writing any good poem is to be creative. Use imagery and words that convey emotion. Do not be afraid to whip out the thesaurus.
  
• Practice; the more you write, the better you will be.
  
• Read Tanka's for inspiration

Related wikiHows

• How to Write a Meaningful Poem
  
• How to Create Instant Romantic Poetry
  
• How to Write a Haiku Poem
  
• How to Write an Ode About Math
  
• How to Write an Emotionally Charged Poem
  
• How to Write an Acrostic Poem
  
• How to Write a Poem

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Write a Tanka Poem. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How To-31: "How to Write a Ballad"

How to Write a Ballad

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

A Ballad is a narrative composition in rhythmic verse suitable for singing. Originally ballads were not written down and were passed down from generation to generation orally; the music helped people to remember the story. Do you want to write a memorable ballad? While there are no real rules for writing a ballad, the traditional ballad form has a few easily replicated characteristics that have made it a popular storytelling device for hundreds of years.

Steps

1. Find a starter phrase. Perhaps you want to write a ballad for a particular occasion or to commemorate a certain event or person. Maybe, however, you just want to write a song, but at the beginning you're not sure what it will be about, and it naturally evolves into a ballad. Either way, the process for starting your ballad is the same as for starting any other song: find one phrase, a line or two, that you like, and build your song from there. Your starter phrase doesn't actually have to be the first line of the song--in many cases it will be the chorus, for example--but you just need somewhere to start. You can call it inspiration or you can call it brainstorming; the end result is the same.
   
• If a phrase or verse just pops into your head out of the blue, you can use that as your starter phrase. This is what people often refer to as inspiration. If the phrase is particularly catchy and seems to summarize the story or describe the story's main idea, then you probably have a chorus--the lines that are repeated over and over again throughout a song. Otherwise you probably have a verse or part of a verse.
  
• If you want to write a ballad about a specific thing think about that thing and write down some key words and phrases that can be used to describe it. When one of these catches your fancy, you can build the rest of the ballad around it, maybe by using other words or phrases on your list or maybe by using entirely different words and phrases.
  
2. Complete the verse or chorus that contains your starter phrase. Ballads typically have four lines, of which two or more rhyme. Common rhyme schemes include aabb (where the word at the end of the first line rhymes with the word at the end of the second, and the word at the end of the third line rhymes with the word at the end of the fourth); and abcb (in which only the second and fourth lines rhyme). Build one verse around your starter phrase using these techniques. If the phrase you began with already has two or more lines, your task is that much easier.
   
• Some ballads have the chorus built into each verse. In these cases, the rhyme scheme is often abac, where the two-line chorus occupies the second and fourth lines ("b" and "c") of each verse.
  
• Use a consistent meter. The meter is basically the pattern of syllables in a song or poem. Most ballads use the same meter throughout the song, or the meter for the chorus may differ from that of the verses. Typically a ballad's meter will be either:
  
• Every line has the same number of syllables and the same number of accented syllables; or
  
• Lines that "go together" will have the same number of syllables and accented syllables. For example, in a ballad with an abac rhyme scheme, the "a" lines may each have 7 syllables, of which four are accented, while the "b" and "c" lines each have 6 syllables, of which 3 are accented.
  
3. Complete the remaining choruses and verses using your template. Once you have the first chorus or verse down, you just need to complete your story following the same structural guidelines you used for the first verse that you wrote. Don't be a slave to that structure, though. If you need to vary the length of a line or even of a verse here and there, go ahead and do it, and if you want to deviate from your rhyme pattern feel free to do so if it will make your poem better.
   
• If you first wrote the chorus, you can repeat that over and over throughout the song leaving it unchanged or changing it only slightly each time.
  
• If you first wrote a verse, you may find it easier to write the rest of the verses before trying to write the chorus.
  
4. Edit your ballad. Let a little time pass, and then come back to your ballad and edit it with fresh eyes and ears. If you got stuck on a line or two earlier--you couldn't find the right rhyme, for example, or there were just too many syllables--come back and see if you can fix them now. Cut out any unnecessary verses, leaving only what the story needs.
5. Once you have finished read it over so that you are happy with it, if you are not go through the steps again.
   
6. Whatever you do, do not plaugerize. Its just not worth it

Tips

. It's OK to write a ballad without music. A ballad is a form of lyrical poetry, which means
simply that it can be sung. It doesn't have to be.

• If you sing or hum as you go, sometimes the words will just flow. It's just the trick of getting started.
  
• Unless you're writing your poem for a school assignment, you probably won't begin by thinking, "I'm going to write a ballad." The ballad form simply works well for a number of songwriting / storytelling uses, and some songs just sort of fall into that form naturally.
  
• Don't be afraid to be creative with your rhymes. If you try to force all your rhymes to be perfect, your song's lyrics may end up sounding silly or nonsensical. While rhyme is typically important in a ballad, there's nothing to say that you can't "rhyme" home with alone or even song.
  
• It's not necessary to use four-line verses and choruses. While this is the most common ballad form, occasionally you'll find a ballad with, say, six lines, or one with a varying number of lines per chorus. Perhaps yours will be one of these.
  
• If you know the story you want to tell, but you're having trouble putting it into a poetic structure, write out the story first. Don't worry about putting the story into verse yet--just get it down. You may find it easier to organize once the story is written.
  
• If you don't know what the melody of your ballad should be, you can wait until melodic inspiration strikes you; you can sing your words to the tune of another ballad; or you can get somebody to put your poem to music.
  
• If you come up with a melody but can't write music, record yourself singing your ballad so you won't forget how it goes. Don't trust yourself to remember the melody until you've sung it many times.
  
• If you do want to make sure your lines rhyme, try rhymezone.com, but a couple of warnings. First, try typing the sound of the part of the word that rhymes, rather than the whole word. You'll get more options that way. Secondly, do not get so caught up in rhyming you can't make your ballad good. As above, it doesn't need to be perfect.

Warnings

. Because ballads are so easy to write, and because telling a story is so much fun, ballad
writers often tend to go overboard and want to include every clever verse and rhyme
that they can think of. Too many verses may weigh down the song and make it boring,
especially since the ballad form tends to be quite repetitive.

Related wikiHows

• How to Write a Song
  
• How to Write a Poem
  
• How to Write a Love Poem
  
• How to Write a Short Story
  
• How to Write a Salable Life Story
  
• How to Write an Autobiography
  
• How to Write a Children's Story
  
• How to Be a Poet

Sources and Citations

. Rhyme Zone Rhyming Dictionary and Thesaurus

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Write a Ballad. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How To-30: "How to Write a Tetactrys Poem"

How to Write a Tetactrys Poem

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

A Tetactrys Poem is a five line, structured poem that is easy to write.

Steps

1. Think of a topic for the poem or use one supplied for an assignment.
   
2. Write down as many words as possible related to the topic.
   
3. Pick a one syllable word to be the first line of the poem.
   
4. Pick a two syllable word or two one syllable words for the second line of the poem.
   
5. Pick a three syllable word or a combination of words to add up to three syllables for the third line of the poem.
   
6. Pick a four syllable work or a combination of words to add up to four syllables for the fourth line of the poem.
   
7. Look at your list of words that have not been used yet and look at the first four lines of the poem to see what is missing.
   
8. Create a ten syllable line for the last line of the poem.
   
9. Choose a title for the poem based on the five lines. There should be a theme that pops out that may or may not be the original topic.

Tips

• Remember each line of the poem has a different number of syllables. The first line has 1. The second line has 2. The third line has 3. The fourth line has 4. The fifth and final line has 10 syllables.
  
• Clap your hands to count the syllables in each line to make sure you have the correct count.
  
• Make sure the final line of the poem ties the whole poem together.

Warnings

• Don't count the title as one of the lines of the poem, even if it is one syllable long.

Related wikiHows

• How to Write a Poem
  
• How to Write a Haiku Poem
  
• How to Write a Love Poem
  
• How to Publish a Poem
  
• How to Write a Tyburn Poem

Sources and Citations

• Visit edonyourown.com for more information on writing tips and tetactrys poetry examples

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Write a Tetactrys Poem. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How To-29: "How to Write a Limerick Poem"

How to Write a Limerick Poem

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

This is how to write a Limerick. They are usually witty or humorous, and have five lines: the first two rhyme, the two in the middle rhyme, and the last line rhymes with the first two lines. (Rhyme-scheme: AABBA)

Steps

1. Pick what you would like your limerick to be about. It could be about mice, a tree, a person, whatever.
   
2. Start your first line. Don't end it with something you can't rhyme--like 'orange'. Start it like "there once was a man who ate limes" or something like that.
   
3. your next line has to rhyme with the first line. If you were using "there once was a man who ate limes", your second line could be like, "he ate them all the time" or "And sampled various wines" your limerick would now be like there once was a man who ate limes/ and sampled various wines.
   
4. The third and fourth lines have to be related to the first part of your limerick, but with not the same rhyme. they could be like, he wouldn't touch a tomato/ it tasted too much like potato or something along those lines.
   
5. The fifth (last) line must rhyme with the first two lines. your last line could be like, "and potatoes, you know, do not shine" or something like that.
   
6. your entire limerick would be kind of like this

There once was a man who ate limesand sampled various wineshe wouldn't touch a tomatoit tasted too much like potatoand potatoes, you know, do not shine.

Tips

• if you don't like your limerick, you can always go back and change it. It's not permanent.

Related wikiHows

• How to Write a Limerick
  
• How to Write Limericks
  
• How to Create a List of Rhyming Words for a Poem or Song

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Write a Limerick Poem. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How To-28: "How to Write a Villanelle"

How to Write a Villanelle

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Attempting this difficult French form of poetry can be challenging and fun. Here is the basis of the form.

Steps

1. Comprehend the form of this poetry. The villanelle has 19 lines, 5 stanzas of three lines and 1 stanza of four lines with two rhymes and two refrains. The 1st, then the 3rd lines alternate as the last lines of stanzas 2, 3, and 4, and then stanza 5 (the end) as a couplet. It is usually written in tetrameter (4 feet) or pentameter. The structure is provided with this example by Edward Arlington Robinson:
   
• line 1 - a - 1st refrain-Since Persia fell at Marathon
  
• line 2 - b The yellow years have gathered fast
  
• line 3- a- 2nd refrain- Long centuries have come and gone.
  
• line 4 - a - And yet(they say) the place will don
  
• line 5 - b A phantom fury of the past,
  
• line 6 - a - 1st refrain- Since Persia fell at Marathon;
  
• line 7 - a And as of old when Helicon
  
• line 8 - b Trembled and swayed with rapture vast
  
• line 9-a -2nd refrain-(Long centuries have come and gone).
  
• line 10 - a The ancient plain, when nigh comes on,
  
• line 11 - b Shakes to a ghostly battle blast,
  
• line 12 - a - 1st refrain- Since Persia fell at Marathon
  
• line 13 - a But into soundless Acheron
  
• line 14 - b The glory of Greek shame was cast:
  
• line 15- a -2nd refrain- Long centuries have come and gone,
  
• line 16 - a The suns of hellas have all shone,
  
• line 17 - b The first has fallen to the last;--
  
• line 18-a - 1st refrain- Since Persia fell at Marathon,
  
• line 19-a- 2nd refrain- Long centuries have come and gone.
  
2. Pay special attention to the placement of the refrain and the rhyme pattern formed by the last word of each line.
   
3. Choose the subject for your villanelle carefully. It is a difficult form that repeats two lines multiple times. Ask yourself if your subject is one that can be handled with these limitations.
   
4. Once you've settled on an idea, work out the rhyme and compile two lists of words that rhyme.
   
5. Write the first and second refrain as two lines that follow a complete thought. For instance Dylan Thomas's two lines from his famous villanelle: "Do not go gentle into that goodnight/Rage, rage against the dying of a light."
   
6. Take those lines and place them in the framework given above. This will be the basis for the villanelle and look, and 42% of the poem is already complete.
   
7. Now comes the hard part. Fill in the eleven remaining lines to make a cohesive poem.
   
8. Read the poem aloud to a large audience and bow.

Tips

• Even the crustiest English professors and most brilliant of all literary minds struggle with the villanelle so don't sweat it.
  
• Choose a small subject that fascinates you.
  
• Villanelles originated as a musical form and sound terrific read or sung aloud. They also sound better in French or Italian.
  
• Read Elizabeth Bishop's villanelle "One Art" and Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle Into that Goodnight" for Inspiration.
  
• Meter the lines so they maintain a rhythm and are of the same length. They are traditionally in tetrameter or pentameter in English but can work in free verse as well.

Warnings

• Too large a topic can overburden the form. Simple is best.

Related wikiHows

• How to Write a Poem
  
• How to Write a Love Poem
  
• How to Write a Ballad
  
• How to Write a Children's Story
  
• How to Write a Tanka Poem

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Write a Villanelle. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How To-27: "How to Write a Tyburn Poem"

How to Write a Tyburn Poem

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

A Tyburn poem is a unique form of poem, consisting of 6 lines. Its structure depends on using syllables in a specific way. The first four lines must consist of 2 syllable words and the last two lines must consist of 9 syllables: 2,2,2,2,9,9 syllables. Have a try and enjoy it!

Steps

1. Write the first four lines. The first through fourth lines are 2 syllable words that describe whatever your poem is about. They all have to be different, and they all must rhyme.
   
2. Write the last two lines. The last two lines are nine syllables (whew!) and the sixth through eighth syllables must be the words you used from lines 1 through 4. In any order, but it has to be those words. The last two lines have to rhyme with each other, but not necessarily with the first four lines.
   
3. Try to take a second, and vizualize your topic, and imagine that you're doing it, or being with it, or whatever. You should do that before anything else. Then just sit in a relaxed place, where there's not too much to disturb you, and just let your mind flow down into your arms (hopefully not literally), down to your hands, and just out through your pencil, to the creases of your paper. It really does work! Good luck!

Tips

• Getting to be really good at writing poetry takes a really long time, so don't expect to get it perfectly right the very first time. If you really enjoy it, you might want to consider an occupation that involves it. But keep in mind that poetry is not for everyone.

Warnings

• Don't get too stressed out over writing poetry. If you do, then it will just make it harder to write, and prevent you from really writing from the heart
  
• Try not to do poetry at the last minute because you will usually not do as good as a job as you would if you worked on it a little bit each night, or more, if it inspires you.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil/pens/erasers - these are very important!
  
• A nice, peaceful, quiet place
  
• Something to write on (paper, cardboard, etc.)
  
• An open and waiting mind

Related wikiHows

• How to Write a Villanelle
  
• How to Write a Poem
  
• How to Write a Ballad
  
• How to Write a Tanka Poem
  
• How to Write a Love Poem
  
• How to Write a Tetactrys Poem
  
• How to Write a Limerick Poem
  
• How to Write a Poem About Nature

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Write a Tyburn Poem. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How To-26: "How to Analyze Poetry"

How to Analyze Poetry

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Reading and understanding poetry can seem like a daunting task. Follow these steps to begin to "unpeel the layers" of your favorite poem. It may take a lot of work, but that's what makes poetry so beautiful: the payoff is very rewarding.

Steps

1. First reactions. The first time you read through a poem, record any “gut reactions” you have to the poem: any emotional connections you have with what the author is saying, reminders of personal experiences, things you like or dislike, etc. Think in terms of, “How do I feel about this? Why?” These reactions can help you focus on the type of response the poet is looking for in a reader.
   
2. Literal meaning. Translate the poem into conversational English. How would you tell the poem’s story to a friend? Think in terms of, “What’s the most common dictionary definition of this word or phrase?” This can be a difficult step, but remember that all good poetry, even when it seems incredibly inaccessible, is still based on words that carry literal meaning.
   
3. Connotative meaning. Take several key words or phrases from the poem and consider the kinds of connotations they carry. Think in terms of, “Why this word and not another?” Refer to your first reactions: often connotative meanings, rather than denotative, are what engage our emotions.
   
• Take the word “mother,” for example. The dictionary would define mother as “a female parent.” OK, but the word “mother” probably creates emotions and feelings in you: it paints a picture in your mind. You may think of love and security or you may think of your own mother. The emotions and feelings that a word creates are called its connotative meaning. See this page for more help on connotation.
  
4. Symbolic meaning. Record any allusions you recognize, references to symbols, etc. Think in terms of, “What could this stand for? Why?”
   
• For example, consider the word "light." This may not refer to the literal condition that means the opposite of darkness; often "light" is used to symbolize knowledge, truth, peace, joy, or spirituality.
  
5. At this point, stop and ask yourself, “What is the author trying to say? What is his goal for this poem? What kind of a reaction is he trying to get out of readers? Why?” Try to identify the author’s purpose for writing.
   
6. Analysis from here on out will probably help you examine how the author accomplishes that affect or meets that goal, rather than what that affect or goal is.
   
7. Prosody. Analyze the poem in terms of poetic devices. Look for tools of form and format (shape, rhyme, meter, etc.), sound (alliteration, assonance, etc.), imagery (sensory detail, word pictures, etc.) and so forth. Think in terms of, "What kind of language tools is this author using? How do those tools help him accomplish his goal?"
   
• See this website for a list of possible literary devices you can look for and their definitions.
  
8. Narrative Arc. Read through the poem like a story: all poems have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Try to identify a crisis, or a problem presented by the poem and how the author fixes it. Think in terms of, "Why is the poem set up like this? Is the crisis truly resolved at the end? Why or why not?"

Tips

• If you're still having trouble understanding what the author is trying to say through the poem, go back and read through it a few more times. Pay attention to the kinds of emotions the poem relates to. Often a poet's goal will be simply to help readers feel a certain way or sense the reality of an imagined scene.

Warnings

• Try not to get frustrated. Some poetry can be very challenging to understand. All in all, just practice! Don't give up. Learning to appreciate complex poetry is a skill that takes time to develop.

Related wikiHows

• How to Understand the Book You Are Reading
  
• How to Write a Paper for College Literature Classes
  
• How to Write a Poem
  
• How to Become Inspired to Write Poetry
  
• How to Write Serious Gothic Poetry
  
• How to Turn Poetry Into Lyrics

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Analyze Poetry. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How To-25: "How to Read Poetry out Loud"

How to Read Poetry out Loud

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

"A word is dead/
When it is said,/
Some say./
I say/
It just begins to live/
That day."- Emily Dickinson
It's a safe bet that, if you like the arts or take English or writing classes, you'll be called upon to recite or read a poem. This guide will aid you in doing just that.

Steps

1. In the days (or even just minutes, in some classes) leading up to the recitation or reading, practice. First, read the poem and quiz yourself on it until you know it by heart. Practice it as often as you can.
   
2. Prepare yourself for the actual presentation. Drink a glass of water before hand to moisten your throat for the reading. If you have a fear of public speaking, try breathing exercises to calm yourself. Practice once or twice before you make your presentation. Make sure you can recite your poem perfectly.
   
3. Recite or read the poem. Don't read like a robot, put emotion into your project! Depending on the situation, you can glitz it up and use inflection or movement to make a point.
   
4. After you're done, get another sip or two of water, and calm down. It's over, you did great. If you think you didn't perform well, you have more motivation for next time. But it's nothing to stress about any longer.

Tips

• Don't think of it as just something for a show or project, think of it was a future conversation piece or a trick for calming babies.
  
• Make sure you know where the breaks and punctuation are in the poem. Also make sure you know how to read it. Is is sing-song or gravely serious?

Warnings

• This isn't a guide to help stage fright. This isn't for writing poetry. This is simply a guide on how to read it properly.
  
• Don't read like a robot! Nothing messes up a great poem like someone reading it like they've never practiced or never use emotion.

Related wikiHows

• How to Become Inspired to Write Poetry
  
• How to Master the Basics of Poetry
  
• How to Write Emotional Poetry
  
• How to Be a Poet

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Read Poetry out Loud. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Poem of the day-42: "Travel" by R.L.Stevenson

I should like to rise and go
Where the golden apples grow;--
Where below another sky
Parrot islands anchored lie,
And, watched by cockatoos and goats,
Lonely Crusoes building boats;--
Where in sunshine reaching out
Eastern cities, miles about,
Are with mosque and minaret
Among sandy gardens set,
And the rich goods from near and far
Hang for sale in the bazaar;--
Where the Great Wall round China goes,
And on one side the desert blows,
And with the voice and bell and drum,
Cities on the other hum;--
Where are forests hot as fire,
Wide as England, tall as a spire,
Full of apes and cocoa-nuts
And the negro hunters' huts;--
Where the knotty crocodile
Lies and blinks in the Nile,
And the red flamingo flies
Hunting fish before his eyes;--
Where in jungles near and far,
Man-devouring tigers are,
Lying close and giving ear
Lest the hunt be drawing near,
Or a comer-by be seen
Swinging in the palanquin;--
Where among the desert sands
Some deserted city stands,
All its children, sweep and prince,
Grown to manhood ages since,
Not a foot in street or house,
Not a stir of child or mouse,
And when kindly falls the night,
In all the town no spark of light.
There I'll come when I'm a man
With a camel caravan;
Light a fire in the gloom
Of some dusty dining room;
See the pictures on the walls,
Heroes, fights and festivals;
And in a corner find the toys
Of the old Egyptian boys.

From "A Child's Garden of Verses" by Robert Louis Stevenson

Detailed Wikipedia article on "Robert Louis Stevenson":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Louis_Stevenson

Grateful thanks to Project Gutenberg and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Shakespeare's Sonnets-10:

For shame! deny that thou bear'st love to any,
Who for thy self art so unprovident.
Grant, if thou wilt, thou art belov'd of many,
But that thou none lov'st is most evident:
For thou art so possess'd with murderous hate,
That 'gainst thy self thou stick'st not to conspire,
Seeking that beauteous roof to ruinate
Which to repair should be thy chief desire.
O! change thy thought, that I may change my mind:
Shall hate be fairer lodg'd than gentle love?
Be, as thy presence is, gracious and kind,
Or to thyself at least kind-hearted prove:
Make thee another self for love of me,
That beauty still may live in thine or thee.

Poem of the day-41: "A Cradle Song" by William Blake

Sweet dreams form a shade
O'er my lovely infants head.
Sweet dreams of pleasant streams,
By happy silent moony beams

Sweet sleep with soft down,
Weave thy brows an infant crown.
Sweet sleep Angel mild,
Hover o'er my happy child.

Sweet smiles in the night,
Hover over my delight.
Sweet smiles Mothers smiles
All the livelong night beguiles.

Sweet moans, dovelike sighs,
Chase not slumber from thy eyes,
Sweet moans, sweeter smiles,
All the dovelike moans beguiles.

Sleep sleep happy child.
All creation slept and smil'd.
Sleep sleep, happy sleep,
While o'er thee thy mother weep

Sweet babe in thy face,
Holy image I can trace.
Sweet babe once like thee,
Thy maker lay and wept for me

Wept for me for thee for all,
When he was an infant small.
Thou his image ever see.
Heavenly face that smiles on thee.

Smiles on thee on me on all,
Who became an infant small,
Infant smiles are his own smiles,
Heaven & earth to peace beguiles.