What is a Poem?

What is a Poem? — page 1 — WHAT IS A POEM What Is a Poem poem is a piece of writing that has rhythm like a song To feel this rhythm it helps to read poems aloud Poems are wonderful ways of describing how something looks feels or sounds often through rhyming words Poems have been written for thousands of years Poems from the Chinese Book of Songs are up to 3 000 years old Some early poems came from ancient folk songs O Some poems might be used to describe a wonderful scene such as a beautiful sunset over the

What is a Poem? — page 2 — WHAT IS A POEM Other poems came from stories that were told aloud and passed down from one generation to the next Poems have been written in every country from Australia to Zambia There are poems for adults and there are also children's poems STORYTELLERS Shel Silverstein wrote great poems for children Look for his poems Snowball Sick or Vegetables in a book or on the Internet When you read a poem try to read it aloud so you can hear the poem s

What is a Poem? — page 3 — WHAT IS A POEM Different Kinds of Poems oets write down words to share a feeling or idea with the reader Poets can express their feelings or ideas by writing different kinds of poems Narrative poems tell a story limericks are often fun and rhyming poems and haiku poems usually follow a specific pattern and describe nature Poets choose their words carefully so each word creates just the right feeling or idea Poets use words to tell a Some poems are meant to excite the reader They may end with a surprise that is completely unexpected 6

What is a Poem? — page 4 — DIFFERENT KINDS OF POEMS message To help make the message stay with the reader a poet might choose to make rhymes at the end of the lines of a poem The poet may also use a special rhythm to further share the feeling or idea of the poem Imagine drums making the sound DUM dum DUM dum DUM dum DUM dum where the stress is on the first DUM Poets choose words to create a beat just like this Stress is when one word or sound is given special importance so it stands out from the other words and sounds in a

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