IXL | Identify elements of poetry | 10th grade language arts

Choose the poem that uses anaphora.

I looked and saw a sea

roofed over with rainbows,

In the midst of each

two lovers met and departed.

There are only myself and you in the world,

There are only myself and you;

'Tis clear, then, that I unto you should be kind,

And that you unto me should be true.

From Ezra Pound, "The Sea of Glass" and from H. Lavinia Baily, "Myself and You"

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question

Choose the poem that uses onomatopoeia.

Up from the river came

The low and sullen roar

Of lions, with eyes of flame,

That haunted its reedy shore,

And the neigh of the hippopotamus.

Every man has got a hobby,

Every poet has some fault,

Every sweet contains its bitter,

Every fresh thing has its salt.

Every mountain has a valley.

From Maria Lowell, "Africa" and from George Reginald Margetson, "Stanzas from the Fledgling Bard and the Poetry Society"

key idea

Poets often use the sounds of words to create interesting effects and to express moods and emotions. Understanding these elements of poetry can help you better interpret and appreciate poetic forms.

Anaphora is the repetition of words or sequences of words at the beginning of multiple phrases, sentences, or lines.

Out of the cradle endlessly rocking,

Out of the mocking-bird's throat, the musical shuttle,

Out of the Ninth-month midnight

—From Walt Whitman, "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking"

Onomatopoeia is when language sounds like what it talks about.

Sometimes the onomatopoeia uses made-up words:

Tlot-tlot! tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse hoofs ringing clear.

—From Alfred Noyes, "The Highwayman"

Sometimes the onomatopoeia uses real words:

Hark! the honey bee is humming.

—From Mary Howitt, "The Voice of Spring"

Alliteration is when beginning consonant sounds are repeated in words that are close together.

Where the wild men watched and waited

Wolves in the forest, and bears in the bush.

—From Bayard Taylor, "A Night with a Wolf"

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds. Often, assonance can create rhymes or near-rhymes within lines.

I wandered lonely as a Cloud

That floats on high o'er Vales and Hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host of golden Daffodils.

—From William Wordsworth, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"

Meter is a poem's rhythm, or the pattern of strong and weak syllables. Strong syllables are stressed, while weak syllables are unstressed.

A poem has an iambic meter when the beat sounds like da-DUM. A weak syllable is followed by a strong syllable. Occasionally, a line may begin with a strong syllable.

He watches from his mountain walls,

And like a thunderbolt he falls.

—From Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "The Eagle"

A poem has a trochaic meter when the beat sounds like DUM-da. A strong syllable is followed by a weak syllable. Occasionally, a line may end in a strong syllable.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,

Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.

—From Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven"

Free verse is when a poem has neither a regular rhythm nor a rhyme pattern.

The old bridge has a wrinkled face.

He bends his back

For us to go over.

—From Hilda Conkling, "The Old Bridge"

The syllables in bold are strong. You can see this poem does not have a regular rhythm. It also doesn't have a rhyme pattern.

solution

This poem uses onomatopoeia. It uses language that sounds like what it talks about.

Up from the river came

The low and sullen roar

Of lions, with eyes of flame,

That haunted its reedy shore,

And the neigh of the hippopotamus.

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