Introduction to Poetry
Senior 2 · English
Introduction to Poetry
Lesson 1 of 5
22 min
Rwanda has a rich tradition of poetry. There are ibisigo, the dynastic poems that recorded the deeds of kings; amazina y'inka, poems in praise of cattle; and ibyivugo, the heroic self-praise poems once recited by warriors. Today you hear poetry at weddings, in songs, at commemoration ceremonies and in spoken-word performances in Kigali.
This unit introduces poetry written in English. You will learn to read, understand, recite and write poems. In this first lesson you will meet a poem about something nobody can see.
This poem by the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) was published in 1885 in A Child's Garden of Verses. It is in the public domain. Read it aloud twice.
The Wind
I saw you toss the kites on high
And blow the birds about the sky;
And all around I heard you pass,
Like ladies' skirts across the grass—
O wind, a-blowing all day long,
O wind, that sings so loud a song!I saw the different things you did,
But always you yourself you hid.
I felt you push, I heard you call,
I could not see yourself at all—
O wind, a-blowing all day long,
O wind, that sings so loud a song!O you that are so strong and cold,
O blower, are you young or old?
Are you a beast of field and tree,
Or just a stronger child than me?
O wind, a-blowing all day long,
O wind, that sings so loud a song!
Word help: toss (throw lightly upwards); on high (high in the sky); a-blowing (an old form of blowing); beast (a wild animal).
Who is the speaker talking to?
The wind. The speaker addresses it directly as "you" and "O wind".
What is the speaker's problem in stanza 2?
The speaker can see what the wind does and can feel and hear it, but can never see the wind itself.
What does the speaker wonder in stanza 3?
Whether the wind is young or old, and whether it is a wild animal or just a child stronger than the speaker.
Poetry is writing arranged in lines that uses the sound, rhythm and images of words to express feelings and ideas in a concentrated way. A poem is one piece of poetry, and a poet is the person who writes it.
Prose is ordinary writing in sentences and paragraphs, like a story, a letter or this lesson. Compare this prose version of the poem, written by Ganzaa:
All day the wind blew kites and birds around the sky, and I could hear it moving through the grass, but I could never see it. I wondered whether it was a strong animal or just a child who was stronger than me.
The facts are the same, but much is lost: the beat, the rhymes, the repeated cry "O wind", the picture of skirts brushing across grass, and the feeling of a child talking to something mysterious.
| Poetry | Prose |
|---|---|
| written in lines; the poet decides where each line ends | written in sentences; the line ends wherever the page ends |
| grouped in stanzas | grouped in paragraphs |
| often has rhythm and rhyme | usually no regular rhythm or rhyme |
| concentrated: every word counts | explains more fully |
| written to be heard aloud | usually read silently |
A group of lines repeated through a poem, like "O wind, a-blowing all day long, / O wind, that sings so loud a song!", is called a refrain.
Stevenson writes: I saw you toss the kites, I heard you pass, I felt you push. After verbs of the senses (see, hear, feel, watch, notice) we use an object and then either:
Worked example. Choose: I heard the wind (blow / blowing) all night long. The wind was blowing for a long time, and the speaker heard it continuing, so blowing fits best. But: I heard the door (slam / slamming) once. One short, complete action → slam.
Never use to in this pattern: I saw you to toss the kites is wrong.
Turn this prose into three or four lines of poetry. You choose where the lines break. Rhyme is optional.
The rain came down on the tin roof of our classroom so loudly that the teacher stopped talking and we all laughed.
Model:
The rain beat drums on our tin roof,
so loud our teacher's words fell still;
we laughed, and the laughing rain laughed too.
Tip
Poetry = lines + stanzas + sound. Prose = sentences + paragraphs.
When you recite, obey the punctuation, not the line ending. That one habit makes you sound like a reader who understands the poem.
How many stanzas does "The Wind" have, and how many lines are in each?
Solution: three stanzas of six lines each (18 lines in all).
What is the refrain of the poem?
Solution: "O wind, a-blowing all day long, / O wind, that sings so loud a song!", the last two lines of every stanza.
Give the main function of amazina y'inka.
Solution: to praise cattle.
Complete with the correct form: We watched the fishermen ___ (pull) in their nets on Lake Kivu until sunset.
Solution: pulling. The action was in progress while we watched. (pull is also possible if we saw the whole action from start to finish.)
Give two differences between poetry and prose.
Solution (any two): poetry is in lines and stanzas, prose in sentences and paragraphs; poetry often has rhythm and rhyme; poetry is more concentrated; poetry is meant to be heard.
Remember
Sources and credits
