Poetry is a language spoken around the world.
Although you may not regularly sit down and read poetry, chances are you are exposed to some form of it every day. Do you jump rope? If you do, you may sing a song like this to keep your feet moving.
Down by the seashore, down by the sea,
Johnny broke a bottle and blamed it on me.
I told ma, ma told pa,
Johnny got a spanking, ha-ha-ha!
If you jump rope, sing or rap, you are participating in a form of language art that has been around for thousands of years! Recently, poetry has been reinvented through poetry "slams." At poetry slams, poets perform to a lively, critical audience. But, no matter what form poetry takes, all poems use words to express ideas, feelings, thoughts and images.
National Poetry Month is celebrated in April each year.
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Rita Dove 1952 - In 1987, Rita Dove was one of the youngest poets to win a Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Dove also became the youngest poet laureate of the United States in 1993. Currently, Dove is a...
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So, Tom used simile and metaphor in his poem. He even gave it a name! Small Victory Like enormous snails a bunch of munching cows cross the road, chewing their cuds as green, gloppy paste drips from...
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Edgar Allan Poe 1809 - 1849 In 1826, Edgar Allan Poe entered the University of Virginia. He was a successful student, but had a problem with gambling, for which he was forced to leave. After a short...
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Rocking The sea rocks her thousands of waves. The sea is divine. Hearing the loving sea I rock my son. The wind wandering by night Rocks the wheat. Hearing the loving wind I rock my son. God, the...
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Fleas Interest Me So Much Fleas interest me so much They are perfect, ancient, Sanskrit, machines that admit of no appeal. They do not bite to eat, they bite only to jump; they are the dancers of the...
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Pat Mora (1942 - ) Pat Mora is a writer of numerous children's books of poetry and prose. Mora is a native of El Paso, Texas and her work often features local interests, such as her family, the...
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China The written form of Chinese poetry is believed to be over 22,000 years old. The first collection of Chinese poetry, The Book of Songs, was created between the 11th century and 2nd century B.C...
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Emily Dickinson 1830 - 1886 Emily Dickinson rarely left her home in Massachusetts, and her connection to the outside world was usually through letter writing. But Dickinson's creativity seemed to...
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While Visiting on the South Stream the Taoist Priest Chang Walking along a little path, I find a footprint on the moss, A white cloud low on the quiet lake, Grasses that sweeten an idle door, A pine...
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Deer-Park Hermitage There seems to be no one on the empty mountain... And yet I think I hear a voice, Where sunlight, entering a grove, Shines back to me from the green moss. - Wang Wei
