3.  They’re our signal that a text is poetry, not
prose.
 They can create rhythm.
 They control the pace/speed of a poem.
 They can emphasize words or ideas.
 May contain breaks called caesuras (usually
indicated by punctuation or spacing)
 Can differ from line to line

4.  When people read your poem out loud, or in
their heads, they will pause slightly at the end
of each line.
 For example: I bet you can figure out where
the line breaks should be in this example:
Hickory, dickory, dock the mouse ran up the clock the clock
struck one and down he run hickory, dickory, dock.

5. Hickory, dickory, dock.
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one
And down he run;
Hickory, dickory, dock.

6.  Lines control the pace of Power word:
the poem. Shortening or
lengthening the lines can
speed up or slow down
the way people read.
 Is the following fast or slow? a break in the line that
a wind shakes
pulls the reader into the
them but they next line.
won’t go oh
no there goes
one now. No.

7. Crippled with desire, he
questioned it. Evening
upon the heights,
juice of the pomegranate:
who
could connect it with sunlight?
Crippled
with desire, he questioned
it. Evening
upon the heights, juice
of the pomegranate:
who could
connect it with sunlight?

8.  Arrangedto emphasize and compliment the
other (musical, contextual, etc.) elements of
language

11.  How the poem looks on the page - Does the
poem look light, delicate, with a lot of white
space around the lines? Or are the lines packed
solidly together?

12. William Carlos Williams’
“This Is Just to Say”
in Varied Forms

13. This is just to say I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox
and which you were probably saving for breakfast. Forgive me;
they were delicious – so sweet and so cold.
This Is Just to Say
I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox
and which you were probably saving for breakfast.
Forgive me; they were delicious – so sweet and so cold.
What’s the difference between these two poems?

14. This Is Just to Say This Is Just to Say
I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox I
and which you were probably saving for breakfast. have
Forgive me; they were delicious – so sweet and so cold. eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were
probably
saving
for
breakfast
Forgive me
they were
What’s the difference between these two delicious
poems? so sweet
and so cold
What effect do the shorter lines have?

16.  Stanza is Italian for “room”
• Think of stanzas of a poem as rooms of a house
 Indicates a pause
 Often coincides with the rhythm of a poem/song.
 Used strictly in forms
 Prevents confusion (through organization)/
boredom in readers
 Poem’s form of a paragraph
 Best thing? There’s no right or wrong way to
divide one of your own poems.

17. This Is Just to Say This Is Just to Say
I I
have have
eaten eaten
the plums
that were in the plums
the icebox that were in
and which
you were the icebox
probably
saving and which
for you were
breakfast probably
Forgive me saving
they were
delicious for
so sweet breakfast
and so cold
Forgive me
they were
delicious
How do the stanza breaks influence the so sweet
reading of the poem? and so cold

18. This Is Just to Say This Is Just to Say
I I have eaten
have the plums
eaten that were in
the icebox
the plums
that were in and which
you were probably
the icebox saving
for breakfast
and which
you were Forgive me
probably they were delicious
saving so sweet
and so cold
for
breakfast
Forgive me
they were How do the stanza breaks influence the
delicious reading of the poem?
so sweet
and so cold

19.  Whathappens when you break a line/stanza
mid-sentence?

21.  Justification (left, right, center)
 Font
• Typeface
• Size
• Bold/italics/underline
 Shape of poems
 Tabs
 Space between words

22. attack my mind with
complete and utter chaos.
- Ashley J.