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

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.  Arranged
to 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
and which you were probably saving for breakfast.
Forgive me; they were delicious – so sweet and so cold.
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?
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
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
I
have
eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were
probably
saving
for
breakfast
Forgive me
How do the stanza breaks influence the
reading of the poem?
they were
delicious
so sweet
and so cold

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

19.  What
happens 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.