Creative Writing

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Writing Poetry
Poetry
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This is an excerpt from the “Writing Poetry” presentation in Boardworks
English for Australia, which contains 235 presentations in total.

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Learning objectives
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Read examples of narrative poetry, lyric poetry
and free verse
Analyse and discuss the features of each poetic
form
Write your own mini-collection of poems

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Why write poetry?

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Narrative poetry: ballads

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In what ways does this poem conform
to the rules of narrative poetry?
Narrative poetry: ‘First Love’
‘First Love’ by John Clare
I ne’er was struck before that hour
With love so sudden and so sweet
Her face it bloomed like a sweet flower
And stole my heart away complete.
My face turned pale as deadly pale,
My legs refused to walk away,
And when she looked, what could I ail?
My life and all seemed turned to clay…

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Narrative poetry always tells a story. Using one or more of
the pictures below to prompt your imagination,
write a short narrative poem.
Activity 1: narrative poetry

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Lyric poetry
An example of a lyric poem is ‘Delay’ by Elizabeth Jennings.
Read it then answer the questions.
What moment leads the poet to express her
feelings in this poem?
What do you think the theme of this poem is?
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Lyric poetry: sonnets and elegies
A sonnet is a lyric poem of
fourteen lines in iambic
pentameter, linked by a
pre-set rhyme scheme.
There are two types of
sonnet: Shakespearean
and Petrarchan.
Sonnets often have love as
their theme.
Elegies do not have a set form.
An elegy mourns the loss of a
person, place or object.
Sonnets and elegies are both forms of lyric poetry.

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Lyric poem: sonnet

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Lyric poetry: elegy

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Free verse
Free verse is poetry that does not conform to a fixed rhythm
or rhyme scheme. Many modern poets choose to use free
verse rather than a traditional poetic form.
What do you think the advantages or disadvantages of
using free verse might be?
Read and listen to this short free verse poem:
‘The Mosquito Knows’ by D H Lawrence
The mosquito knows full well, small as he is
he's a beast of prey. But after all
he only takes his bellyful,
he doesn't put my blood in the bank.

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Imagine that you have been commissioned by a publisher to
write your own mini-collection of three poems.
Write one narrative poem, one lyric poem and one poem in
free verse for your collection. Try to write about subjects
which you are interested in and which inspire you!
Writing poetry
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Figurative language

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Activity 2: use of metaphor
Create your own poem which uses metaphors and
figurative language. You might want to include some of the
images you liked from the fruit machine activity.
You could write about:
the moon
rain
lightning
fire.
Share your poem with your partner.
Circle one of their metaphors and explain its effect.