We are learning to identify features of poetry.
Read the following poem by Valarie Bloom.
Pirates
The night was as dark as an ink well,
For the moon had gone visiting elsewhere,
But by the scuffling sounds around me,
I knew there was someone there.
By the grunt and the groan and the muffled shout,
I knew there was someone else about.
I knew he had come here to rob me,
Take my silver, my jewels and gold,
In the dark I had the advantage,
It was as if he had a blindfold,
But I was fine, knew the lay of the land,
Each bit as familiar as the back of my hand.
He was caught in the second trap I’d set,
I heard him yelp with pain,
But he was getting closer,
And I reached for my weapon again,
I was willing to die for what was mine,
ready to strike if he crossed the line.
So I stood there over my treasure,
On the X which marked the spot,
Then suddenly he was behind me,
My stomach twisted into a knot.
Then Dad came in, turned on the light,
Said, ‘Time to stop playing. Sleep well. Good night.’
This is an example of a ballad. Can you find out what a ballad is?
Task 1
Answer the following questions about this poem
- How many verses are in this poem?
- Can you find any rhyming pairs of words?
- What is the simile used in verse 1?
- What time of day is this poem taking place?
- What was the list that the write put in verse 2?
Task 2
Can you think of other writing devices that weren’t used in this poem? Try and write some examples for these devices that would fit into the story in this poem.
eg:
alliteration – The pirates shiny, silver sword slashed through the sky.
