English - Shakespeare

We are starting to look at Shakespeare in English.


Shakespeare was very famous in his own time, not only after he died, and he wrote many poems and plays.  His works are still studied by students, even though they were written in old english speech and are difficult to understand in modern times.  Although you can still get the gist of what was going on when you read or listen to them.



Image Source:  wilsonsalmanac.com


I found two books in our small village library:


Much do about Nothing - The Graphic Shakespeare series retold by Hilary Burningham



and


Shakespeare - The Alexander text of the complete works of Shakespeare (Collins)

Looking at the content page of this book, one can see that Shakespeare wrote so many plays.

Some of these are:

Hamlet

Macbeth

Much Ado about Nothing

Romeo and Juliet

Midsummers-night's Dream

The Winters Tale

King Lear

Othello

Twelfth Night

The Merchant of Venice

A Comedy of Errors

The Merry Wives of Windsor

Two Gentleman of Verona

The Tempest.

Here is a little on Shakespeare:

William Shakespeare  was born in April 1564 in an English Town called Stratford-upon-Avon.  His parents were John Shakespeare and Mary Arden.

Although William Shakespeare's parents were both said to be illiterate, it is assumed that William attended the King Edward IV Grammar School.  His father had a good standing and was an alderman.   A School's curriculum and the Elizabethan education of children was based on the religion of the ruling  monarch of the time, which varied from Catholic to Protestant during his school years. William Shakespeare, was finally withdrawn from school and education at the age of fourteen in 1578 due to the financial problems being experienced by his father, who was no longer in favour, as he was Catholic. 

To learn more about Elizabethan schools and times - 

http://www.william-shakespeare.org.uk/education-of-william-shakespeare.htm

William married Anne Hathaway in 1582, at the age 22 years. The next year they had a daughter who they named Susanna.  Two years later they had twins, who were named Judith and Hamnet.  (Sadly his son, Hamnet dies at the age of eleven).

Shakespeare became well-known as an actor, poet and playwright and several years later he joined up with one of the most successful acting troupe's in London: The Lord Chamberlain's Men.

After James I came to rule in 1603, Shakespeare and and his acting troupe were called the Kings Men and they were charged to "freely use and exercise the art and faculty of playing Comedies, Tragedies, Histories, Interludes, Morals, Pastorals, stage plays ... as well for recreation of our loving subjects as for our solace and pleasure."

He retired from the stage in 1613 after a fire consumed the theatre where they were performing Henry VII.  Even so, Shakespeare invested in the rebuilding of the theatre.

He continued to write until his death in 1616.

REF:

http://www.shakespeare-literature.com/

http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-biography-childhood-and-education.htm

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Shakespeare's birthplace:

Stratford-upon-Avon is an area  in Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon.  

The town is a popular tourist destination, as it in the birthplace of the playwright and poet William Shakespeare.  It receives approx. 3 million visitors a year from all over the world. The Royal Shakespeare Company resides in Stratford's Royal Shakespeare Theatre, one of Britain's most important cultural venues.  Stratford is close to the Cotswolds.

Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratford-upon-Avon

English Poetry - The Toadstool Wood by James Reeves

The Toadstool Wood by James Reeves

The toadstool wood is dark and mouldy,

and has a ferny smell.

About the trees hang something quiet

and queer - like a spell.

Beneath the arching sprays of bramble

Small creatures make their holes;

Over the moss's close green velvet

The stilted spider strolls.

The stalks of toadstools pale and slender

That grow form the old log,

Bars they might be to imprison

A prince turned to a frog.

There lives no mumblin witch nor wizard

In this uncanny place,

Yet you might think you saw at twilight

A little, crafty face.

*the study here - was how the poem makes you feel?  Is the wood mysterious or really unpleasant?  

*Senses - words that appeal to the senses have been used such as dark, ferny, mouldy.  Identify the sense and then change the word to make the poem lighter and more pleasant.

About the Poet

James Reeves was born John Morris Reeves in 1909, in the London suburb of Harrow-on-the-Hill.

He was a teacher at various schools and colleges from 1933 to 1952 and became a full-time author and editor in 1952.

His 1st book of poems for children -THE WANDERING MOON, appeared in 1950.   

Altogether he published nearly 30 books of poetry, stories and anthologies for both adults and children. He was also well known as a literary critic and broadcaster prior to his death in 1978.

Source:  www.bookrags.com/James_Reeves , http://www.lauracecil.co.uk/pages/Clients/Clients_Fiction/Reeves/Reeves_home.html, 

You can also read about him here:  http://firstknownwhenlost.blogspot.com/2010/07/neglected-poets-james-reeves.html

Another of his poems is:

THE SEA

The sea is a hungry dog,
Giant and grey.
He rolls on the beach all day.
With his clashing teeth and shaggy jaws
Hour upon hour he gnaws
The rumbling, tumbling stones,
And 'Bones, bones, bones, bones! '
The giant sea-dog moans,
Licking his greasy paws.

And when the night wind roars
And the moon rocks in the stormy cloud,
He bounds to his feet and snuffs and sniffs,
Shaking his wet sides over the cliffs,
And howls and hollos long and loud.

But on quiet days in May or June,
When even the grasses on the dune
Play no more their reedy tune,
With his head between his paws
He lies on the sandy shores, 

So quiet, so quiet, he scarcely snores.

Source:  http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-sea-36/

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Other links:  

Lists of sensory words per sense (hear, see, taste etc.)  - really useful for writing http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/662095-Sensory-Words

Best Kids Poetry Websites  http://www.squidoo.com/k12interactivepoetry

Poetry Blog

This person posts a poem a day, but not everyday, just when they feel like it - http://www.poetryperdiem.blogspot.com/


One I like is:  the one by Spike Milligan called Death Wish.

51 types of Poetry ???

I found this website http://www.poemofquotes.com/articles/poetry_forms.php

It describes 51 different types of poetry.

If you want to look at the poems I have written so far, take a look at this:

Poetry

Rhyming word sets

When preparing for writing a poem, its a good idea to write a word bank, (see previous post).

Once you have written out your word bank, you need to arrange it into rhyming word sets.

I'll use my dolphin poem (Previous post) as an example:

seen -being

waves -plays

clouds -down

see -free

fish -wish

entertain -terrain

Here is a web page you can look at for an example of word set on another poem - http://wordsahead.wordpress.com/laura-bushs-bedtime-lap-time-favorites/long-haired-boy-shel-silverstein/

The Childrens Poetry Archive

Search for poems on your topic http://www.poetryarchive.org/childrensarchive/home.do

Poetry: Rhyming Couplets

"A couplet is a two-lined verse. Both lines rhyme"

We saw a lovely poem today that someone had posted on facebook.

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

~ Joyce Kilmer

...and so we decided to look into the format of the poem and that I should write one myself.

It was cool and fun. First I build up a word bank and then I numbered my lines in pairs, from 1 -12 (6 verses of rhyming couplets). My subject was Dolphins as my dad saw 2 in the bay yesterday.

Here is my "rhyming couplet" poem:

1 I have never seen

2 Such a graceful being

3 The dolphin jumps and plays

4 In great, big waves.

5 She jumps to the clouds

6 Then splashes back down.

7 By far the smartest in the sea

8 All they do is play and be free.

9 Dolphins dream of eating darting silver fish

10 Dancing to the seas great songs is their wish.

11 Dolphins should not be in a cage to entertain

12 They should be free to roam their ocean terrain!

---oo0oo---

If you are looking for rhyming words try typing in ...What rhymes with ........ Mine search opened up in http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_rhymes_with_entertain

Answer

aine, ayn, bain, baine, bane, bayne, blain, blaine, blane, blayne, brain, cain, caine, cane, cayne, chain, cheyne, crain, craine, crane, crayne, dain, dane, dayne, drain, draine, drane, duan, duane, dwayne, fain, fane, fayne, feign, fein, frain, fraine, frane, frayn, frayne, frein, freyne, gain, grain, grein, hahne, hain, hane, hayn, hayne, heyn, heyne, jain, jane, jayne, kain, kaine, kane, kayne, krain, krane, krein, lain, laine, lane, layne, ln, main, maine, mane, mayne, meyn, paign, pain, paine, pane, payne, plain, plane, quain, rain, raine, rayne, reign, rein, reine, sain, saine, sane, shain, shaine, shane, shayne, slain, slaine, slane, spain, splain, splaine, sprain, stain, strain, swain, swaine, swayne, thain, thaine, thane, thayne, train, trane, twain, vain, vane, vein, veyne, vrain, wain, wane, wayne, zane, abstain, again, ahlen, alain, alaine, alane, alayne, allain, arcane, arraign, attain, bahrain, beauchaine, biscayne, brattain, buntain, butane, campaign, catain, champagne, champaign, champlain, charlayne, charmain, charmaine, chastain, cocaine, complain, constrain, contain, costain, courchaine, dahrain, decrane, defrain, delaine, demain, deschaine, despain, detain, devane, dewayne, disdain, domain, domaine, duchaine, dufrane, dumaine, duquesne, dushane, duwayne, elaine, elane, elayne, explain, fontaine, fountaine, galane, germain, germaine, germane, helane, hossain, humane, hussain, hussein, iain, inane, insane, jermaine, jyishane, laraine, lehane, lennane, lorain, loraine, lorraine, maclaine, maclean, maintain, mcbain, mcbane, mccain, mccane, mcclain, mcclaine, mcclane, mcgrain, mcgrane, mcguane, mckain, mckane, mclain, mclane, mclean, mcquain, mcshane, mcswain, mcwain, morain, moraine, mundane, mustain, obtain, ordain, partain, pertain, profane, refrain, regain, remain, restrain, retain, retrain, rogaine, romain, romaine, ruane, sartain, serbaine, spokane, sustain, sylvain, terrain, tirane, torain, tremaine, tulane, ukraine, uptain, urbain, urbane, yeargain, aquitaine, ascertain, inhumane, kahane, lafountain, lafountaine, lamontagne, overtrain, preordain, legerdemain

Other Refs: http://childrensbooks.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_write_a_couplet

http://www.gigglepoetry.com/poetryclass/sick.html

http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/glossaryItem.do?id=8064

Today is a very poetic day.

I wrote this poem about a forest, in "free verse":

A forest
unseen by winter
inhabited by birds and insects
a celebration of singing, twittering life

This forest,
this ever-living forest
the only truly wild place

left on earth.

This forest of hope
is safely hidden
from prying, destructive curiosity
so close to being eliminated

dear mother earth

This dear forest

of mine

forever being re-born,

growing and blossoming

My forest

alive with music

a mother bird sings

athering food

for her young

the wolf howls

to his lover,

the moon

the bumble bee
buzzing

as he flies

from rose to daisy.

My forest is living.

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WHAT IS POETRY?

Poetry is a collection of creative thoughts making use of verses, rhyme and metaphors, similes and onomatopoeia etc

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The wind is blowing today and through the night, it was wild and wet. Even on Friday we were already flying kites.

The little wooded area near our home is bending back and forth as the wind plays with the tree tops.

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I am also looking at other different types of poetry:

Acrostic poems

These have the word spelt out down the side and you make a line starting with each letter of the word.

Here is an acrostic poem I wrote about the wind:

WIND

Wild
Icy
Naughty
Destructive

Another type of poem that is good to write is a CINQUAIN

They have 5 lines
each line has the same number of words in it as its number sequence

title
describes the title
action of the title
how does it make you feel
synonom for title

the last line has a single word that means the same as the title (synonym)

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Here are 2 poems that I did as CINQUAIN's

Ocean

Vast, Unpredictable

Living, Moving, Never still

Enchanted, Excited, Amazed, Afraid,

Sea

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Horses

Intelligent companions

Swiftly galloping, jumping

Awestruck, thrilling, friendship, free

Wild

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Here are some links to some poetry websites.

http://www.types-of-poetry.org.uk/
http://www.poetryteachers.com/
http://www.kathimitchell.com/poemtypes.html