Unit 5
Most poems also have a rhythm . A poem’s rhythm is created by the number of stressed syllables ( beats ) in each line.
The moon has a face like the clock in the hall; She shines on thieves on the garden wall, On streets and fields and harbour quays, And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.
3 Read ‘The Moon’ aloud together. Which syllables are stressed in the second and third verses? Similes
A simile describes something by comparing it to something else using like or as : The rain was like a sheet of water. The streets were as dry as a bone.
4 Find the similes in ‘Rain in Summer’ and in ‘The Moon’.
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Find five similes in this paragraph.
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I lay on the beach and looked around me. The clouds moved slowly across the sky like tall sailing ships. Flying fish as bright as jewels leapt from the waves. The sand beneath me was as soft as a pillow. I let it run through my fingers like a warm waterfall. I heard the waves beating softly on the shore like distant drums.
6 Complete the following sentences with your own similes. Example: The shark’s teeth were as sharp as razor blades . 1 The crab’s claws were like ___________. 2 The waves were as ___________ as ___________. 3 The leaves of the coconut palm were like ___________. 4 The coconuts were as ___________ as ___________. 5 The sun was like ___________. 6 The wind rushed through the trees like ___________.
• Explain that some modern poets do not use rhyme or rhythm in their poems. The poem read to students (I am the Rain) is an example of a modern poem. • You may wish to refer to similes and personification (page 46) as figures of speech or literary devices . • There are several examples of alliteration in ‘The Moon’. This poetic device will be explored more fully in Unit 12.
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