VOA日常语法2023--Parts of Speech and Poetry

Parts of Speech and Poetry

Have you ever written a poem in English? Some of you have written to us in recent weeks asking us about writing and sharing poems.

When I was a teacher at a university, I taught my ESL students creative writing. We spent time learning to use parts of speech to write poems.

In today's Everyday Grammar, we will look at two different kinds of poems that can be easily written using several parts of speech, the cinquain and a diamante poem or diamond poem.

Let's start with the cinquain.

Cinquain

The cinquain poem gets its name from the number five in the French language, or "cinq." It has five lines. One form of a cinquain uses parts of speech, like nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.

Let's look at the structure of a cinquain.

The first line is the subject. Keep this to one word. Use a noun.

The second line is two adjectives that describe the subject.

Line three includes three action words. These can be either verbs or the -ing form of verbs called gerunds.

Line four uses four words that describe the subject. This line often brings attention to the mood or emotion of the poem. This can be a simple phrase, or group of words expressing a thought.

And lastly, line five is one word that again reflects the subject of the poem in the first line. This can be a synonym¹, or another word that has the same meaning as the subject.

Let's look at an example:

Spring

Warmer, brighter

Planting, watering, blooming

Sweet smell of flowers

Gardens

Diamante or diamond poem

Now let's look at a similar poem using parts of speech. The diamante poem or diamond poem is a seven-line poem. It is shaped like a diamond. Let's look at the structure:

The first line is only one noun.

Line two has two adjectives.

The third line has three verbs.

Line four has four nouns.

The fifth line is like the third line and has three verbs.

The sixth line has two adjectives like the second line.

The seventh line is a one-word noun.

Here again is a description of the shape, the line structure, and the parts of speech:

Line 1: noun

Line 2: adjective, adjective

Line 3: verb, verb, verb

Line 4: noun, noun, noun, noun

Line 5: verb, verb, verb

Line 6: adjective, adjective

Line 7: noun

A Diamante poem can either express synonyms² with the first and last lines describing similar ideas, or the poem can change to show the opposite meaning of the subject. The first and last lines would then be antonyms⁴, or opposites. The second half of the poem could even explore something with similarities to the subject but with important differences.

Let's look at an example of each.

Synonym:

Cat

Small, cute

Sleeping, running, climbing

Toys, trees, birds, food

Jumping, meowing, cuddling

Fluffy⁵, curious

Feline⁶

Antonym³:

Fruit

Juicy, sweet

Growing, ripening⁸, picking

Apples, berries, tomatoes, eggplant

Eating, cooking, pickling

Healthy, savory⁹

Vegetables

In the last poem, "fruit" and "vegetables" are different. In the fourth line, the poem changed from describing fruit to describing vegetables. Tomatoes and eggplant are often thought of as vegetables in the United States, but scientifically they are fruit. Line four shows a change from the subject of the first part of the poem to the new subject of the second half, connecting the two in only a few words.

Now it's your turn

Today we looked at ways we can use parts of speech to create two kinds of poems. The cinquain poem and the diamond poem.

The Cinquain poem has five lines. Lines two through five expand on the subject of the poem, which is the first line.

The diamond-shaped poem has seven lines containing four parts of speech. This poem structure can be like a cinquain with synonyms of the first and last lines, or antonyms can be used to create a contrast or to show a difference in the poem.

Now it's your turn! Create a cinquain or diamond poem of your own! Try to choose a simple subject, something that you know well. You have the structure. Just think about describing your subjects with different parts of speech.

Send your poems to [email protected].

Or share your poems in the comments below!

Words in This Story

mood – n. an emotional state of mind or feeling

reflects – v. to show (something) or make (something) known

bloom – v. to produce flowers

cute – adj. having a pleasing, youthful appearance

meow – n. or v. the sound a cat makes

cuddle – v. to hold (someone or something) in your arms in order to show affection

fluffy – adj. light and soft or airy

feline – n. a word that describes a cat or something that is like a cat

juicy – adj. containing a lot of liquid or juice

ripen⁷ – v. to become ready to eat

berry – n. a small fruit (such as a strawberry, blueberry, or raspberry) that has many small seeds (plural berries)

eggplant – n. a vegetable with a smooth, dark purple skin.

pickle¹⁰ – v. a method of preserving food in vinegar, salt brine or a similar mixture.

savory – adj. having a spicy or salty quality without sweetness

1 synonym   

n.同义词，换喻词

参考例句：

• Zhuge Liang is a synonym for wisdom in folklore.诸葛亮在民间传说中成了智慧的代名词。
• The term 'industrial democracy' is often used as a synonym for worker participation. “工业民主”这个词常被用作“工人参与”的同义词。

2 synonyms   

同义词( synonym的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If you want to grasp English, you must carefully discriminate synonyms. 如果你想掌握好英语，你必须仔细区分同义词。
• Study the idioms and synonyms l wrote down before your test. 学考试前我给你写的习惯用语和同义字。

3 antonym   

n.反义词

参考例句：

• "Long" is the antonym of "short".“长”是“短”的反义词。
• Give the synonym and antonym of this word.给出这个词的同义词和反义词。

4 antonyms   

反义词( antonym的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• And have listed these antonyms through simple illustration to out. 并把这些反义词通过简单例证列了出来。
• Can you give the antonyms of the following adjectives? 你能给出下列形容词的反义词吗？

5 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

6 feline   

adj.猫科的

参考例句：

• As a result,humans have learned to respect feline independence.结果是人们已经学会尊重猫的独立性。
• The awakening was almost feline in its stealthiness.这种醒觉，简直和猫的脚步一样地轻悄。

7 ripen   

vt.使成熟；vi.成熟

参考例句：

• I'm waiting for the apples to ripen.我正在等待苹果成熟。
• You can ripen the tomatoes on a sunny windowsill.把西红柿放在有阳光的窗台上可以让它们成熟。

8 ripening   

v.成熟，使熟( ripen的现在分词 )；熟化；熟成

参考例句：

• The corn is blossoming [ripening]. 玉米正在开花[成熟]。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• When the summer crop is ripening, the autumn crop has to be sowed. 夏季作物成熟时，就得播种秋季作物。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 savory   

adj.风味极佳的，可口的，味香的

参考例句：

• She placed a huge dish before him of savory steaming meat.她将一大盘热气腾腾、美味可口的肉放在他面前。
• He doesn't have a very savory reputation.他的名誉不太好。

10 pickle   

n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡

参考例句：

• Mother used to pickle onions.妈妈过去常腌制洋葱。
• Meat can be preserved in pickle.肉可以保存在卤水里。