We will be starting our new English Unit today. Our new unit is called The Power of Imagery. For this we will be studying a variety of poems.

Can you think of any stories or films which feature the sea? The sea provides a dramatic setting and that there have been many real life tragedies at sea which are often reflected in fiction and poetry. You will be looking at some poems today.

Read the first verse of John Masefield’s poem. List some key features of poetry you have heard of in this or other poems. Think about simile, metaphor, rhyme, rhythm, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia. To see what these are look at the Poetry Definitions sheet.

John Masefield poem          Poetry Definitions sheet

Read a range of poems about the sea. Jot down your favourite words and phrases in the poems.

1. Read The Sea by James Reeves quietly to yourselves. 
2. Check the definition of a metaphor. 
3. Find all the ways the sea is compared to a dog. Do you find this metaphor effective? 
4. Does the poem have a regular rhyme scheme? 
5. Can you find onomatopoeia or alliteration in the poem? Which parts of the poem are noisy? Which parts are quiet? 
6. Does the poet surprise you at all? (e.g. by using language in unusual ways or by including an unusual idea) Give examples.

The Sea by James Reeves

1. Now read Sea-Fever by John Masefield to yourselves. 
2. Check the list of poetry definitions. Which ones have been used in this poem? Find examples and say whether you think they work well or not. Give reasons for your opinions.
3. Read part of the poem aloud again. It has a very strong rhythm. What does the rhythm remind you of?
4. How is the man in the poem feeling? Find evidence to back up your answer.

Sea-Fever by John Masefield

1. Now read From the Shore by Carl Sandburg. Read it to yourselves.  
2. Which words that the poet uses would you describe as ‘strong vocabulary’? 
3. Look at the words you have chosen. Are they mainly verbs? Or nouns? Or adjectives?
4. Look at the hyphenated words and notice how the hyphen makes two words combine and operate as one word. Are they nouns, adjectives or verbs? 
5. Invent some more hyphenated words to describe the bird or the sea.
6. What is the poet’s impression of this bird?  What is the poet’s impression of the sea?

From the Shore by Carl Sandburg

• Which of today’s poems have you enjoyed the most and why? 
• Choose favourite words or phrases from any of the poems.