Task 2

That place will always, always be in my heart,
Where the sky and land never part.
And the moon shines so bright,
On a calm and peaceful night.
And as day breaks,
I go by the lakes.
I love the calm,
On that farm.
So peaceful,
So beautiful.

Home (edit)

True paradise lies within the home
The beauty of it all is unimaginable,
Whilst it might be different for some,
To me, it's the best place to come,
I lay there in my bed
watching the night skies,
The day passes by,
we come to realise
My dreams
Of paradise

My Place

My place is my own area, just mine
Amidst the chaos, I always feel fine
My books are there my clothes are here
My place is relaxed, not austere
Mum nags to clean it up
Clean a storm in a cup?
That’s possible?
Impossible!
My place.
My room.

Sahara Desert

The surrounding sleeps below temperate sun,
the sand positioned before the day is done.
Creatures swarm; they conceal for shade,
Only out to watch the sunshine fade.
Birds of prey see clearly,
food that they love dearly.
in the sky,
they do fly.
To eat,
fresh meat.

Ocean/ Sea

In the deep blue sea,mysteries wonder,
a tidal wave or the sound of thunder.
the vast ocean, where creatures lurk,
Deadly sharks with an evil smirk.
The curious coral,
They live with a moral.
Huge dolphins leap,
Creepy crabs creep.
The sea,
loves me!

Big Ben

i think i got the beats right?

london has a very big clock
Visable from almost every dock
Whenever you need the time
Take a glance to the sky
Now look high above
Like a flying dove
See it soar
And never bore
Here again
its Big Ben

Egypt

This is terrible because i havn't got my head round the whole iamb thing...

The sun belts down on its luminous open land
As the cool breeze blows and paints patterns in the sand
The nile lies still catching the sun
drifting by slowly is her idea of fun
The pyramids stand proud
breaking through the cloud
my love
my life

I know its rubbish :-/

View of an evening

The fact that i dont like this place at all
distracts me from its constant beck and call
its sirens lure me back to here
a scandal's never far from near
its full of shady folk
who swig and scowl and smoke
it's one long weight
the wait for fate
look close
no foes

Home

True paradise lies in the home
The beauty of it all is unimaginable,

Whilst it might be different for some,
To me, it's the best place to come,
I lay there in my bed
watching the night sky,
Til the day passes by,
we come to realise
My dreams
Of paradise

My Home

The only place I can call my home
The place were I feel free to rome
The place were I can be myself
That belongs to no one else
Some people might moan
But I’m never alone
My little haven
No ones taken
Sian’s
Home

Calm Mauritius

Tourist fly away to calm Mauritius,

Where days are hot and delights are luscious.

Where tourists are stunned by views and,

Trips. Can guarantee you get tanned.

Shopping there is time left,

Not many reay for theft.

Now time to work,

For the head jerk.

Late nights,

More fights.

The World

One bundle of life, suspended in space,
Each life going by, it's own personal case.
Wonders so amazing, from high in the sky,
It's tranquilized beauty, hypnotising the eye.
Each breath-taking sight,
Can be seen in the night.
So wherever you are,
Remember by far.
This beauty,
Our duty.

View of bangladesh

The city lies below the weighty sky
I watch while, the day passes by,
Similar people go pass and stare
I lay there with my mind bare,
Staring at the beauty,
The everlasting beauty
Day darkens to night,
That’s right
A star
So far.

stonehenge

An ancient playground of a million myths
A natural wonder as the clouds lift.
A site of unmatched mystery
And yet we know its history.
Mother natures stone tent
Without a single penny spent,
I find it strange
How times do change.
Our lives
In stone.

Carlsberger.

My Leyton

You'll never ever hear, look, see or find,
A car or bus leaving no sound behind.
People and people rushing by.
Birds are singing high in the sky.
Shops always are open,
With no words unspoken.
My place, my town,
My smile, my frown.
No space.
MY place.

Task 2: Rhyme and Meter

You all know what RHYME is - and it will be one of the first things you encountered when reading poetry as a young child. "Twinkle twinkle little BAT, How I wonder where you're AT" etc. However, as you are going to find, it is very difficult to use rhyme effectively when writing poems of your own. Too often, the quest to find a word that rhymes ends up changing the meaning of the poem altogether - like points on a railtrack switching the train to a totally different course. However, it is a challenge that is well worth pursuing - i.e. how to find a rhyme whilst not diverting the tracks of your meaning at the same time. And it is a challenge I am setting you this week too.

But, not one to keep things TOO simple, I am also setting you another challenge - and that is to do with METER. Meter is the term to describe the rhythm of a poem - and how that rhythm is created through the number and order of all the syllables in any one line. Those of you who listen to music will know how all music has a BEAT of some sort; some music has a strong and regular beat, other music has a less clear rhythm (and so would be very hard to dance to too!) This week, you are going to be writing poetry with a very regular beat. Here is how...

The simplest type of beat (or, as it is called in poetry, FOOT) is one that goes 'dee-dum' - i.e. made up of TWO syllables, where the SECOND syllable is stressed. This type of foot is called an IAMB; and this type of meter is called IAMBIC. Here is an example of iambic verse:

I cannot write iambic verse.
My poem goes from bad to worse.

See how each line is written in TWO-SYLLABLE beats, with the stress (or emphasis) on the second in each pair. Try reading it with a hand clap on each stressed syllable:

i CANnot WRITE iAMbic VERSE
my POem GOES from BAD to WORSE.

This is simple, iambic meter.

Notice also how many feet (or beats) there are in each line. Four. We call these lines tetrameters:

• 5 feet = pentameter
• 4 feet = tetrameter
• 3 feet = trimeter etc.

Now look (or rather LISTEN) to how easily the regular rhythm can be broken. What if I had written 'can't' instead of 'cannot'; or 'poetry' instead of 'poem'? This would have totally changed and disrupted the rhythm of each line:

I can't write iambic verse
My poetry goes from bad to worse.

In the first line, there is one syllable MISSING:

I can't [***] write iambic verse.

Whereas, in the second line, there is one syllable too MANY.

My poeTRY goes from bad to worse.

Right. Now for your challenge. NEXT week we are going to try to produce some SONNETS. (VERY difficult!). But, in preparation, this week we are just going to play with rhyme and meter. I would like you to write a poem which:

• uses ONLY iambic meter;
• is 10 lines long;
• begins with two 5-feet lines (i.e. pentameters)
• then has two 4-feet lines, two 3-feet lines, two 2-feet lines and, finally, two 1-foot lines.
• rhymes each pair of lines.

Your poem should be about a place (city/country) that you know particularly well.

To help you, here is an example, although I cannot vouch for how good it will be since I am rushing it off for you right now!

View from Canary Wharf

The city snakes beneath the heavy sky,
The shadows tall, the river crawling by.
Commuters swarm; like locusts, they
Descend upon the dying day.
From high above I see
Them fighting to break free.
The dusk descends.
The chaos ends.
And time
is mine.

See what you can do, and remember:

• Lines 1-2 = rhyming, iambic pentameters
• Lines 3-4 = rhyming, iambic tetrameters
• Lines 5-6 = rhyming, iambic trimeters
• Lines 7-8 = rhyming, iambic dimeters
• Lines 9-10 = rhyming, iambic monometers.

All on a powerful place of your choice.

BY FRIDAY PLEASE.

Good luck!!! :)