Write Your Own Poems
Discover the Quicklinks for this book
Age: 8+
You can write a poem! Find out how to get started with links to websites where you can:
- Discover top tips on writing poems.
- Find out how to choose words and get ideas flowing.
- Read all sorts of different poems, from limericks to sonnets.
Scroll down to see all the links
Poems by Jerome Martin, Author of Usborne's "Write Your Own Poems"
- "Lucky Duck"
Jerome reads his poem, a triolet (TREE-oh-lay) that has a tricky pattern of rhymes and repeated lines. (See page 18 of "Write Your Own Poems".)
Take me there - "Ode to Pluto"
Poems that celebrate a specific person, event or idea are called odes. (See page 50 of "Write Your Own Poems".)
Take me there - "Riddle"
Can you guess the answer? Riddles are poems with misleading and confusing clues. (See page 26 of "Write Your Own Poems". Answer: snail)
Take me there
Inspiration for Writing Poems
- Top tips on writing poemsPoet Jerome Martin, author of "Write your own poems", reveals his top tips.Take me there
- Getting startedHow a small idea, a smell, or even just two words can be the start of a poem. (Click on "Enter Fullscreen". To find other videos click on the arrows.)Take me there
- Go for a walkCollect words on a walk and create a collage poem.Take me there
- Choose your wordsExplore word clouds with lots of interesting words to use in poems.Take me there
- How to get ideas flowingHelpful advice on how to get started writing a poem.Take me there
What Kind of Poem Do You Want to Write?
- Poetry techniquesTips and techniques to help you with your writing.Take me there
- Write a haikuTry an online tool to help you write a haiku, a form of Japanese poetry.Take me there
- Acrostic poemsIdeas for writing an acrostic poem, where the first letter of each line spells a word.Take me there
- Poetry toolkitListen to poems and see how to use alliteration, onomatopoeia, similes and more.Take me there
- Find a rhyme
Browse a rhyming dictionary.
Take me there - Poetry termsCheck the meaning of terms for poetic forms and devices including comic verse, assonance and much more.Take me there
More Poems to Read: Getting Started (pages 4-5)
Click on the links to read - or listen to - many of the poems in the "More to read" boxes in Write Your Own Poems.
Ludicrous Limericks (page 9)
A is for Alphabet (page 10)
The Shape of a Poem (pages 14-15)
Sonnets (pages 16-17)
The Perplexing Pantoum (pages 20-21)
Peculiar Self-Portraits (pages 38-39)
Who Might You Be? (pages 40-41)
The Great Outdoors (pages 44-45)
A Poem is a Time Machine (pages 48-49)
An Ode to Something Great or Small (pages 50-51)
The Call of the Wild (pages 52-53)
Making Art Out of Art (pages 54-55)
A Map to Unseen Worlds (pages 56-57)
Don't Make a Long Story Short (pages 58-59)
Stop Making Sense (pages 64-65)
Singing the Blues - (pages 72-73)
- "Po' Boy Blues" by Langston HughesTake me there
- "Riverbank Blues" by Sterling A. BrownTake me there
- Johnny Cash sings "The Banks of the Ohio"(By Anonymous)Take me there
- Bob Dylan sings "Barbara Allen"(By Anonymous)Take me there
- "Levee Camp Blues" by Son HouseTake me there
- "I Ain't Superstitious" by Howlin' WolfTake me there
Tantalizing titles (pages 86-87)
- "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" by Wallace StevensTake me there
- "What My House Would Be Like If It Were A Person" by Denise LevertovClick on the red button to hear the poem.Take me there
- "I Was Sleeping Where the Black Oaks Move" by Louise ErdrichTake me there
- "Diving into the Wreck" by Adrienne RichClick on the audio icon to hear the poem.Take me there
Get writing with Usborne
Explore write-in books bursting with ideas, tips and activities for stories, poems, comics and more.
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