National Poetry Month: A World of Poetry | Periscope

Poetry is a language spoken around the world.

Although you may not regularly sit down and read poetry, chances are you are exposed to some form of it every day. Do you jump rope? If you do, you may sing a song like this to keep your feet moving.

Down by the seashore, down by the sea,
Johnny broke a bottle and blamed it on me.
I told ma, ma told pa,
Johnny got a spanking, ha-ha-ha!

If you jump rope, sing or rap, you are participating in a form of language art that has been around for thousands of years! Recently, poetry has been reinvented through poetry "slams." At poetry slams, poets perform to a lively, critical audience. But, no matter what form poetry takes, all poems use words to express ideas, feelings, thoughts and images.

National Poetry Month is celebrated in April each year.

 

Africa, Part 1 | A World of Poetry
Africa, Part 1 | A World of Poetry
Episode 14

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Africa In Africa, the djelis (pronounced "jay-lee"), or storyteller, uses poetic rhythms and expression to tell stories. Like the Greek poet Homer, the djelis memorizes poems and is part of an oral...
Africa, Part 3 | A World of Poetry
Africa, Part 3 | A World of Poetry
Episode 16

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Bicycle My frail little bicycle, The one with the scar, My sister Seabelo, Horse of the Europeans, Feet of tire, Iron horse, Swayer from side to side. - Hurutshe A scar is a thin tool bag attached to...
Africa, Part 4 | A World of Poetry
Africa, Part 4 | A World of Poetry
Episode 17

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Frog Frog you, frog you Your Friend, your friend; Frog you, frog you: He is calling his wife Jump squat, jump squat He is calling his wife - Sotho "Frog" is sung in a jumpy, jerky manner to imitate a...
Japan, Part 1 | A World of Poetry
Japan, Part 1 | A World of Poetry
Episode 18

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The Japanese haiku is one of the most widely known forms of poetry in the world. Haiku, or "beginning verse," evolved from a 16th-century Japanese poetry form known as the "renga." Haiku is admired...