PART A : POETRY - National Adult Literacy Database

2. Chart the rhythms with stressed ( / ) and unstressed ( ∪ ) marks.
( It is probably a good idea to re-write the poems if the copy you are working
with does not belong to you. Use a pencil, as you may change your mind
after re- reading .) Do not worry about finding neat patterns of rhythm. Mark
the stresses where you feel they naturally fall. Occasionally you will find two
stressed syllables side by side. Mark these as //.
A. Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
B. Mary had a little lamb.
Its fleece was white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.
C. To London, to London,
To buy a fat pig.
Home again, home again,
Jiggity - jig.
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Exercise 2
Follow the directions in Exercise I with some lines from more serious poems.
A. He Who Binds to Himself
He who binds to himself a Joy
Doth the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses Joy as it flies
Lives in Eternity’s sunrise.
William Blake