Portuguese Year 3: The poem: verse, stanza, rhyme and reading it in public
Portuguese, Year 3 (Portugal): Recognise the verses, the stanza and the rhymes of a poem, and prepare it to be read aloud in front of others with confidence.
Verse, stanza and rhyme
A poem is written in verses: each line is a verse. A group of verses is a stanza. When verses end with the same sound, there is a rhyme. Take this poem, made up as an example: «O gato subiu ao telhado / e miou para a lua; / a lua, de lado, / iluminou a rua.» (The cat climbed onto the roof and miaowed at the moon; the moon, to one side, lit up the street.) It has 4 verses, 1 stanza and two rhymes: «telhado» with «lado», and «lua» with «rua».
A poem is made to be heard
A poem has rhythm and sounds that repeat, and it is made to be heard. When you say it well, the listeners feel the music of the words and understand what the poem means. Reading in public trains your voice, your attention and your confidence: the more you read aloud, the safer you feel. Feeling safe does not mean having no fear. It means knowing what to do with it: breathe and read slowly.
Preparing a poem to read aloud
Poem: «O gato subiu ao telhado / e miou para a lua; / a lua, de lado, / iluminou a rua.» Step 1: read it silently and understand it: a cat, the moon, the street. Step 2: mark the pauses: short after «a lua,» and «de lado,», medium after «lua;», long at the full stop. Step 3: notice that verse 1 has no punctuation, so the sentence goes on in verse 2. Step 4: rehearse aloud three times, slowly. Step 5: on the day, breathe deeply, look at the audience and say whole words.
Racing, or stopping at every line end
Fear can make us read very fast to finish sooner, and the words get swallowed. Another mistake is stopping at the end of every verse as if there were a full stop. In the cat poem, verse 1 ends in «telhado» but the sentence goes on in the next verse. Follow the punctuation, not the end of the line. And if you make a mistake, breathe, correct it calmly and carry on: the audience understands that you are trying.
Where poems are said aloud
You say poems in public at a school party, in the library, at a reading with your family or when you recite one to your grandparents. Lengalengas and popular songs are also said in a group, for fun. Losing the fear of reading aloud is useful for everything: presenting a piece of work, reading a notice to the class or telling what you learned.
Test what you learned
Poem: «O gato subiu ao telhado / e miou para a lua; / a lua, de lado, / iluminou a rua.» (The cat climbed onto the roof and miaowed at the moon; the moon, to one side, lit up the street.) How many verses and how many stanzas does it have?
- a) 4 verses and 1 stanza
- b) 1 verse and 4 stanzas
- c) 2 verses and 2 stanzas
Correct answer: a) 4 verses and 1 stanza — Yes: each line is a verse (there are 4), and the group of the four verses is one stanza.
Poem: «O gato subiu ao telhado / e miou para a lua; / a lua, de lado, / iluminou a rua.» (The cat climbed onto the roof and miaowed at the moon; the moon, to one side, lit up the street.) Which pair of words rhymes at the end of verses 2 and 4?
- a) «lua» and «lado»
- b) «telhado» and «rua»
- c) «lua» and «rua»
Correct answer: c) «lua» and «rua» — Yes: both end in the sound «-ua», so they rhyme.
Poem: «O gato subiu ao telhado / e miou para a lua; / a lua, de lado, / iluminou a rua.» (The cat climbed onto the roof and miaowed at the moon; the moon, to one side, lit up the street.) When you read it aloud, what do you do at the end of verse 1 («O gato subiu ao telhado»)?
- a) A long pause, as if it were a full stop
- b) Almost no pause: the sentence goes on in verse 2
- c) I read faster to finish sooner
Correct answer: b) Almost no pause: the sentence goes on in verse 2 — Yes: follow the punctuation, not the end of the line. The pause comes at «lua;».
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