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C–D. Reading and Writing · Reading and Writing in French: Voices, Stories and Communities

La poésie : Reading a Poem Aloud Fluently, Figures of Speech and the Gérondif

C1.3 C2.2 C2.3 D1.2 D1.3About 70 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can read a poem aloud with fluency: correct liaisons, silent letters, pauses and expression.
  • I can identify comparisons, metaphors, personification, repetition, alliteration and rhyme, and explain their effect.
  • I can form the gérondif (en marchant) and use it to show two actions at the same time or how something is done.
  • I can assess my own reading fluency and set a goal to improve it.
  • I can write a short poem using at least three figures of speech and one gérondif.

Words to know

un vers / une strophe
A line of poetry / a stanza (a group of lines).
la rime
The repetition of the same sound at the end of lines (village / sauvage).
la fluidité
Fluency: reading smoothly, at a good pace, with expression.
la liaison
Linking a usually silent final consonant to the next word's vowel: les‿érables (z sound).
une figure de style
A figure of speech: a way of using words for effect (comparison, metaphor...).
l'allitération
The repetition of the same consonant sound at the start of several nearby words: Siffle sa... sauvage.
le gérondif
en + present participle (en dansant): while dancing / by dancing.

Poems are made to be heard

A poem on a page is like a song without music. To really understand it, you need to read it aloud, and that takes practice: knowing which letters are silent, where to link words, where to pause, and how to bring out the feeling.

Remember from Grade 7: you read song lyrics and found figures of speech (comparison, metaphor, personification). Today you'll use them to analyse a poem's effect, read it with fluency, and learn a verb form poets love: the gérondif (en dansant, en souriant).

Worked example

Let's read a poem and analyse its effects

Nuit de février (a poem written for this lesson)

La neige descend en dansant Sur les toits endormis du village ; Le vent, ce vieux musicien errant, Siffle sa chanson sauvage.

Les érables, bras tendus vers le ciel, Attendent patiemment le printemps ; La lune, comme une lampe de miel, Veille sur nous en souriant.

Et moi, en marchant dans le silence, J'écoute la nuit qui respire. L'hiver est long, l'hiver est immense, Mais l'hiver aussi sait sourire.

Glossaire : descendre = to come down · endormi(e) = asleep · errant = wandering · siffler = to whistle · tendu(e) = stretched out · le miel = honey · veiller sur = to watch over · respirer = to breathe

  1. First reading, for meaning: a person walks alone on a quiet February night. Snow falls, wind whistles, maple trees wait for spring, the moon shines. The speaker finds the long winter beautiful, even friendly.
  2. Structure: three stanzas (strophes) of four lines. Rhymes: village / sauvage, ciel / miel, silence / immense, respire / sourire.
  3. Personification: the roofs are asleep, the maples wait patiently with arms stretched out, the moon watches over us smiling, the night breathes, winter knows how to smile. Effect: nature feels alive and gentle, like company.
  4. Metaphor: Le vent, ce vieux musicien errant: the wind is a wandering musician. Effect: its whistling becomes music, not a threat.
  5. Comparison: La lune, comme une lampe de miel: the moon is warm and golden like honey. Effect: a cold scene gets a warm colour.
  6. Repetition and alliteration: L'hiver est long, l'hiver est immense insists on how big winter is, then Mais turns it around. Siffle sa... sauvage repeats the [s] sound, like the hiss of wind. (Chanson starts with a different sound, [ʃ], so it isn't part of the alliteration.)
  7. Theme: winter is long and huge, but it can also be beautiful and peaceful if you take the time to listen.

The poem turns a cold February night into a calm, almost friendly scene. Personification, a metaphor and a comparison make nature feel alive and warm; repetition and the final Mais show the speaker's change of view: winter knows how to smile.

Les figures de style du poèmeLa comparaison« La lune, comme une lampe de miel »deux choses liées par commeLa métaphore« Le vent, ce vieux musicien errant »on dit que c'est, sans commeLa personnification« la nuit qui respire »une chose agit comme une personneLa répétition« L'hiver est long, l'hiver est immense »un mot revient pour insister
Four figures of speech from Nuit de février. Ask each time: what effect does it create?

Reading aloud with fluency

Fluency isn't reading fast. It's reading smoothly, accurately and with expression, so the listener understands. Four things to prepare:

  1. Silent letters: final consonants are usually silent (vent, toits, long), and the -ent of ils/elles verbs is always silent (Attendent = a-tand).
  2. Liaisons: link a silent final consonant to a following vowel in close groups: les‿érables [z], nous‿avons [z], un‿hiver [n]. Don't link after et: et / immense.
  3. Pauses: a short pause at a comma, a longer one at a period or the end of a stanza. In poetry, don't stop at the end of every line if the sentence continues.
  4. Expression: slow down for calm images, stress the turning point (Mais l'hiver aussi sait sourire).

Practice method: read silently for meaning → mark liaisons (‿) and pauses (/, //) on a copy → read aloud slowly → record yourself → listen and mark one thing to improve → read again.

Préparer une lecture à voix hauteLesérables,/brastendusversleciel,/liaison [z]Attendentpatiemmentleprintemps;-ent muet« pa-sia-man »/ = petite pause (virgule)// = pause plus longue (fin)= liaisonsouligné = attention au sonpointillé = lettres muettes
A marked-up copy for practice: arcs for liaisons, slashes for pauses, dotted lines under silent letters. Patiemment sounds like pa-sia-man.

The gérondif: while doing, by doing

The poem has three: en dansant, en souriant, en marchant. The gérondif is en + present participle.

Forming the present participle: take the nous form of the present, drop -ons, add -ant:

  • nous dansons → dansant · nous finissons → finissant · nous faisons → faisant · nous prenons → prenant
  • Only three are irregular: être → étant, avoir → ayant, savoir → sachant.

Two main uses:

  1. Two actions at the same time (while): J'écoute la nuit en marchant. (I listen while walking.)
  2. How something is done (by): On apprend un poème en le lisant à voix haute. (You learn a poem by reading it aloud.)

Rule: the gérondif has the same subject as the main verb. La lune veille en souriant = the moon watches and the moon smiles.

Careful with English -ing: Reading is fun is not a gérondif; French uses the infinitive: Lire est amusant. And I am reading is just the present: Je lis.

Infinitifnous (présent)Participe présentGérondif
marchernous marchonsmarchanten marchant
choisirnous choisissonschoisissanten choisissant
lirenous lisonslisanten lisant
mangernous mangeonsmangeanten mangeant
commencernous commençonscommençanten commençant
être / avoir / savoir(irregular)étant / ayant / sachanten étant / en ayant / en sachant
The present participle comes from the nous form, so it keeps spelling changes: mangeant, commençant.
Worked example

Let's write a short poem with figures of speech

Write a 4-line poem about a season or a place you love, with a comparison, a personification, a repetition, and one gérondif. Then explain one effect.

  1. Choose a subject and a feeling: an April morning when the snow melts; feeling: relief, energy.
  2. Line 1, personification: La rivière se réveille en chantant, (the river wakes up singing; also our gérondif).
  3. Line 2, comparison: La glace craque comme un vieux plancher.
  4. Lines 3 and 4, repetition and a rhyme: Avril arrive, avril est là, / Et le soleil vient nous chercher. (plancher / chercher rhyme.)
  5. Explain an effect: the repetition avril arrive, avril est là sounds like excited shouting: spring has finally come!

La rivière se réveille en chantant, La glace craque comme un vieux plancher. Avril arrive, avril est là, Et le soleil vient nous chercher.

Figures: personification (la rivière se réveille... le soleil vient nous chercher), comparison (comme un vieux plancher), repetition (avril), gérondif (en chantant).

Just for fun

Classical French poets counted syllables very carefully. Their favourite line has 12 syllables and is called an alexandrin, after a medieval French poem about Alexander the Great. So every time you write a 12-syllable line, you're borrowing a habit more than 800 years old.

Hands-on activity

Record, listen, improve

You need: a phone, tablet or computer that can record audio, a printed or handwritten copy of Nuit de février, and a pencil.

  1. Read silently and write one sentence about the poem's main feeling.
  2. Mark up your copy: ‿ for liaisons, / and // for pauses, a dotted line under silent -ent endings.
  3. Record #1: read the poem aloud once. Don't stop to restart.
  4. Listen and rate yourself from 1 to 4 on: accuracy (correct sounds), pace, pauses, expression. Write your weakest area.
  5. Practise that area three times (for example, the liaisons in stanza 2).
  6. Record #2 and compare. Write one sentence in French: J'ai amélioré... en pratiquant... (use a gérondif!).
  7. Perform the poem for someone at home with expression.

Look for: silent -ent in Attendent, liaison in les érables, a real pause at each period, and a change in tone at Mais.

Your turn

1

What is the main feeling or message of Nuit de février?

2

Find a comparison in the poem and explain it.

3

Find two examples of personification.

4

What is the metaphor in stanza 1, and what does it suggest?

5

Find the three gérondifs in the poem.

6

How do you pronounce Attendent? Why?

7

Which word in line 4 is not part of the [s] alliteration, and why?

More practice: warm-up

1

Gérondif of chanter?

2

Gérondif of finir?

3

Gérondif of être?

4

What is une strophe?

5

Is there a liaison in les amis?

More practice: on your own

1

Gérondif of manger? Explain the spelling.

2

Rewrite with a gérondif: Elle fait ses devoirs et elle écoute de la musique.

3

Translate: You improve by practising.

4

Is this a comparison or a metaphor? Ta voix est une rivière calme.

5

Translate: Swimming is good for your health. Careful!

Challenge

1

Find the error and explain: En marchant dans la neige, mes bottes étaient mouillées.

2

Explain the effect of the word Mais in the last line of the poem.

3

Write two lines about a city at night using a personification and a gérondif with the meaning by.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

La lune, comme une lampe de miel is...

2.

La nuit qui respire is an example of...

3.

The gérondif of faire is...

4.

Elle lit ______ de la musique. (while listening)

5.

In Ils attendent, the ending -ent is...

6.

Which sentence uses the gérondif correctly?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Your child practises reading aloud fluently (C1.3), analyses figures of speech and their effects in a poem (C2.2), reflects on their own fluency with recordings (C2.3), and writes a short poem using the gérondif (D1.2, D1.3).

How to help:

  • Be the audience! Listen to your child's two recordings and tell them which one sounds better and why. You don't need to know French to notice smoothness and expression.
  • Ask about the poem in English: What does the poet compare the moon to? How does the poem make you feel about winter?

Common difficulties:

  • Pronouncing the silent -ent of plural verbs (attendent is a-tand).
  • Using the gérondif for English -ing subjects (En nageant est bon) or continuous tenses (Je suis en lisant).
  • A gérondif whose subject doesn't match the main verb.
  • Confusing alliteration (same starting sound) with same starting letter.

Note: The poem was written for this lesson.