The letter E brings you the enticing epulaeryu and exciting echoes too! Check out today’s cool napowrimo prompt to inspire your poetry writing, as well as, and of course, the epulaeryu too (but have snacks handy, because all that reading, writing, and thinking about food is sure to make you hungry!)

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Enticing Epulaeryu

🍲 Lesson Plan: Savor the Poem — Writing Epulaeryu Poems with Our Senses

Grade Level: 3rd–5th
Time: 45–60 minutes
Subjects: ELA, Science, Social Studies (Culture)

🎯 Objective

Students will learn about the Epulaeryu poetic form, and write the 7-line poem using sensory details to describe a meaningful food, connecting poetry to culture and science.

🔗 Connections

• Learning Connection: Students explore how food relates to memory, culture, and the five senses through descriptive language. (Pick and choose the learning connections as required)
• Poetry Connection: Students learn and apply the structure of an Epulaeryu poem, focusing on syllables and vivid imagery.
• Book Connections (E books for the Epulaeryu here, but there are many others you can choose)
  • Eat This!: How Fast Food Marketing Gets You to Buy Junk (And How To Fight Back) by Andrea Curtis and illustrated by Peggy Collins (Teen & YA Science & Nutrition)
  • Eat Your Peas, Louise! by Pegeen Snow and illustrated by Mike Venezia (Picture book)
  • Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert (Board book)
  • Edible Colors: See, Learn, Eat by Jennifer Vogel Bass (Board book)
  • Everybody Cooks Rice by Norah Dooley and illustrated by Peter J. Thornton (Picture Book Series)
  • Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath (Children’s Fiction)

📚 Materials Needed:

• Optional: Colored pencils or crayons for illustrations
• Chart paper or whiteboard
• Markers
• A book (see suggestions above!)
• Paper & pencils
• Snacks!!! For obvious reasons!!

✨ Introduction to the Epulaeryu (10–15 min):

1. Hook: Show students a photo of a mouthwatering dish (e.g., a steaming bowl of pho, a cheesy slice of pizza, or a colorful fruit salad). Ask:
   • What do you see?
   • What might it smell or taste like?
   • Have you eaten something like this? How did it make you feel?
2. Explain:
   Today we’re going to write poems about food—but not just any poems. We’ll write a special kind of poem called an Epulaeryu. It’s a seven-line poem that celebrates the joy of eating, full of sensory details! 🍴
3. Read the book: Select any book (from the list above or your own choice)
   • Read it out loud in the classroom for younger readers; or
   • Set aside time in a previous class for students to read it on their own; or
   • Make it a required reading assignment before this poetry lesson.

✍️ What is an Epulaeryu?

Epulaeryu is a poetic form invented by Joseph Spence Sr as a result of all the feasts he enjoyed while touring the Mediterranean, Asia and America. The name comes from the Latin word “epulae” for feast, and the Japanese word “ryu” for style (source).

The epulaeryu is a 7-line, 33-syllables, unmetered, unrhymed poem, with a syllabic count of 7 – 5 – 7 – 5 – 5 – 3 – 1, and the last line ends with an exclamation mark! For food does tend to do that to us, exclaim in delight!! Each line has one thought relating to the main course.

• Pronounced: eh-puh-LAIR-ee-yoo
• Meaning: “Epulae” = feast in Latin, “Ryu” = style in Japanese
• Structure: 7 lines, 7 – 5 – 7 – 5 – 5 – 3 – 1! Unmetered and unrhymed.
• Theme: Always about food (yum!)
• Tone: Sensory!! Celebratory (of food)!!

My sample poem (from an earlier post)

Chai
Black tea leaves, milk and water –
Steeping in the pot.
Ginger, cloves, cardamom too;
Sugar? I eschew.
A mug – earthenware,
My cuppa
cheer!
-Vidya (LadyInRead)

🧠 Main Activity (25–30 min)

1. Sensory Brainstorm

• Use a “Five Senses Food Chart” — Have students pick a favorite dish or snack and describe it using all five senses.
  (Smell: spicy, Taste: sweet and sour, Sound: crackly, etc.;

2. Cultural Connection Prompt (optional)

You can do this prompt or skip it (or replace with other ideas in extensions/adaptations section below)

Ask:

• Is this food part of your culture or family traditions?
• When do you eat it? With whom? What stories or feelings come with it?

3. Epulaeryu Writing Time

• Hand out a template with the 7-line structure
  • note the template is simply a guideline, not what needs to be on each line of the poem.
• Encourage students to use vivid adjectives, similes, and sensory words
• Option: Let them draw the food afterward!

🎤 Share & Celebrate the Epulaeryu(5–10 min):

• Students read their poems aloud in a “Poetry Feast”
• Optional: Display poems and drawings as a class “menu” on a bulletin board

🚀 Extensions and Adaptations 🔄

• Science tie-in: Explore how taste buds work or the chemistry of cooking
• Cultural fair: Students bring in (or research) family/traditional foods and write Epulaeryus for each
• Digital option: Use Canva or Google Slides to make illustrated poetry slides
• Foodie Podcast: Record students reading their poems with sound effects of cooking or eating

For K–2:

• Write a class poem together using shared sensory input (e.g., after tasting fruit)
• Focus on describing words and rhythm, not strict syllable counting

6–8:

• Add literary devices (alliteration, metaphor, personification)
• Explore food in historical or cultural contexts (e.g., immigrant cuisine, ancient feasts)
• Students research the origin of their chosen dish before writing

Erupting Echoes of the Erhu….

Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt asks us to write a poem that takes inspiration from a selected musical genre and notation using words picked from provided lists in the prompt.

So this is what I went with:
a novelty song, inspired by the notations “improvisatory screaming” and “gradually becoming a disaster”, and using these words – bones, butterflies, centaur, hollyhocks, nonsense, sharks. Plus, I briefly included a musical instrument from the Museum linked in the prompt – in an ephemeral appearance – the erhu!

And I discovered what the novelty song means – so learned something new! Some examples include:

• Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini
• Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah
• What Does the Fox Say?

My Attempt to Entertain…

Erupting Echoes!
(Slow(?) dive to disaster)
[Verse 1]
“Mommy, there’s a centaur in the garden, tearing at the hollyhocks,
With butterflies in its hair, and sharks inside its socks!”
“Dearie, stop with all this nonsense, all this poppycock.
Just clean up all the mess soon, and shine up the rocks.”

(Centaurus-chorus)
“Oh no, my bones are rattling, what do I do now?
The butterflies are fluttering, they’re falling all around!
We’re stuck in the pond, our shark-socks on the floor,
And this disaster’s screaming—bring ME one more!”

[Verse 2]
“Mommy, I tried to calm the centaur down, but the sharks, they ate my hat!
The butterflies are making evil plans, sure to be chaos after that!”
“Dearie, if that’s your story, then walk the centaur stat!
You will find a leash by the door right near my witch hat.”

(Centaurus-chorus)
“Oh no, my bones are rattling, what do I do now?
The butterflies are fluttering, they’re falling all around!
We’re stuck in the pond, our shark-socks on the floor,
And this disaster’s screaming—bring ME one more!”

[Outro] (mommee and dearie)
“It’s turning into quite the mess, but we’ll keep on singing,
With sharks, centaurs, bones, and wings, we’ll see what tomorrow’s bringing!”
“Mommy, it looks like a slow dive to disaster!”
“Yes, dear, but we’re certainly dancing faster!”
(And the sharks play the erhu for us, strings screaming, humming the chaos…)
~ Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites

The Edge of Truth: From Knife to Languages of Truth & Back

This month’s six degrees takes me, as always, on an exciting journey across the world of words! As per the norm, I have not read the starter book – which is Salman Rushdie’s Knife. But it did lead me on an eye-opening trip down the literary road.

Knife – Twelve Angry Men – To Kill a Mockingbird  – The Birds and Other Stories – Flight of the Hummingbird – The Lost Language –  Languages of Truth – Knife

Knife – Twelve Angry Men

The link: Knife on the cover of the book

As I mentioned earlier, I am yet to read Rusdhie’s Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder. This book is a searing, deeply personal account of enduring—and surviving—an attempt on his life thirty years after the fatwa that was ordered against him (excerpted from Amazon)

This leads me Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose, which was the basis of the brilliant movie of the same name (and one of my favorite movies).

Twelve Angry Men – To Kill a Mockingbird 

The link: Courtroom dramas (and books turned to great movies)

Of course, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird needs no introduction. I have mentioned it a few times on my blog before as well. Which reminds me, it has been a long while since I read the book and watched the movie too.

To Kill a Mockingbird – The Birds and Other Stories

The link: the word ‘bird’ (and again, a great movie based on a story)

The Birds and Other Stories is a collection of eerie, suspenseful stories by Daphne du Maurier, including the iconic tale of a bird attack that inspired Hitchcock’s Birds.

The Birds and Other Stories – Flight of the Hummingbird

The link: the word ‘bird’ once again, and birds on the cover of both books

Flight of the Hummingbird: A Parable for the Environment by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is a short yet powerful read, and a beautiful one as well, with stunning manga artwork by the author.

This powerful story about a brave hummingbird shares a message of environmental stewardship (description from Amazon)

Flight of the Hummingbird – The Lost Language

The link: conservation (of birds to words)!

Claudia Mills’ The Lost Language is a beautiful middle-grade novel-in-verse about the quest of two young girls to save the words of a dying language, and to find the words to save their friendship. Check out my review of this book here.

The Lost Language –  Languages of Truth

The link: the word ‘language’

I am reading Rushdie’s Languages of Truth, or rather, just a couple essays in, and it is a brilliant read so far. Do check it out.

Description: Enlivened on every page by Rushdie’s signature wit and dazzling voice, Languages of Truth offers the author’s most piercingly analytical views yet on the evolution of literature and culture even as he takes us on an exhilarating tour of his own exuberant and fearless imagination.

Languages of Truth – Knife

The link: Rushdie

Circling back to the starter book with Rushdie himself!

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, hope you enjoyed the E post and will use and share the lesson plan. Which book would you read first? And would you sing this novelty song?(set to what tune?) Your favorite novelty song?

I am linking up to A-Z, Blogchatter, UBC, NaPoWriMo.

And you can find all my A-Z posts (this year and previous years’ as well) here:

A to Z Challenge Posts