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POETIC TERMS
A reference to a
historical figure, place,
or event.
The teams
competed in a
David and Goliath
struggle.
A broad comparison between
two basically different things
that have some points in
common.
Aspirations
toward space are
not new.
Consider the
worm that
becomes a
butterfly.
Ballad and Blank Verse
Ballad:
A song-like poem that tells a story
Blank Verse:
Poetry written in unrhymed, ten-syllable lines
A Few More . . .
Concrete Poem:
A poem with a shape that suggests its subject
Figurative Language:
Writing that is not meant to be taken literally
Free Verse:
Poetry not written in a regular rhythmical pattern or
meter
Haiku: A three-lined Japanese verse
A direct comparison between
two basically different things.
A simile is introduced by the
words “like” or “as”.
My love
is like a
red, red
rose.
An implied comparison
between two basically
different things. Is not
introduced with the words
“like” or “as”.
His eyes
were
daggers that
cut right
through me.
Lyric Poem
– Highly musical verse that expresses the
observations and feelings of a single
speaker
Extended Metaphor
a comparison developed over several lines
of poetry.
& More . . .
Onomatopoeia:
The use of words that imitate sounds
Example: The buzz of the bee was very
loud.
Narrative Poem
– A story told in verse
Four R’s
Refrain:
A regularly repeated line or group of lines in a poem
Rhyme:
Repetition of sounds at the end of words
Rhyme Scheme:
A regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem
Rhythm:
Pattern of beats or stresses in spoken or written
language
Stanza
A formal division of lines in a poem
considered as a unit
A great exaggeration to
emphasize strong
feeling.
I will love
you until
all the
seas go
dry.
Human characteristics are
given to non-human
animals, objects, or ideas.
My stereo
walked
out of my
car.
An absent person or
inanimate object is directly
spoken to as though they
were present.
Brutus:
“Ceasar, now
be still. I killed
not thee with
half so good a
will.”
A part stands for the
whole or vice versa.
The hands
that created
the work of
art were
masterful.
Hints given to the
reader of what is to
come.
“The stalwart
hero was
doomed to suffer
the destined end
of his days.”
The use of concrete
details that appeal to
the five senses.
Cold, wet
leaves floating
on mosscolored water.
A contrast between what is
said and what is meant. Also,
when things turn out different
than what is expected.
“The treacherous
instrument is in thy
hand, unbated and
envenomed. The
foul practice has
turned itself on me.”
Laertes
The overall atmosphere
or prevailing emotional
feeling of a work.
“It was the
best of times,
it was the
worst of
times.”
A seemingly selfcontradictory
statement that still is
true.
The more
we learn,
the less
we know.
A series of events that
present and resolve a
conflict. The story being
told.
The plot of “The Most
Dangerous Game” is
that Rainsford is being
hunted by General
Zaroff.
The vantage point from
which an author
presents the action in a
work.
1st person-tale related by a character
in the story. “I or me”
3rd person-story told by someone not
participating in the plot. “he, she,
they” Third person can be
omniscient; all-knowing, all-seeing
The repetition of
identical sounds at the
ends of lines of poetry.
“He clasps the crag
with crooked hands
Close to the sun in
lonely lands”
from “The Eagle”
The repetition of
identical sounds within
a line of poetry.
“We three shall flee across the sea to Italy.”
Or
“Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.”
A slant rhyme or half
rhyme occurs when the
vowel sounds are not
quite identical.
“And on that cheek and
o’er that brow”
A mind at peace with all
below”
The time (both the time of
day and period in history)
and place in which the
action of a literary work
takes place.
“Tiger! Tiger!
burning
bright
In the forests
of the night”
The repeating of a
sound, word, phrase, or
more in a given literary
work.
“I sprang to the stirrup, and Jarvis, and he;
I galloped, Derrick galloped, we galloped all three”
The repetition of
consonant sounds at
the beginnings of
words.
“Swiftly,
swiftly flew
the ship”
The repetition of similar
vowel sounds followed
by different consonant.
“. . .that
hoard, and
sleep, and
feed, and
know not me.”
The repetition of
consonant sounds that
are preceded by
different vowel sounds.
“Wherever
we go
Silence will
fall like
dews”
The use of words whose
sounds suggest the sounds
made by objects or
activities.
Other examples:
buzz, hum, kiss
“Blind
eyes could
blaze like
meteors”
Something concrete, such as an
object, character, or scene that
stands for something abstract
such as a concept or an idea.
Both phrases are symbols that
stand for death.
“Do not go gentle into that good night
Rage, Rage against the dying of the light”
The main idea or
underlying meaning
of a literary work.
“Don’t judge
a man until
you’ve walked
a mile in his
shoes”
Comparing two very
dissimilar things. Usually
involves cleverness and
ingenuity.
This is also a simile.
“Our love is
like parallel
lines”
A term naming an object is
substituted for another word
with which it is closely
associated.
“Sweat” stands for hard work.
“Only through
the sweat of your
brow can you
achieve success”
A pair of rhymed verse
lines that contain a
complete thought.
“But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restor’d and sorrows end.”
Introduction to “Hearing” Poetry
• meter – comes from the Greek term for
measure
• poetry written in a regular pattern of
stressed and unstressed syllables
• the recognition and naming of broad
wave patterns in lines of verse (like
waves on the shore or the wave
patterns of sounds in physics)
Meter continued
• there are a succession of lines or sentences
that have the same metrical pattern, but is
not necessarily exactly rhythmically identical
• lines are repeated again and again in the
same broad rhythmical patterns, creating a
rhythmical unit
• eg: “To this I witness call the fools of Time
• Which die for goodness, who have lived for
crime.”
Poetry has Feet
• the technical meaning – has one
stressed syllable and one or more
unstressed syllables
• is a measurable, patterned, conventional
unit of poetic rhythm
• the non-technical meaning – connected
to how we walk
• pattern and rhythm of steps equal to
pattern and rhythm of poems
• rhythm of music connected to movement
of body and rhythmical pattern of
movement
Scansion
• the system of using symbols to
represent stressed and unstressed
patterns in a poem in order to be able
to “read” the poem
• gives the broad wave pattern, but
doesn’t define the individual wave or
pattern
Kinds of patterns
•
•
•
•
iamb(ic) – unstressed syllable followed
by a stressed syllable
*
‘
* ‘
The way a crow
*
‘
* ‘
Shook down on me.
Trochee(trochaic)
• stressed followed by unstressed
•
‘
* ‘ * ‘
*
‘
*
• Once upon a midnight dreary
Anapest (anapestic)
• has two unstressed syllables followed
by a stressed one
• * *
‘
*
*
‘
*
*
The Assyr/ ian came down/ like a
• ‘
* *
‘
• wolf/ on the fold,
Dactyl
• one stressed followed by two
unstressed
• ‘ * * ‘ * *
‘
**
• Hickory, dickory, dock
Spondee (spondaic)
• is a foot composed of stressed syllables
• ‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
‘
• We, real, cool. We left school.
Pyrrhic
• three unstressed followed by a stressed
• * *
* ‘
* * *
‘
• At their/return,/up the/high strand,/