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Poetry Terms
Alliteration:
The repetition of sounds in a
group of words as in
“Peter Piper Picked a Peck
of Pickled Peppers.”
Allusion:
A reference to a person, place,
or thing--often literary,
mythological, or historical. The
infinitive of allusion is
to allude.
e.g. Romeo alludes to the
mythological figure Diana in the
balcony scene.
Assonance:
The repetition of vowel
sounds as in
“And so, all the night-tide, I lie down
by the side
Of my darling, my darling, my life and
my bride.
--Edgar Allan Poe, Annabel Lee
Atmosphere:
The overall feeling of a
work, which is related to
tone and mood.
Blank verse:
Unrhymed lines of poetry
usually in iambic pentameter.
Plenty of modern poetry is
written in blank verse.
Consonance:
The repetition of consonant sounds
as in
“The fair breeze blew, the white
foam flew,
The furrow followed free;”
--The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Couplets:
A pair of rhyming lines in a
poem often set off from the
rest of the poem.
Shakespeare’s sonnets all
end in couplets.
Diction
1)Word choice.
2) The author’s choice of words.
An author has the option of
choosing any word from our
language, why does he/she choose
to use certain words and not
others? In order to create a
certain tone.
Elegy:
A poem mourning the dead.
End rhyme:
Rhyming words that are at
the ends of their respective
lines—what we typically think
of as normal rhyme.
Epic:
A long poem narrating the
adventures of a heroic
figure
e.g. Homer’s The Odyssey.
Figurative Language:
Whenever you describe something by
comparing it with something else, you are
using figurative language. Any language that
goes beyond the literal meaning of words in
order to furnish new effects or fresh
insights into an idea or a subject.
e.g. Whenever you call something “cool,”
you’re not talking about its temperature but
referring to some other quality it possesses.
Free Verse:
Poetry with no set
meter (rhythm) or
rhyme scheme.
Iambic pentameter:
Ten-syllable lines in which
every other syllable is
stressed.
-’
e.g. “With eyes like stars
upon the brave night air.”
Imagery:
The use of description that helps the
reader imagine how something looks,
sounds, feels, smells, or tastes. Most
of the time, it refers to appearance.
e.g. “Tita was so sensitive to onions, any
time they were being chopped, they say she
would just cry and cry; when she was still in
my great-grandmother’s belly her sobs
were so loud that even Nacha, the cook,
who was half-deaf, could hear them easily.”
--Like Water for Chocolate
Internal rhyme:
A rhyme that occurs within
one line such as “He’s King of
the Swing.”
Lyric:
A type of poetry that
expresses the poet’s
emotions. It often tells
some sort of brief story,
engaging the reader in the
experience.
Metaphor:
A comparison of two unlike
things using any form of the
verb “to be”–-i.e. am, are, is,
was, were.
Ex: “This chair is a rock,” or
“I am an island.”
Meter:
The pattern of stressed and
unstressed syllables in the
lines of a poem.
Mood:
The feeling created in the
reader by a literary work or
passage. The mood may be
suggested by the writer's
choice of words, by events in
the work, or by the physical
setting.
Myth:
A legend that embodies the
beliefs of people and offers
some explanation for natural
and social phenomena.
Onomatopoeia:
The use of words that sound
like what they mean such as
“buzz,” “bang,” or “tic-tock.”
Personification:
Giving inanimate objects
human characteristics.
e.g. “The wind howled
through the night.”
Prose:
Writing organized into
sentences and paragraphs
that is not poetry.
e.g. Novels and short stories
are examples of prose.
Quatrain:
A four-line stanza.
Simile:
Comparing two unlike things
using “like” or “as.”
e.g. “I’m as hungry as a pig,” or
“Your eyes are like stars that
brighten my night.”
Sonnet:
A fourteen-line poem written
in iambic pentameter.
Different kinds of sonnets have
different rhyme schemes. The
most notable are Shakespeare’s
Sonnets which employ the
abab,cdcd,efef,gg rhyme scheme.
Stanza:
A major subdivision in a
poem. A stanza of two lines
is called a couplet; a stanza
of three lines is called a
tercet; a stanza of four lines
is called a quatrain.
Symbolism:
The use of one thing to
represent another. Something
that stands for something else.
e.g. A dove is a symbol of peace.
Theme:
The central idea of a work.
Tone:
The author’s attitude toward
the subject of the work.
Usually positive or negative.
e.g. The tone of a piece of
literature could be pessimistic,
optimistic, angry, or sarcastic.
Voice:
The authorial presence in a
piece of literature whether
in the first, second, or third
person.
OTHER FORMS
OF POETRY
COUPLET
• A poem of only two lines
• Both lines have an end rhyme and the same meter
• Often found at the end of a sonnet
Whether or not we find what we are seeking
is idle, biologically speaking.
-at the end of a sonnet by Edna St. Vincent Millay
HAIKU
• Japanese style poem written in three lines
• Focuses traditionally on nature
• Lines respectively are 5 syllables, 7
syllables, and 5 syllables
Whitecaps on the bay:
A broken signboard banging
In the April wind.
-untitled haiku by Richard Wright
QUATRAIN
• Stanza or short poem containing four lines
• Lines 2 and 4 must rhyme, while lines 1 and
3 may or may not rhyme
• Variations in rhyming patterns (abab, abcb)
O, my luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June:
O, my luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly played in tune.
-from “A Red, Red Rose” by Robert Burns
A
B
C
B
CINQUAIN
• Stanza or short poem containing five
lines
• 1 word, 2 words, 3 words, 4 words, 1
word
• Patterns and syllables are changing!
CINQUAIN cont’
Cinquain Pattern
#1
Line1: One word
Line2: Two words
Line 3: Three words
Line 4: Four words
Line 5: One word
Dinosaurs
Lived once,
Long ago, but
Only dust and dreams
Remain
-by Cindy Barden
CINQUAIN cont’
Cinquain Pattern #2
Line1: A noun
Line2: Two adjectives
Line 3: Three -ing words
Line 4: A phrase
Line 5: Another word for
the noun
Mules
Stubborn, unmoving
Braying, kicking, resisting
Not wanting to listen
People
-by Cindy Barden
CINQUAIN cont’
Cinquain Pattern
#3
Line1: Two syllables
Line2: Four syllables
Line 3: Six syllables
Line 4: Eight syllables
Line 5: Two syllables
Baseball
Bat cracks against
The pitch, sending it out
Over the back fence, I did it!
Homerun
-by Cindy Barden
LIMERICK
• A five line poem with rhymes in line 1, 2,
and 5, and then another rhyme in lines 3
and 4
What is a limerick, Mother?
A
It's a form of verse, said Brother
A
In which lines one and two
B
Rhyme with five when it's through
B
And three and four rhyme with each other. A
- untitled and author unknown
BALLAD
• Tells a story, similar to a folk tale or legend
• Usually set to music
• simple repeating rhymes, often with a
refrain
Oh the ocean waves may roll,
And the stormy winds may blow,
While we poor sailors go skipping aloft
And the land lubbers lay down below, below, below
And the land lubbers lay down below.
-from “The Mermaid” by Anonymous
SHAKESPEAREAN SONNET
• Fourteen lines with a specific rhyme scheme
• Written in 3 quatrains and ends with a couplet
• Rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg
Example: See sonnet in notes
PERSONA POEMS
• a poem written in the 1st person point of view
• writer imagines s/he is an animal, an object, a
famous person - anything s/he is not
I still remember the sun on my bones.
I ate pomegranates and barley cakes.
I wore a necklace of purple stones.
And sometimes I saw a crocodile
Slither silently into the Nile.
-from “The Mummy’s Smile” by Shelby K. Irons
POINT OF VIEW
POET
the author of the poem, the person who
actually wrote it
VS
SPEAKER
the “narrator” of the poem, the voice
telling us the thoughts/feelings/story