P OETRY T ERMS
Ms. Mathews
English 9H

T YPES OF P OEMS

V ERSE
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Rhymed Verse
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 the most commonly used form of verse generally has an end rhyme
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Blank Verse
 generally identified by a regular meter, but no end rhyme
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Free Verse
 usually defined as having no fixed meter and no end rhyme

E XAMPLE OF R HYMED V ERSE
I wandered lonely as a cloud:
That floats on high o'er vales and hills
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
-William Wordsworth

E XAMPLE OF B LANK V ERSE
In Mathematics, Woman leads the way:
The narrow-minded pedant still believes
That two and two make four! Why, we can prove,
We women-household drudges as we are-
That two and two make five-or three-or seven;
Or five-and-twenty, if the case demands!
-Anonymous

E XAMPLE OF F REE V ERSE
I remember the days of dreamings,
From where in the world so much knowledges,
And thoughts of wonderful and funs.
But however life walks ahead,
And ideas are unavailing aloud,
When around so many flies.
Concealed after the masks of sorrow.
-Anonymous

N ARRATIVE
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Tells a story
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Includes the following elements:
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Characters
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Setting
Plot
Point of View
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All the elements combine to form a theme
Example: The Odyssey

B ALLAD
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Tells a story
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Meant to be sung or recited
Typically depict ordinary people in the midst of tragic events or adventures of love and bravery
Example: “The Ballad of Birmingham”

L YRIC
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A short poem in which the speaker expresses personal thoughts and feelings
Most poems, with the exception of narratives, are lyric poems
Cover many subjects, from love to death to everyday experiences
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Example: “Theme for English B” by Langston
Hughes

E PIC
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A long narrative poem about the adventures of a hero whose actions reflect the ideals and values of a nation or race
Address universal concerns, such as:
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Good and evil
Life and death
Sin and redemption

Example: The Odyssey

S ONNET
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A lyric poem of 14 lines
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Most common is the Shakespearean sonnet
 made up of three quatrains (four line units) and a final couplet
 has a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg
Example: “Sonnet 140” by William Shakespeare

P OETIC E LEMENTS

A NALOGY
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A point-by-point comparison between two things that are alike in some respect
Are often used in nonfiction, when an unfamiliar subject or idea is explained in terms of a familiar one

R HYME
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The occurrence of a similar or identical sound at the ends of two or more words
Example: suite, heat, complete
Internal rhyme
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Occurs within the line
End rhyme

Occurs at the end of the line
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Slant rhyme
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Also called approximate or near rhyme
Occurs when the sounds are not quite identical

Example: care and dear

R HYME E XAMPLES
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Internal
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Once upon a midnight dreary , while I pondered weak and weary
While I nodded, nearly napping , suddenly there came a tapping
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External

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall ,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall .
All the King's horses, And all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again !
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Slant
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I sat in the dark nursing my broken heart .

M ETER
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The regular pattern of accented and unaccented syllables in a line of poetry

R HYTHM
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Refers to the pattern or flow of sound created by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry

T ONE
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The attitude a writer takes towards a subject
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Reflects the feelings of the writer

O XYMORON
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A figure of speech that combines contradicting words
Examples:
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Bitter sweet
Forward retreat
Serious joke
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Deafening silence

A LLITERATION
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The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words
Example using the h sound:
“The angels, not h alf so h appy in H eaven,
Went envying h er and me;”
-Edgar Allan Poe, from “Annabel Lee”

H YPERBOLE
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The use of exaggeration
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May be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression
Not meant to be taken literally
Examples:
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I’m so hungry that I could eat a horse!
That bag weighs a ton.