Poetry Terms and Definitions:
Rhyme Scheme- The rhyming in a poem or song. If they rhyme they get the same letter!
I’m practically perfect in every respect.
I haven’t a flaw you could ever detect.
As soon as you know me I’m sure you’ll agree
There’s no one around who’s as perfect as me
A
A
B
B
-Kenn Nesbitt
Stanza- The “paragraphs” of the poem
My father looks like Frankenstein,
my mom looks like Godzilla,
Line Break
my brother looks like Dracula,
my sister, Vampirella.
There are TWO stanzas in this poem.
My family is the scariest
in this entire city.
I really can’t explain how I
turned out to be so pretty.
-
Line Break
Kenn Nesbitt
Line Breaks- the breaks between rows of words in a poem (see above for an example)
Repetition – often words or phrases are repeated to emphasize their meaning
Figurative language- simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, etc.
I was so hungry I could eat a horse
Hyperbole
My notebook ate my homework
Personification
She is as fast as a cheetah!
Simile
Internal Rhyme- rhyming INSIDE a single line of poetry
“Ah, distinctly, I remember, it was in the bleak December”
Alliteration- repetition of initial consonant sound in a line
When Bad Bertie Bartigan strode into town,
he held up the bank and his britches fell down.
Assonance- vowel sounds repeated
On a proud round cloud in a white high night
Consonance- repetition of two or more consonants with DIFFERENT vowels in-between
It is not nice for Nancy to say naughty words.
Allusion- reference to a character, place or situation from other literature
Example: The fairy tale characters in Shrek
True-minded people should not be married. Love is not love
Sonnet- 14 lines with a specific rhyme scheme
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116
Let me not to the marriage of true minds (a)
Admit impediments. Love is not love (b)
Which alters when it alteration finds, (a)
Or bends with the remover to remove: (b)
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark (c)
That looks on tempests and is never shaken; (d)
It is the star to every wandering bark, (c)
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. (d)
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks (e)
Within his bending sickle's compass come: (f)
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, (e)
But bears it out even to the edge of doom. (f)
If this be error and upon me proved, (g)
I never writ, nor no man ever loved. (g)
Which changes when it finds a change in circumstances,
Or bends from its firm stand even when a lover is unfaithful:
Oh no! it is a lighthouse
That sees storms but it never shaken;
Love is the guiding north star to every lost ship,
Whose value cannot be calculated, although its altitude can be measured.
Love is not at the mercy of Time, though physical beauty
Comes within the compass of his sickle.
Love does not alter with hours and weeks,
But, rather, it endures until the last day of life.
If I am proved wrong about these thoughts on love
Ballad- a narrative poem (tells a story), often of folk origin,
intended to be sung, often with simple stanzas and
having a refrain (like the chorus in a song).
Example: The song: “On Top of Spaghetti”
Then I recant all that I have written, and no man has ever [truly] loved.
Haiku- A Japanese lyric verse form having three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables, traditionally
invoking an aspect of nature or the seasons.
Example:
The moon a week oldA dandelion to blow
Scattering star seed
Lyric Poem- a short poem of songlike quality
Examples: Haiku, quatrain, cinquain, limerick, and free verse poetry are all lyric poetry
Free Verse- Verse composed of variable, usually unrhymed lines having no fixed metrical patern.
Example: Love that Dog by Sharon Creech
Elegy- A poem or song composed for a deceased person
Example: Civil War: Famous elegy written by Confederate officer
The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last tattoo;
No more on life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.
On Fame's eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards, with solemn round,
The bivouac of the dead."
Quatrain- any four line stanza with a rhyming pattern
Example:
Funny, friendly, skateboarder, likeable
Muscular, strong, cool, kind…
These words describe Juan
He has a very smart mind.
Limerick- A funny, goofy poem usually consisting of five lines.
Lines 1, 2, and 5 of Limericks have seven to ten syllables and rhyme with one another.
Lines 3 and 4 of Limericks have five to seven syllables and also rhyme with each other.
The rhyme scheme is aabba
Example:
Imagine a skunk who proposes,
To his true love, surrounded by roses
It may turn out just fine,
When she falls for his line,
But I wonder if flowers have noses?
Couplet- A poem with two lines that rhyme and form one complete thought
Example:
Little Daddy Longlegs played in the sun
Climbing up the front steps just to for fun
Cinquain- twenty-two syllables in five lines
Line one- two syllables
Panic at Midnight
Line two- four syllables
It’s dark
Line three- six syllables
I’m surrounded
Line four- eight syllables
By strange shapes and shadows
Line five- two syllables
There’s someone coming up the stairs
It’s … Mom!
In order to show that you understand what all of these terms are, you will fill out the flip book and illustrate
each box. Give examples of each poetic device on the second page. Use colored pencils to make your book
colorful.