Poetry Literary Terms
Haiku- a lyric poem, originating in Japan; captures the essence of a single moment in a simple
image; generally includes a seasonal word or “kigo”; is three lines long with a syllable pattern
of 5, 7, 5 (total of 17 syllables) ; unrhymed; often contrasts two sensory images; about nature
Tanka- a Japanese poem that is five lines long with a syllable pattern of 5, 7, 5, 7, 7; uses
nature to express emotions; often written to commemorate special events
Ballad- a type of narrative poem that usually relates a single, dramatic episode that can be
tragic or violent (domestic tragedies, family feuds, murders, historical events,
shipwrecks, etc.); deals with common people rather than nobility; have regular rhymes
and stanza patterns; often use repetition
Narrative- a poem that tells a story
Extended Metaphor-as in regular metaphor, extended metaphor speaks of a subject as though
it were something else. In extended metaphor, several comparisons are made and can
be sustained over several lines or the entire poem.
Lyric- a usually short, personal poem expressing a poet’s emotions rather than telling a story
Free Verse-poetry that has no regular rhyme or meter; tends to capture the natural music of
speech
Sonnet- a fourteen line poem that is written in iambic pentameter (10 syllables per line) and
has one of several possible rhyme patterns (ABABCDCDEFEFGG, ABBAABBACDECDE,
ABABBCBCCDCDEE)
Imagery- appealing to one of the five senses : sight (visual), smell (olfactory), taste(gustatory),
touch (tactile) and sound (auditory)
Rhyme Pattern- the arrangement of rhymes in a stanza of poetry
Internal Rhyme-words that rhyme within the same line of a poem
Eye Rhyme- using words that have similar spelling but do not sound alike in place of true
rhyme; often called sight or visual rhyme
Slant Rhyme/Off Rhyme- using consonance or assonance in place of true rhyme
Simile- comparing two unlike things using “like” or ‘as”
Metaphor- an implied comparison
Personification- giving non-living things human traits
Alliteration- repetition of consonant sounds in the beginning and within words in a line of
poetry
EXAMPLE: Build, build your Babels.
Consonance- repetition of consonant sounds at the ends of words in a line of poetry (no rhyme)
EXAMPLE: The dread filled him to the end.
Assonance- repetition of vowel sounds in stressed words in a line of poetry (no rhyme)
EXAMPLE: The tread of death filled him with dread.
Hyperbole- extreme exaggeration for comic or dramatic effect
EXAMPLE: All the perfume in Arabia will not sweeten this murderous hand.
Onomatopoeia- words that imitate actual sounds
Parallelism- repetition of grammatical structures
EXAMPLE: It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.
Repetition- to repeat sounds, phrases, words or sentences in a poem
Refrain- a line or group of lines repeated at regular intervals in a poem
Anastrophe-Inversion of the normal order of the parts of sentences
EXAMPLE: To market she went.
Connotation: the implied meaning of a word
Denotation: the literal meaning of a word; the dictionary definition
Understatement: when something is purposely represented as if it were far less important than
it is
Meter: the fixed pattern of accented and unaccented syllables in a line of poetry
Puns: the usually humorous use of a word in a way to suggest two meanings or the meaning of
another word similar in sound
EXAMPLE: Why did the mushroom get invited to so many parties? Because he was a
really fungi!
Stanza: a unified group of lines in poetry
Tone: The author’s attitude toward the subject being written about
Mood: the feeling/emotion in a literary work (regret, hopefulness, etc.)
Synecdoche: using a part to represent the whole
EXAMPLE: I can drive because I have wheels. (wheels stand for car)
Metonymy: a figure of speech that substitutes the name of a related person, place, object or
idea for the subject
EXAMPLE: Crown for monarchy; law for police officer
Verse: a line of poetry
Allusion: a reference to a person, event, or place (real or fictitious), or to a work of art. An
allusion may be from history, geography, literature or religion.
Oxymoron: putting two contradictory words together
EXAMPLE: jumbo shrimp