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
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
EXAMPLE: The dread filled him to the end.
Assonance- repetition of vowel sounds in stressed words in a line of poetry
EXAMPLE: The tread of the feet of the dead.
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
EXAMPLE: buzz, hum, hiss , squeak
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