Poetic
Devices- Writing practices
used by poets to create the different
types of poetry
Imagery: Language that appeals to the 5 senses
 Symbolism: The representation of something using
symbols or hidden meaning
 Word Choice: The careful selection of words to
create the desired tone and meaning
 Figurative Language: Language that means more
than what is said on paper. A deeper or hidden
meaning is present.

Rhyme
- the
repetition of
sounds at the
ends of words,
such as pool,
rule, and fool.
Rhyme
Scheme The rhyming
pattern within a
poem.



Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the King’s horses & all the King’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.
AA BB CC DD
AB AB AB
ABCB
AA BB C
Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey
Along came a spider
Who sat down besde her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
Rhythm
- the beat
created by the
pattern of stressed
and unstressed
syllables.
Meter
regular rhythm
Repetition
(Anaphora)
Using any element of
language – a sound,
word, idea, etc…–
more than once for
effect or emphasis.
Alliteration
the repetition of
sounds in the
beginning of
words: lovely
lonely lights.
Simile-
a comparison of two
unlike things using like or as
She
is as slow as a turtle.
Metaphor
– a comparison of two
unlike things without using like
or as
He
was a monkey in the trees.
Personification–
gives human
qualities to non-human things
The
ocean crashed angrily
during the storm.
Hyperbole-An
If
extreme exaggeration!
I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a
thousand times!
Idiom-a
saying that is used to get
a point across. -usually specific
to one language

I realized I was in a pickle as soon as the test
began.
 Oxymoron
–Opposites used together in
contradiction

Example: Jumbo Shrimp.
 Onomatopoeia–
words that sound like what
they represent

Example: Crackle, boom, bang!
Narrative
poetry
tells a story in
verse. Narrative
poems often
have similar
elements to a
short story, such
as plot and
characters.
A
ballad is a form
of narrative
poetry which is
often set to
music.
Concrete
poems -poems shaped to
look like their subjects. The poet
arranges the lines to create a
picture on the page.
Green and speckled legs,
Hop on logs and lily pads
Splash in cool water.
Haiku
- a 3 line
Japanese poem.
The first and
the third lines
each have 5
syllables and
the second line
has 7.
Limerick
- a humorous, rhyming, fiveline poem with a specific rhythm
pattern and rhyme scheme (AABBA).
There once was a fellow named Tim
whose dad never taught him to swim.
He fell off a dock
and sunk like a rock.
And that was the end of him.
Free
Verse –
poetry without a
standard rhythm
or rhyme; does
not follow rules
Sonnet
– “little song”
A 14 line poem that expresses a single,
complete thought
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty’s rose might never die.
But as the riper should by time decease,
His tender heir might bear his memory:
But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,
Feed'st thy light’s flame with self-substantial fuel,
Making a famine where abundance lies,
Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.
Thou that art now the world’s fresh ornament
And only herald to the gaudy spring,
Within thine own bud buriest thy content
And, tender churl, mak'st waste in niggarding.
Pity the world, or else this glutton be,
To eat the world’s due, by the grave and thee.
Couplet-
2 rhyming lines of poetry
written back-to-back
Shel Silverstein
I have the measles and the mumps, a gash, a rash and purple bumps.
You say today is...Saturday? G'bye, I'm going out to play!
Quatrain-
a stanza or poem of 4
lines, usually with an alternating
rhyming pattern Shakespeare
Donna Brock
The mountain frames the sky,A
As a shadow of an eagle flies by,A
With clouds hanging at its edge,B
A climber proves his courage on its rocky ledge.B
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?A
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:B
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,A
And summer's lease hath all too short a dateB