Poetry:
Elements & Key
Terminology
The words needed to
articulately discuss a poem.
1. alliteration
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Alliteration is the repetition of the same or very
similar consonant sounds usually at the beginnings
of words that are close together in a poem.
What is repetition?
What is a consonant sound?
Here is an example of alliteration from the famous
poem “The Raven” by E. A. Poe:
“Open here I flung the shutter, when with many a
flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly
days of yore.”
2. allusion
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An allusion is a reference to a statement, a person,
a place, or an event from literature, history,
religion, mythology, politics, sports, science, or pop
culture.
Here is an example of an allusion used in literature:
“The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry uses the term
magi.
What does Magi refer to?
It is a religious reference to the wise men from the
East who presented the infant Jesus with the first
Christmas gifts.
3. assonance
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Assonance is repetition of similar vowel sounds that
are followed by different consonant sounds,
especially in words that are close together in a
poem.
What are vowel sounds?
Here is an example of assonance: fade and
base.
Here is an example of assonance from the poem
“Boy at the Window” by Richard Wilbur:
“Seeing the snowman stand all alone/In dusk
and cold is more than he can bear/”
4. author
 An
author is the writer of a literary work.
 What is literary?
 An example of an author is Robert Frost,
who wrote “The Road Not Taken”.
5. ballad
A
ballad is a song that tells a story.
 Ballads usually tell sensational stories of
tragedy or adventure.
 Ballads use simple language.
 Ballads use a great deal of repetition.
 Ballads have a regular rhythm and rhyme
scheme, which makes them easy to
memorize.
 “The
5. ballad
Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley
Randall on page 464 is an example of a
ballad.
6. Blank verse
 Blank
verse is poetry written in unrhymed
iambic pentameter.
 What is unrhymed?
 Unrhymed means there is no rhyme.
 What is iambic pentameter?
 Iambic pentameter is when there are five
iambs in a line of poetry.
 An iamb is when an unstressed syllable is
followed by a stressed syllable, as in the
word prefer.
 “Pre” is an unstressed syllable.
 “fer” is a stressed syllable because there
is more emphasis placed on that syllable
during pronunciation.
6. Blank verse
 Blank
verse is the most important poetic
form in English epic and dramatic poetry.
 Blank verse is the major verse form used in
Shakespeare’s plays.
 Here is a famous example from Romeo
and Juliet by William Shakespeare:
 “But soft! What light through the yonder
window breaks?”
8. contradiction
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A contradiction is when two feelings, two
events, or two statements are opposite of
each other.
An example of a contradiction is in the poem
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost.
Line 7 suggests one road might have “the
better claim”, yet in line 10 the roads are
being described as being “worn…about the
same.”
7. connotation
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The connotation of a word is all the meanings,
associations, or emotions that have come to be
attached to some words, in addition to the literal
dictionary definition (denotation).
For example, skinny and slender have the same literal
definition (thin).
But their connotations are very different.
Skinny has a negative connotation because you are
saying something unflattering when you use this word.
Slender has a more positive connotation because you
are giving a compliment.
What are the connotations of the highlighted words in
this quote from Bertrand Russell?
“I am firm. You are obstinate. He is a pigheaded fool.”
9. couplet
A
couplet is two consecutive lines of
poetry that rhyme.
 What is consecutive?
 Here is an example of a couplet by
Alexander Pope:
 “I am his Highness’ dog at Kew;/ Pray tell
me, Sir, whose dog are you?”
10. dialect
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Dialect is a way of speaking that is characteristic of a
particular region or a particular group of people.
Dialects may have a distinct vocabulary.
“yous”/ “ya’ll”
Dialects may have a distinct pronunciation system.
“crick”/ “creek”
Dialects may have a distinct grammar system.
“Nows I’s a told yous”/ “Now, I have told you.”
We all have a dialect because we live in different
regions and belong to different groups.
However, one dialect usually becomes dominant in a
country or culture and becomes accepted as the
standard way of speaking.
In the United States, the language known as standard
English is the accepted dialect and is what you
usually hear spoken by TV newscasters on the
national channels.
11. diction
 Diction
is a writer’s choice of words.
 When analyzing the writing style of an
author, diction, or word choice, is an
important element to consider.
 Connotations of words are also an
important aspect of diction.
 A writer’s diction could be described as
simple and down-to-earth: house, home,
digs.
 A writer’s diction could be described as
ornate, or flowery: domicile, residence,
abode.
12. epic
 An
epic is a long story which relates the
great deeds of a larger-than-life hero who
embodies the values of a particular
society.
 Most epics include elements of myth,
legend, folk tale, and history.
 The tone is serious and language is grand.
 Examples of great epics are the Iliad and
the Odyssey, written by Homer.
13. Figure of speech
A
figure of speech is a word or phrase
that describes one thing in terms of
another.
 A figure of speech is not meant to be
understood on a literal level.
 Most figures of speech involve some sort
of imaginative comparison between
seemingly unlike things.
13. Figure of speech
 There
are some 250 different types of
figures of speech!
 The three most common are the simile,
the metaphor, and personification.
 An example of a simile: “I wondered
lonely as a cloud.”
 An example of a metaphor: “Fame is a
bee.”
 An example of personification: “The wind
stood up and gave a shout.”
14. Free verse
 Free
verse is poetry that does not have a
regular meter or rhyme scheme.
 Poets writing in free verse try to capture
the natural rhythms of ordinary speech.
 Free verse may use rhyme, alliteration,
onomatopoeia, refrain, and parallel
structure to help create its music.
 An example of a poem written in free
verse is “Daily” on page 410.
14. Free verse
Daily
These shriveled seeds we plant,
corn kernel, dried bean,
poke into loosened soil,
cover over with measured fingertips
These T-shirts we fold into
perfect white squares
These tortillas we slice and fry to crisp strips
This rich egg scrambled in a gray clay bowl
This bed whose covers I straighten
smoothing edges till blue quilt fits brown blanket
and nothing hangs out
This envelope I address
so the name balances like a cloud
in the center of sky
This page I type and retype
This table I dust till the scarred wood shines
This bundle of clothes I wash and hang and wash again
like flags we share, a country so close
no one needs to name it
The days are nouns: touch them
The hands are churches that worship the world
~ Naomi Shihab Nye ~
15. genre
A
genre is simply a category that a work
of literature is classified under.
 There are five major genres in literature:
nonfiction, fiction, poetry, drama, and
myth.
 What genre are we currently studying in
depth?
 The Odyssey, which is our next unit of
study, is in the epic genre.
16. haiku
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Haiku is a Japanese verse form consisting of three
lines and, usually, seventeen syllables.
There are five syllables in the first line, seven
syllables in the second line, and five in the third
line.
The writer of a haiku tries to describe a particular
moment of discovery or enlightenment.
A haiku often presents an image of daily life that
relates to a particular season.
An example of a haiku is on page 419 in your
literature book.
16. haiku
Get out of my road
And allow me to plant
these
Bamboos, Mr. Toad.
-Miura Chora
The old pond;
a frog jumps in:
Sound of water.
-Matsuo Basho
A morning glory
Twined round the bucket:
I will ask my neighbor for
water.
-Chiyo
A dragonfly!
The distant hills
Reflected in his eyes.
-Kobayashi Issa
17. Hyperbole
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Is a figure of speech
Uses exaggeration to express strong emotion
or to create a comic effect
What is exaggeration?
Sometimes hyperbole is called
overstatement.
Writers will use hyperbole to intensify a
description or to emphasize the essential
nature of something.
Ex: That limousine is as long as an ocean
liner.
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18. Iambic
pentameter
Iambic pentameter is a line of poetry that contains
five iambs.
An iamb is a metrical foot, or unit of measure,
consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a
stressed syllable.
Pentameter comes from the Greek word “penta”,
which means five and “meter”, which means
measure.
Ex: arise
Here is an example from W. Shakespeare’s R & J.
“But soft! What light through the yonder window
breaks?”
19. idiom
 An
idiom is an expression peculiar to a
particular language that means
something different from the literal
meaning of each word.
 Ex: It’s raining cats and dogs.
 Ex: We heard it through the grapevine.
 Idioms make it difficult to translate a
piece of writing from one language to
another.
20. imagery
Imagery is language that appeals to the senses.
 Most images are visual, but imagery can also
appeal to the senses of sound, touch, taste, and
smell, or even to several senses at once.
 Imagery is an element in all types of writing, but it is
especially important in poetry.
 Here is an example from “Meeting at Night” by
Robert Browning.
Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach;
Three fields to cross till a farm appears;
A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch
And blue spurt of a lighted match…
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21. Implied metaphor
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An implied metaphor is a type of metaphor
where the comparison is implied and not
directly stated.
An implied metaphor does not tell us directly
that one thing is something else.
An implied metaphor uses words that suggest
the nature of the comparison.
Ex: “O my love bursts into bloom”
This phrase implies that the feeling of love is
like a budding flower.
22. irony
 Contrast
between expectation and reality
 That is between what is said and what is
really meant. (verbal irony)
 Example: calling LeBron James a clumsy
basketball player
 That is between what is expected to
happen and what really does happen.
(situational irony)
22. irony
 Example:
In “The Gift of the Magi”, the
female character sells her hair to buy her
husband a chain for his pocket watch; the
husband has sold his pocket watch to buy
jeweled combs for his wife’s hair.
 That is between what appears to be true
and what is really true. (dramatic irony)
 Example: In Shakespeare’s Romeo and
Juliet, the audience knows that Juliet is
only faking death, but her lover Romeo
doesn’t.
23. Lyric poetry
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Lyric poetry is poetry that does NOT tell a story but is
aimed only at expressing a speaker’s emotions or
thoughts.
Most lyric poetry is short and implies a single, strong
emotion.
The term “lyric” is Greek.
In ancient Greece, lyric poems were recited to the
accompaniment of a stringed instrument called a
lyre.
Today, poets still try to make their lyrics “sing”, but
they rely on the musical effects created with rhyme,
rhythm, onomatopoeia, etc. instead of instruments.
There is an example of a lyric poem on page 425.
23. Lyric poetry
Country Scene by Ho Xuan Hu’o’ng
Translated by John Balaban
The waterfall plunges in mist.
Who can describe this desolate scene:
the long white river sliding through
the emerald shadows of the ancient canopy
…a shepherd’s horn echoing in the valley,
fishnets stretched to dry on sandy flats.
A bell is tolling, fading, fading
just like love. Only poetry lasts.
24. metaphor
A
metaphor is a figure of speech
that makes a comparison between
two unlike things, in which one thing
becomes another thing without the
use of the word “like”, “as”, “than”,
or “resembles”.
 Examples:
 “O my love is a red, red rose”
 “Fame is a bee.”
25. meter
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Meter is a regular pattern of stressed and
unstressed syllables in poetry.
When we mark the meter of a poem, we use

for a stressed syllable and

for an
unstressed syllable.
Example:
Slowly, silently, now the moon
-Walker de la Mare, from the “Silver”
26. mood
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Mood is a story’s atmosphere or the feeling it evokes.
What is atmosphere?
What is evokes?
What are feelings?
Mood is often created by a story’s setting.
If a story is set in a wild forest at night, with wolves howling
in the distance, what type of mood is created?
The mood conveyed might be one of terror, tension, or
uneasiness.
If a story is set in a cozy cottage or garden full of sunlight
with birds chirping, what type of mood is created?
The mood conveyed might be one of peace or tranquility.
27. narrator
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The narrator is the voice telling the story.
The narrator can be someone involved in the story or
someone who is not involved.
If the character is involved in the story, there is probably a
first person point of view.
If the character is not one of the characters in the story, and
thus, is not involved directly in the story, there is probably a
third person point of view.
When we consider the narrator of a piece of literature, we
must ask ourselves “Is this narrator reliable?”
What does it mean to be reliable?
The choice of a narrator in literature is very important
because of the reliability factor.
28. onomatopoeia
 Onomatopoeia
is the use of a word whose
sound imitates or suggests its meaning.
 Onomatopoeia is very natural to us and
we have probably been using it since our
childhood.
 Examples: crackle, pop, fizz, click, zoom,
chirp.
 Onomatopoeia adds to the musical
quality of poetry.
28. onomatopoeia
And in the hush of waters was the sound
Of pebbles, rolling round;
Forever rolling, with a hollow sound:
And bubbling seaweeds, as the waters go,
Swish to and fro
Their long cold tentacles of slimy gray…
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_James Stephens, from “The Shell”
29. parallelism
 Parallelism
is the repetition of words,
phrases, or sentences that have the same
grammatical structure or that state a
similar idea.
 Parallelism is also called parallel structure.
 Parallelism helps make lines rhythmic and
memorable.
 Parallelism also helps heighten the
emotional effect of words on the reader.
29. parallelism
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Turn to page 1027
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of
times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the
age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief,
it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the
season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of
despair, we had everything before us, we had
nothing before us, we were all going direct to
Heaven, we were all going direct the other
way…”

Charles Dickens, from A Tale of Two Cities
30. personification
 Personification
is a kind of metaphor in
which a nonhuman thing or quality is
talked about as if it were human.
 Example: “The wind stood up and gave a
shout.”
30. personification
This poetry gets bored of being alone,
it wants to go outdoors to chew on the winds,
to fill its commas with the keels of rowboats…
-Hugo Margenat, from “Living Poetry”
31. poetry
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Poetry is defined as a type of rhythmic, compressed language that uses
figures of speech and imagery to appeal to the reader’s emotions and
imagination.
What is rhythmic?
What is compressed?
What are figures of speech?
What is an appeal?
The major forms of poetry are the lyric poem and the narrative poem.
What is a lyric poem?
What is a narrative poem?
Two types of narrative poems are the epic and the ballad.
What is an epic?
What is a ballad?
Poetry has been described as “a search for the inexplicable”.
What is inexplicable?
Point of view
Omniscient point
of view
First-person point
of view
Third-person point limited point
of view
refrain
repetition
rhyme
End rhyme
Internal rhyme
Approximate
rhymes
Rhyme scheme
rhythm
setting
simile
 Example:
cloud.”
“ I wondered lonely as a
sonnet
speaker
stanza
style
symbol
theme
tone
Verbal irony