POETRY TERMS
Figurative Language
1. metaphor: a comparison without using like or as.
Example: Mike is a bear today.
2. analogy: This relationship is the same as that relationship or problem.
Example: We pass each other like ships in the night.
3. simile: a comparison using like or as.
Example: Mike is acting like a bear today.
4. imagery: is descriptive detail that appeals to the senses.
Example: It was a cool, foggy day; everything around me was quiet.
5. personification: a nonhuman object is given human qualities.
Example: The flowers on the hill were dancing.
6. symbolism: an object, person, or idea that stands for something.
Example: He thought he heard the man’s heart beating (representing the clock
ticking and time passing).
Sound Devices
7. end rhyme: the last word in the line (sentence) rhymes with another word at
the end of the next line (also called a couplet).
Example: The dog wore a black hat
It belonged to the white cat
8.
rhythm: is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in spoken or written
language. Example: the different way songs are song.
9. meter: it is the musical rhythm of the poem.
10. iambic: a metrical foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a
stressed syllable. Or a short syllable followed by a long syllable.
11. trochaic: a metrical foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by a
unstressed syllable.
12. repetition: using the same word or phrase more than once (showing the
importance of that line). Example: page 868
13. onomatopoeia: the imitation of natural sounds that someone/something would
make. Example: The bee buzzes. The soda fizzes. The bell rings.
13.alliteration: is the repetition of initial consonant sounds. See p. 868
Forms of Poetry
14. blank verse: verse consisting of unrhymed lines, usually iambic pentameter.
15. free verse: a poem not written in a regular, rhythmical pattern, or meter.
Example: see page 452-453 and Carney’s p. 44 #7.
16. cinquain: five lines total; first line adding two syllables and further meaning to
the subject (syllable pattern is 2-4-6-8-2). Similar to a haiku.
Example: Flowers
Are bursts of warmth
Bringing sunshine to me,
Brightening my day. I love those
Flowers.
17. elegy: a formal poem that reflects of the death or a solemn theme. See p. 850
18. sonnet: a 14 line poem that follows a rhyme scheme (abab) and ends with a
couplet. It has 3 stanzas of abab. Usually used as a love poem. Example: p. 853
19. ballad: a song-like poem that tells a story, often one dealing with adventure and
romance. Usually written in 4 to 6 line stanzas and have regular rhythms and rhyme
schemes. Last line of stanza(s) may repeat. Example: p. 818. p. 824
20. limerick: a humorous, rhyming, 5 line poem with a specific meter and rhyme
scheme. Most limericks have 3 strong stresses in lines 1, 2, and 5 and 2 strong
stresses in lines 3 and 4. Most follow the rhyme scheme aabba.
There once was a rabbit named Sam.
He only ate green eggs and ham.
When he tried something new,
He said it was like eating a shoe.
Now he won’t even try a yam.
21.couplet: a 2 lined poem with external rhyming (at the end of the line).
Example: see end rhyme.
22.triplet: a 3 lined poem with external rhyming (at the end of the line).
Example: see end rhyme p. 837 (last stanza)
23.haiku: 17 syllables arranged in 3 lines of 5-7-5 syllables. Contains direct or
indirect reference to nature and/or seasons; focuses on a particular object or a
present event. See p. 849
24. concrete: a picture poem made out of letters and words. The words of a
concrete poem can either outline the shape of an object, fill in the shape, or trace
the movement of an object. Example: see p. 854 and show paper.
25. nominal: You use the letters of your first and last name to form the each line.
Each line consists of an adjective or a full phrase that reveal the person’s
life/personality.
26.
ode: is a single, unified strain of exalted (praise) verse with a single purpose
and dealing with a single theme. It is formal and uses formal or old-fashioned
language. See p. 848
27. narrative: tells a story, it has a plot, setting and characters. It is written in
verses. See p. 818
28.
lyric: is a highly musical verse that expresses the observations and feelings of
a single speaker. See p. 811
29. diamonte: a diamond shaped poem using parts of speech and ideas. The idea
is to shape your thought about an object, theme, etc. so that the final noun is the
opposite of what you started with. It has 7 lines. Line 1-1 subject noun, 2- 2
adj., 3-3 verbs (ing, ed), 4-4 nouns relating to the subject, 5-3 verbs (ing, ed), 62 adj or phrase, 7-1 noun (opposite of subject). See zerox paper.
30.quatrain: alternating lines rhyme (abab pattern).
31.epic: a long poem that tells a dramatic story about a hero from history. May
pray or invoke a spirit in the beginning of the poem or a muse. The tone is
serious and grand. The Odyssey and Beowulf are epics. See p. 861
Miscellaneous terms
32.stanza: the formal division of lines in a poem. It functions like a paragraph.
Example: The summer that I was ten
Can it be there was only one
Summer that I was ten? It must…(p. 824)
33.
oxymoron: Putting opposites together.
Example: He is an honest politician. I ran very slowly.
34.allusion: referring to something/someone from history, literature, sports, etc. in
which the reader is familiar with.
35.lines: each sentence of a poem is called a line; several lines make up a stanza.
36. mood: the feeling a reader gets when reading the work.