DEFINITIONS FOR POETRY TERMS
Alliteration- Repetition of the same consonant sounds
Ballad - Song/poem that tells a sensational story
Connotative Language – The unspoken or unwritten meanings associated with a
word
Denotative Language – The literal (actual) meaning of a word
Dramatic Poetry – Poetry that uses elements of drama. One or more characters
speak, usually very emotional.
Figurative Language (Figure of Speech) - Word of phrase that describes one
thing in terms of another. It is not meant to be literal.
Free Verse- Poetry that doesn’t have a regular meter or rhyme scheme.
Haiku- Japanese form of poetry that has three lines, 17 syllables (5,7,5)
Hyperbole – A figure of speech in which great exaggeration is used
Imagery- Language that appeals to the senses
Literal Language – Language that emphasizes actual meaning not figurative
Lyric Poetry- Poetry that does not tell a story but expresses emotions/thoughts.
Metaphor- Figure of speech that makes a comparison of two unlike things. like,as
Meter- A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem.
Narrative Poetry – Verse that tells a story (ballads, epics)
Onomatopoeia- Use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning.
Oxymoron – A figure of speech that is a collection of contradictory words
Personification- A special kind of metaphor (figure of speech) in which a nonhuman thing is given human qualities.
Poet – Person who writes the poem.
Poetry- A type of rhythmic compressed language that uses figures of speech to
appeal to the reader’s emotions and imagination.
Refrain- A repeated word, line, phrase, or group of lines
Rhyme- Repetition of accented sounds in words that are close together
Rhythm- The musical quality of language, created by meter and rhyme.
Simile- Figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things by
using like or as. (x is like Y)
Sonnet- 14 line lyric poem, written in iambic pentameter (Shakespearean sonnet
is made of three, four line stanzas (quatrains) followed by a couplet. The rhyme
scheme is abab cdcd efef gg)
Speaker – The voice talking in the poem
Stanza- Group of consecutive lines in a poem that form a unit
Symbol- A person, place or thing that stands for itself, but also represents
something beyond itself
Tone- The attitude a writer takes about a subject
Understatement – Language that makes something seem less important than it
really is.