Poetry Terms
Meter

a pattern of accented and unaccented
syllables in lines of poetry
Rhythm

Rhythm is a musical quality produced by
the repetition of stressed and unstressed
syllables.
Assonance


repetition or a pattern of similar VOWEL
sounds
Examples: Light fire; mellow wedding bells;
crumbling thunder
Consonance


Consonance is the repetition of the final
consonants of accented syllables or important
words , especially at the ends of words
Example: blank and think ; strong and string
Stanza

The poetry “paragraphs”
Refrain

A phrase, verse, or group of verses repeated in
pattern form throughout a song or poem,
especially at the end of each stanza.
Remember!

Poems often contain figurative language, like
similes, metaphors, personification, etc…and
often SYMBOLS!
Types of Poems

Free verse: composed of either rhymed or unrhymed
lines that have no set fixed metrical pattern.

Lyric: does not tell a story which portrays characters
and actions. It addresses the reader directly,
portraying the poet’s her own feeling, state of mind,
and perceptions.

Ballad: tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend
and often has a repeated refrain. A ballad is often
about love and often sung
Types of Poems

Epic: a long narrative poem that tells the story
of a hero’s journey, successes, and failures

Sonnet: a 14 line poem that follows a strict
rhyme scheme: ABABCDCDEFEFGG
Sonnet example: Look familiar??
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whole misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.