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Poetic Terms
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Rhyme
 repetition
of sound in accented syllables that
appear in similar positions in lines of poetry
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Rhythm
a
pattern of beats in a line of poetry or in a series
of lines

Iambic pentameter
“He jests at scars that never felt a wound.”
“He JESTS at SCARS that NEVer FELT a WOUND.”
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Rhyme Scheme
a
pattern of rhymes
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"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
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"I have the measles and the
mumps,
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A gash, a rash and purple
bumps.
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My mouth is wet, my throat is
dry,
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I'm going blind in my right eye.
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My tonsils are as big as rocks,
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I've counted sixteen chicken pox
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Figurative Language
 Figurative
language is a word or phrase that
departs from everyday literal language for the
sake of comparison, emphasis, clarity, or freshness
 The
tools used to create imagery – ex: simile,
metaphor
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Metaphor
a
figure of speech that makes a direct comparison
without the use of the words “like” or “as”
“He is the sun in my sky”
“Time is a thief”
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Simile
a
figure of speech that
makes a direct
comparison using the
words “like” or “as”
“His stare was as fierce
as fire”
“She danced like an
angel”
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Personification
a
figure of speech that gives objects or animals
human characteristics
“But the child is watching the teakettle’s small hard
tears dance like mad on the hot black stove” – from
Elizabeth Bishop’s Sestina
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Imagery
 Formation
of mental
images using
descriptive language
 Pictures

I took a walk around the world
to
Ease my troubled mind
I left my body laying
somewhere
In the sands of time
I watched the world float to the
dark
Side of the moon
I feel there is nothing I can do

--"Kryptonite" by Three Doors
Down
in your mind
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Alliteration
 the
repetition of initial consonant sounds in close
succession
“I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street”
- from Robert Frost’s
Acquainted with the Night
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Assonance
 repeated
vowel sounds in a sequence of words or
lines for special effect
 “From
the molten-golden notes, And an in tune,
What a liquid ditty floats”
– from The Bells by Edgar Allan Poe
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Consonance
 repetition
of the same consonant two or more times
in short succession
“pitter patter”
“all mammals named Sam are clammy”
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Allusion
a
reference to a literary or historic person or
subject
 “She
has the same views as Diana, the moon
goddess.” Taken from the modern text of Romeo
and Juliet
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Hyperbole

an extreme exaggeration
in a statement or figure
of speech
“Her head was the size of
the world!”
“I am so hungry I could eat
a horse”
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Onomatopoeia
 the
use of words that sound like their meaning
Munch
Ooze
Sizzle!
Bang
Zip
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Repetition
 saying
a line or word over and over again
“Mother I need
mother I need
mother I need your blackness now
as the august earth needs rain.”
- take from Audre Lorde’s poem From the
House of Yemanja
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Stanza
a
group of lines in a
poem that are written
in a bunch
 taken
from Kimiko
Hahn’s poem Daughter
Although I’m oldest I can’t
be the one who paints
Or speaks grandmother’s
language
like a picture-bride marriage
To a still life: a plate
of oranges, plums and grapes
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Free Verse
 lines
that do not rhyme or have a rhythmic pattern
I May Be Dreaming, But Wouldn't It Be Great If...
…I were a genius who could get straight As in school without having to do any
homework.
…My parents let me eat dessert first and then anything else wanted.
…My little sister moved to an island off the coast of Madagascar and I never
heard from her again, except on my birthdays, when she'd send me a card with
money in it.
…Instead of making me go to Sunday school, my parents would take me and my
girlfriend to the amusement park, where I could practice the Golden Rule on
the roller coaster by holding her hand whenever she got scared.
By: Bruce Lansky
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Blank Verse
 Regular
meter but no rhyme
 (most
commonly thought of as iambic pentameter
with no rhyme)
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But, soft, what light through yon-der win-dow breaks?
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It is the east, and Jul-iet is the sun.
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A-rise, fair sun, and kill the en-vious moon,

Who is al-read-y sick and pale with grief
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That thou her maid art far more fair than she. Act 2,Sc. 2
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Lyric
a
line of poetry that
can be put to music in
a song
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain
 “America
Beautiful”
the
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with
brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
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Theme
 the
main idea around which a poem is written. The
lesson a poem hopes to teach.
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Tone
 Writer’s
attitude
towards the subject
and audience
Sweet is my hope.
Pure is the life of my hope.
With my sweet hope
I try to reach the higher worlds.
With my pure hope
I try to fathom my inner worlds.
But alas,
In neither way do I succeed.
I fail,
I miserably fail.