Poetry Terms
Poetry
Noun
1.Literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings
and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm;...
2.A quality of beauty and intensity of emotion regarded as characteristic of
poems: "poetry and fire are nicely balanced in the music".
Synonyms
verse - poem - poesy - rhyme
Lyric:
A type of poetry that
expresses the poet’s
emotions. It often tells
some sort of brief story,
engaging the reader in the
experience.
Prose:
Writing organized into
sentences and paragraphs
that is not poetry.
e.g. Novels and short stories
are examples of prose.
Stanza:
A major subdivision in a
poem. A stanza of two lines
is called a couplet; a stanza
of three lines is called a
tercet; a stanza of four lines
is called a quatrain.
Quatrain:
A four-line stanza.
Sonnet:
A fourteen-line poem written
in iambic pentameter.
Different kinds of sonnets have
different rhyme schemes. The
most notable are Shakespeare’s
Sonnets which employ the
abab,cdcd,efef,gg rhyme scheme.
Epic:
A long poem narrating the
adventures of a heroic
figure
e.g. Homer’s The Odyssey.
Blank verse:
Unrhymed lines of poetry
usually in iambic pentameter.
Plenty of modern poetry is
written in blank verse.
Free Verse:
Poetry with no set
meter (rhythm) or
rhyme scheme.
Elegy:
A poem mourning the dead.
Internal rhyme:
A rhyme that occurs within
one line such as “He’s King of
the Swing.”
A slant rhyme or half
rhyme occurs when the
vowel sounds are not
quite identical.
“And on that cheek and
o’er that brow”
A mind at peace with all
below”
The repetition of
identical sounds at the
ends of lines of poetry.
Couplets:
A pair of rhyming lines in a
poem often set off from the
rest of the poem.
Shakespeare’s sonnets all
end in couplets.
Metaphor:
A comparison of two unlike
things using any form of the
verb “to be”–-i.e. am, are, is,
was, were.
Ex: “This chair is a rock,” or
“I am an island.”
Metaphor:
A comparison of two unlike
things using any form of the
verb “to be”–-i.e. am, are, is,
was, were.
Ex: “This chair is a rock,” or
“I am an island.”
Onomatopoeia:
The use of words that sound
like what they mean such as
“buzz,” “bang,” or “tic-tock.”
Alliteration:
The repetition of sounds in a
group of words as in
“Peter Piper Picked a Peck
of Pickled Peppers.”
Imagery/Sensory Language

Language and words that appeal to the
five senses: sight, smell, sound, touch,
taste

Creates a scene or visual for the reader
with words…

Ex: It was a dark and stormy night…the
wind was howling, and the rain crashed
down by the gallons…
Allusion:
A reference to a person, place,
or thing--often literary,
mythological, or historical. The
infinitive of allusion is
to allude.
e.g. Romeo alludes to the
mythological figure Diana in the
balcony scene.
Assonance:
The repetition of vowel
sounds as in
“And so, all the night-tide, I lie down
by the side
Of my darling, my darling, my life and
my bride.
--Edgar Allan Poe, Annabel Lee
Consonance:
The repetition of consonant sounds
as in
“The fair breeze blew, the white
foam flew,
The furrow followed free;”
--The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Meter:
The pattern of stressed and
unstressed syllables in the
lines of a poem.
Iambic pentameter:
Ten-syllable lines in which
every other syllable is
stressed.
-’
e.g. “With eyes like stars
upon the brave night air.”
The overall atmosphere
or prevailing emotional
feeling of a work.
“It was the
best of times,
it was the
worst of
times.”
Mood:
The feeling created in the
reader by a literary work or
passage. The mood may be
suggested by the writer's
choice of words, by events in
the work, or by the physical
setting.
Atmosphere:
The overall feeling of a
work, which is related to
tone and mood.
Diction
1)Word choice.
2) The author’s choice of words.
An author has the option of
choosing any word from our
language, why does he/she choose
to use certain words and not
others? In order to create a
certain tone.
Myth:
A legend that embodies the
beliefs of people and offers
some explanation for natural
and social phenomena.
Personification:
Giving inanimate objects
human characteristics.
e.g. “The wind howled
through the night.”
Simile:
Comparing two unlike things
using “like” or “as.”
e.g. “I’m as hungry as a pig,” or
“Your eyes are like stars that
brighten my night.”
Symbolism:
The use of one thing to
represent another. Something
that stands for something else.
e.g. A dove is a symbol of peace.
Theme:
The central idea of a work.
Tone:
The author’s attitude toward
the subject of the work.
Usually positive or negative.
e.g. The tone of a piece of
literature could be pessimistic,
optimistic, angry, or sarcastic.
Voice:
The authorial presence in a
piece of literature whether
in the first, second, or third
person.
The repeating of a
sound, word, phrase, or
more in a given literary
work.
“I sprang to the stirrup, and Jarvis, and he;
I galloped, Derrick galloped, we galloped all
three”