POETRY
Literary work in which special intensity is given to
the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of
distinctive style and rhythm.
Stanza
A group of lines forming the basic recurring
metrical unit in a poem; a verse.
Example: I do not like Green Eggs and Ham
I do not like them Sam I am.
I do not like them in a boat.
I do not like them with a goat.
Figurative Language
Writing or Speech that is not meant to be taken
literally. Poets use figures of speech to state their
ideas in new ways.
Examples: Metaphors, Personification, Similes,
Symbols
Metaphors
Describe one thing as if it were something else.
Example: The house was a zoo this morning!
Personification
Gives human qualities to something that is not
human.
Example: The cars growled in the traffic.
Simile
Uses like or as to compare two seemingly unlike
things.
Example: He stormed into the meeting like a
tornado.
Symbol
Anything that represents something else.
Example: A dove is a common symbol for Freedom.
Sensory Language
Anything that appeals to the five senses.
Poets use sensory language to create strong images
in readers’ minds.
Examples: Slippery, Slimy, Fluffy, Cold
Sound Devices
Enhance a poem’s mood and meaning.
Examples: Alliteration, Repetition, Onomatopoeia,
Rhyme, Meter
Alliteration
The repetition of consonant sounds in the
beginning of words.
Example:
I bought a black banana,
And a broken baseball bat.
A burst balloon, a busted boat,
A beat-up bowler hat.
Repetition
The use of any element of language– a sound,
word, phrase, clause, or sentence—more than
once.
Example:
I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody too?
Then there's a pair of us-don't tell!
They'd banish us you know.
How dreary to be somebody!
how public, like a frog.
To tell your name livelong day
To an admiring bog! -Emily Dickinson
Onomatopoeia
The use of words that imitate sounds.
Examples: Crash, Bang, Hiss
Rhyme
The repetition of sounds at the ends of words.
Example:
I meant what I said
And I said what I meant….
An elephant’s faithful
One hundred percent! -Dr. Seuss
Meter
The rhythmical pattern in a poem.
Example: “But soft, what light through yonder
window breaks”
This line consists of five iambs:
but SOFT / what LIGHT / through YON / der WIN /
dow BREAKS
Graphical Elements
Visual features that can influence a poem’s
meaning.
Examples: capital letters, line length, word position
Narrative
Poetry that tells a story in verse. Often have
elements similar to those in short stories, such as
plot and characters.
Example: Annabel Lee
For the moon never beams without bringing me
dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea. -Edgar Allan Poe
Haiku
A three-line Japanese verse form. The first and
third lines each have five syllables and the second
line has seven.
Example:
My homework is late.
My dog ate it this morning.
I sure like my dog.
Free Verse
Poetry that is defined by its lack of strict structure.
It has no regular meter, rhyme, fixed line length, or
specific stanza pattern.
Example:
Licking a lolly slowly,
sunlight lapping at the lazy lake.
Lovely evening,
lovely lolly,
lazy life.
Lyric
Poetry that expresses the thoughts and feelings of
a single speaker, often in a highly musical verse.
Example:
Coach said to fake right
And break left
Watch out for the pick
And keep an eye on defense
Gotta run the give and go
And take the ball to the hole
But don't be afraid
To shoot the outside "J"
Just keep ya head in the game
-“High School Musical”
Ballad
Songlike Poems that tell stories. They often deal
with adventure and romance.
Example:
I am me
A lone ballad of emotions.
Who else could I be?
Whether you love, hate, or envy me.
I am no other.
I am me. -Katelin Sanderson
Concrete
Poems are shaped to look like their subjects.
The poet arranges the lines to create a picture on
the page.
Example: Upon a Lilac Sea
To toss incessantly
His Plush Alarm
Who fleeing from the Spring
The Spring avenging fling
To Dooms of Balm
-Emily Dickinson
Limericks
Humorous, rhyming, five-line poems with a specific
rhythm pattern and rhyme scheme.
Example:
There once was a poor boy named Sid
Who thought he knew more than he did.
He thought that a shark
Would turn tail if you bark.
So he swam out to try it --- poor kid!
Rhyming Couplets
Pairs of rhyming lines, usually of the same meter
and length.
Examples:
It’s hard to see the butterfly
Because he flies across the sky
Hear the honking of the goose
I think he’s angry at the moose