Alliteration  Repetition of beginning consonant sounds

Example of Alliteration “There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground and swallows circling with their shimmering sound;” Sara Teasdale

Imagery  Use of vivid language to convey sensations

Example of Imagery “That morning we galloped through the grassed-over mounds and named each stone for a lost milk tooth. Each dollop of sherbet, later, is a miracle, like salt on a melon that makes it sweeter.” Rita Dove

Metaphor  An implied comparison between two unlike things

Example of Metaphor “An aged man is but a paltry thing, A tattered coat upon a stick...” William Butler Yeats

Onomatopoeia  Words that sound like what they mean

Example of Onomatopoeia “The rusty spigot sputters, utters a splutter,...” Eve Merriam

Personification  Giving human characteristics to an animal, object, or idea

Example of Personification “Death grinned, and his eyes lit up With the pale glow of those lanterns That workmen carry sometimes To light their way through the dusk.” Donald Justice

Simile  An obvious comparison between two unlike things, using “like,” “as,” or “than”

Example of Simile “Bulging like a coin purse fallen on the ground Of damp woods.” W. D. Snodgrass