Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood. - T.S. Elliot

Poetry: the best words in the best order. -Samuel Taylor Cooleridge

Poetry is the music of the soul, and, above all, of great and feeling souls. -Voltaire

A form of literary expression that differs from prose in emphasizing the line as a unit of composition. What is Poetry?

–If prose is like talking, poetry is like singing. –Captures intense experiences or creative perceptions of the world in musical language. POETRY

SOUND DEVICES Elements of poetry that appeal to the ear

ALLITERATION -Repetition of sounds at the beginning of a word “It is what sent the snake coiling and flowing forward…”

ASSONANCE Repetition of soft, similar vowel sounds “ flying south, south to feed and nest, ride the thermals mile after guileless mile without resting.”

CACOPHONY Literally, “bad sounds”; harsh combination of sounds, can be difficult to pronounce “ My stick fingers click with a snicker And, chuckling, they knuckle the keys; Light-footed, my steel feelers flicker And pluck from these keys melodies.”

CONSONANCE Repetition of consonant sounds in the middle or at the end of words like a pair of thick socks

EUPHONY A pleasant, soothing combination of sounds; harmony & beauty of language Than Oars divide the Ocean, Too silver for a seam— Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon Leap, splashless as they swim

METER Planned, reoccurring stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem; repeated pattern of stresses ˘ ´ ˘ ´ ˘ ´ ˘ ´ ˘ ´ But, soft!/What light/through yon/der win/dow breaks?

ONOMATOPOEIA When a word sounds like what it describes The rusty spigot sputters, utters a splutter…

REPETITION Repeating words or phrases for emphasis

RHYME Repetition of sounds that match exactly

RHYTHM The unplanned pattern of sound created by stressed and unstressed syllables

Figurative Language Language used for descriptive effect, often to imply ideas indirectly

HYPERBOLE Exaggeration is used for emphasis or humorous effect You’ve asked me a million times!

Imagery Words that appeal to the senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell); words that create a picture in your mind

Metaphor A comparison made without using like or as [love] is a pot full of yellow corn to warm your belly in winter

Personification Giving something that is not human human characteristics The yellow leaves flaunted their color gaily in the breeze.

Simile A comparison made using like, than, or as She is small and sprightly, like a bantam hen.

Paradox A statement of truth that contains seemingly contradictory terms They have ears but hear not.

OTHER IMPORTANT POETIC TERMS

Caesura A strong pause within a line or verse that usually coincides with punctuation England – how I long for thee!

Diction Word choice and the arrangement of those words

Syntax The pattern of formation of sentences or phrases. (The order & length of sentences.)

Epic A long narrative poem with an exalted style and heroic theme (example: The Odyssey)

Ode A poem devoted to the praise of a person, object, or idea To Autumn by John Keats SEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun…

Speaker The voice that communicates with the reader in a poem; like a narrator in prose, not necessarily the poet!

Stanza A group of lines forming a unit of a poem; similar to a paragraph in prose

Theme Main idea or message of the poem; not the subject, but the insight about life or human nature

Tone Writer’s or speaker’s attitude towards the subject of the poem; will evoke an emotional response in the reader