Poetic Devices

Poetic Structure Closed Form - A type of form or structure in poetry characterized by regularity and consistency in such elements as rhyme, line length, and metrical pattern. Free Verse - Poetry without a regular pattern of meter or rhyme. The verse is "free" in not being bound by earlier poetic conventions requiring poems to adhere to an explicit and identifiable meter and rhyme scheme in a form such as the sonnet or ballad. Meter - The measured pattern of rhythmic accents in poems.

Stanza A division or unit of a poem that is repeated in the same form--either with similar or identical patterns or rhyme and meter, or with variations from one stanza to another. Kind of like a paragraph.

Rhyme and Rhythm Rhyme - The matching of final vowel or consonant sounds in two or more words. The following stanza of "Richard Cory" employs alternate rhyme, with the third line rhyming with the first and the fourth with the second: Whenever Richard Cory went down town, We people on the pavement looked at him; He was a gentleman from sole to crown Clean favored and imperially slim. Rhythm - The recurrence of accent or stress in lines of verse. Shall I comPARE thee TO a SUMmer’s DAY? Thou ART more LOVEly AND more TEMPerATE: Rough WINDS do SHAKE the DARling BUDS of MAY, And SUMmer’s LEASE hath ALL too SHORT a DATE:

Rhyme Scheme The ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines of a poem or verse. The people along the sand (A) All turn and look one way. (B) They turn their back on the land. (A) They look at the sea all day. (B) As long as it takes to pass (C) A ship keeps raising its hull; (C) The wetter ground like glass (D) Reflects a standing gull. (D)

Cliché A phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought. Time heals all wounds: This means that all pain and suffering will get better over time What goes around comes around: This cliché teaches the lesson that the way you treat others will eventually be the way you are treated When you have lemons, make lemonade: This cliché encourages you to have a positive attitude even when things are going bad.

Adage A short, pointed and memorable saying based on facts, and is considered a veritable truth by the majority of people Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. (In Memoriam by Alfred Lord Tennyson) All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. (As You Like It by William Shakespeare)