Definitions and Examples Poetry Terms Definitions and Examples

RYHTHM The pattern created by the arrangement of stressed syllables. Rhythm gives poetry a musical quality.

RHYME The repetition of identical or similar sounds at the ends of words or close to one another.

End Rhyme Rhyme that occurs at the end of each line. Example: He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake.

RHYME SCHEME The pattern formed by the END RHYME in a poem. The rhyme scheme is shown by the use of a different letter of the alphabet to name each new rhyme. See next slide…

Rhyme Scheme Example There was an Old Man with a beard, A Who said, “It is just as I feared! – A Two owls and a hen, B Four Larks and a wren, B Have all built their nests in my beard.” A -Edward Lear

In a foul and filthy cavern A Where the sun has never shown, B The one-eyed ogre calmly gnaws C A cold and moldy bone. B He sits in silence in the slime A that fills his fetid home B and notes the nearing footsteps C in the monstrous catacomb B

INTERNAL RHYME Rhyme that occurs within lines of poetry. Examples: Chain link clinks in the wind. The queen of doom upon her broom.

STANZA A paragraph in Poetry. Several lines grouped together in a poem. See next slide…

2 Stanzas Oh, Mom, don’t make me go today. I’m feeling worse than yesterday. You don’t know what I’m going through. I’ve got a strange, rare case of flu. My body aches, my throat is sore. I’m sure I’m knocking on death’s door. You can’t send me to school—achoo! ‘Cause everyone could get it, too.

HYPERBOLE A figure of speech frequently used in poetry; an exaggeration. Example: He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow.

PERSONIFICATION A Figure of Speech in which human qualities are given to animals, objects, or ideas Example: The wind stood up, and gave a shout; He whistled on his fingers, and    Kicked the withered leaves about And thumped the branches with his hand…

SIMILE A figure of speech using “Like” or “As” to compare seemingly unlike things. Example: In garments black as pitch

They put me in the cage, I am the animal. METAPHOR A figure of speech that compares unlike things without using the words “like” or “as” Examples: They put me in the cage, I am the animal.

IMAGERY 2. Masses of flowers load the cherry branches Language that helps the reader see, hear, feel, smell, and taste things that are described in the work. Examples: 1. Listen to the grating roar Of pebbles in the waves 2. Masses of flowers load the cherry branches in colors of yellow and red

ONOMATOPOEIA Then one slow sharp scratch The use of a word or phrase that actually imitates or suggests the sound of what it describes. Example: A tap tap tap on the window pane Then one slow sharp scratch

REPETITION The recurrence of sounds, words, phrases, lines, or stanzas in a piece of writing. When a line or stanza is repeated in a poem, it is called a REFRAIN. EX: Step, step, step; Dig, dig, dig, Twirl, twirl, twirl the bat.

ALLITERATION The repetition of consonant sounds, most often at the beginnings of words and syllables. Examples: 1. A crackling crone with brittle bones. 2. The sweet smell of success.

ASSONANCE The repetition of vowel sounds. Examples: 1. Like weeds in the deep green sea 2. The child of silence and time

FREE VERSE Poetry that has no fixed pattern of rhyme, line length, or stanza arrangement. Example: Bright lights Dry mouth, stiff fingers Insides shaking

CINQUAIN A poem that doesn’t rhyme, is based on word count, and has 5 lines. Don’t copy this: LINE 1: Noun LINE 2: 2 Adjectives describing the noun LINE 3: 3 Verbs showing action of the noun LINE 4: 4 Words that describe a feeling about the noun LINE 5: Repeat the Noun (use a synonym)

CINQUAIN Example Hamsters (noun) Furry, friendly (2 adjectives) Twitching, running, digging (3 verbs) Loving, cozy, fluffy cotton (4 feeling) Friend (synonym to noun)

Couplet couplet – A two-line poem that rhymes. Each line contains the same number of syllables. I found a starfish in the bay When I was fishing yesterday.

HAIKU A Japanese form of poetry that has three lines and seventeen syllables. The first and third lines have 5 syllables each; the middle line has 7 syllables. EX – see next slide

one lone wailing voice in the lovely cold forest black timberwolf song HAIKU one lone wailing voice in the lovely cold forest black timberwolf song

LIMERICK A short, usually humorous poem with a regular rhythm pattern and set rhyme scheme of a / a / b / b / a. EX – see next slide

LIMERICK There was an old lady named Betty Who feasted on only spaghetti. When to her surprise She met her demise By eating instead some confetti.