Poetry Terms

Stanza A group of lines in a poem Considered a unit Separated by spaces

Figurative Language Writing that is not meant to be interpreted literally Creates vivid impressions by comparing dissimilar things Ex: metaphors, similes, personifications Example: The people that I love the best jump into work head first, Without dallying in the shallows.

Metaphor A figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else Implies comparison Example: Juliet is the sun.

Simile A figure of speech that uses like or as to compare 2 unlike ideas Examples: John is as red as a beet. Claire is as flighty as a sparrow.

Personification The use of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics Example: the cry of the guitar the laughter of the hyenas

Onomatopoeia The use of words that imitate sounds Examples: whirl, thud, sizzle, hiss

Tone The writer’s attitude toward the Examples: formal or informal readers and the subject Examples: formal or informal serious or playful bitter or ironic sympathetic grieving

Imagery The use of descriptive or figurative language to appeal to the reader’s senses. Creates word pictures (images) Uses details of sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, or movement Example: hearing ghostly marching on pavement stones

Assonance The repetition of vowel sounds followed by different consonants in 2 or more stressed syllables Example: “weak and weary”

Speaker The imaginary voice assumed by the writer of a poem. Often not identified by name May be person, animal, thing, or abstraction Ex: Dickinson as dead person

Alliteration The repetition of beginning consonant sounds Emphasizes words, imitates sounds, creates musical effects Example: I grew like a thin, stubborn weed, watering myself whatever way I could.

Allusion A reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work or work of art Example of biblical allusion: “The Magi . . . were wise men . . . who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger.”

Connotation This refers to the set of ideas associated with a word in addition to its dictionary meaning Example: Dunbar’s “caged bird” connotes sad, trapped creature Example: “previously owned vehicle” instead of “used car”

Denotation The dictionary meaning of a word Independent of other associations Example: lake Denotes inland body of water Connotes vacation or fishing spot

Rhyme The repetition of sounds at the ends of words Example: Poe: “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered/ weak and weary.”

Symbol A sign, word, phrase, image, or other object that stands for or represents something else Object has own meaning but represents abstract ideas Examples: Flag symbolizes country Scarlet ibis symbolizes Doodle and other people who struggle

Repetition Use of any language element – a sound, word, phrase, clause, or sentence – more than once Used for musical effects and for emphasis Examples: alliteration, assonance, rhyme, rhythm repeat sounds Refrain repeats line or lines

Refrain Regularly repeated line or group of lines Seen in songs often (the chorus)

Rhythm The pattern of beats or stresses in language Some poems have a specific pattern or meter Example: There was a young lady named bright Whose speed was far faster than light Prose and free verse use natural rhythms of everyday speech

Fixed Form These are stanzas with a repeated or predictable pattern Words in each stanza may rhyme or sound alike The length and rhythm of the stanzas are related The number of syllables in a line can be fixed

Free Form or Free Verse Lacks structure or pattern Words may not rhyme Lines do not match in number of syllables, length, or rhythm

Lyric Poem This is writing that is musical verse: uses rhythm, alliteration, and rhyme Observations and feelings of 1 speaker Sung with lyre in ancient times

Sonnets A fourteen line lyric poem with a theme Usually written in iambic pentameter Shakespeare wrote some very famous sonnets

Narrative Poem This poem tells a story Examples: “Casey at the Bat”: humorous narrative poem Poe’s “Raven”: serious narrative poem

Ballad This is a songlike poem that tells a story Often adventure and romance Most written in 4 to 6-line stanzas, regular rhythms and rhyme schemes, often a refrain

Limerick This is a humorous, rhyming, five-line poem Specific meter and rhyme scheme

Concrete Poem This is a poem with a shape that suggests the subject

Haiku 3-line verse form 1st and 3rd lines have 5 syllables 2nd line has 7 syllables Single vivid emotion with images from nature