POETIC TERMS English 112 Ms. Skilliter
A reference to a historical figure, place, or event A reference to a historical figure, place, or event.
The teams competed in a David and Goliath struggle.
A broad comparison between two basically different things that have some points in common.
Aspirations toward space are not new. Consider the worm that becomes a butterfly.
A direct comparison between two basically different things. A simile is introduced by the words “like” or “as”.
My love is like a red, red rose.
An implied comparison between two basically different things. Is not introduced with the words “like” or “as”.
His eyes were daggers that cut right through me.
A great exaggeration to emphasize strong feeling.
I will love you until all the seas go dry.
Human characteristics are given to non-human animals, objects, or ideas.
My stereo walked out of my car.
An absent person or inanimate object is directly spoken to as though s/he or it were present.
O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
A part stands for the whole or vice versa.
The hands that created the work of art were masterful.
Hints given to the reader of what is to come.
And we mean well in going to this mask; But ‘tis no wit to go. (Romeo; he has a feeling that something bad is going to happen if he goes to the masquerade ball…)
The use of concrete details that appeal to the five senses.
Cold, wet leaves floating on moss- colored water.
A contrast between what is said and what is meant, or when things turn out differently from what is expected.
“I am the greatest, able to do least.” -Friar Laurence
The overall atmosphere or prevailing emotional feeling of a work.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
A seemingly self- contradictory statement that still is true.
The more we learn, the less we know.
The repetition of identical sounds at the ends of lines of poetry.
“I’ll tell thee as we pass; but this I pray, That thou consent to marry us to-day.” -Romeo.
The repetition of identical sounds within a line of poetry.
“We three shall flee across the sea to Italy.”
A slant rhyme or half rhyme occurs when the vowel sounds are not quite identical.
“And on that cheek and o’er that brow” A mind at peace with all below”
The time (both the time of day and period in history) and place in which the action of a literary work takes place.
“Tiger! Tiger! burning bright In the forests of the night”
The repeating of a sound, word, phrase, or more in a given literary work.
“Unseemly woman in a seeming man, Or ill-beseeming beast in seeming both!” Friar Laurence
The repetition of sounds at the beginnings of words.
“Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship”
The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant.
“...But old folks, many feign as they were dead.
The repetition of consonant sounds that are preceded by different vowel sounds.
“With twenty hundred thousand times more joy…”
The use of words whose sounds suggest the sounds made by objects or activities.
Buzz Whoosh Hum
Something concrete, such as an object, action, character, or scene that stands for something abstract such as a concept or an idea.
“Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” -Dylan Thomas Both phrases are symbols that stand for death. Both phrases are symbols that stand for death.
The main idea or underlying meaning of a literary work.
Racism Judgment Loneliness
One word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated. (“crown” for “royalty”)
“Only through the sweat of your brow can you achieve success” “Sweat” stands for hard work.
A pair of rhymed verse lines that contain a complete thought.
“For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”