Poetry Terminology
Alliteration Definition: The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or within words Ex) “All day within the dreamy dwelling The doors darkened with dew.”
Assonance Repetition of vowel sounds in or at the beginning of words. Example: Try to light the fire. Hayden plays a lot.
Daddy's Gone A Hunting by: Mother Goose Notice the alliteration in the following poems: Daddy's Gone A Hunting by: Mother Goose Bye, baby bunting, Daddy's gone a - hunting, Gone to get a rabbit skin To wrap baby bunting in. Dancing Dolphins by: Paul McCann Those tidal thoroughbreds that tango through the turquoise tide. Their taut tails thrashing they twist in tribute to the titans. They twirl through the trek tumbling towards the tide . Throwing themselves towards those theatrical thespians.
Free Verse Definition: Poetry that is not written in a regular pattern or meter But that doesn’t necessarily mean that “anything goes,” because some poets like to make their lines rhythmic. One way they do that is by repeating sentence patterns. One example is Walt Whitman’s poem, “Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun.”
from “Give me the Splendid, Silent Sun” Give me the splendid silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling, Give me juicy autumnal fruit ripe and red from the orchard, Give me a field where the unmowed grass grows, Give me an arbor, give me the trellised grape…
Free Verse, continued Other free verse poems: Pg. 671 “I Hear America Singing” Pg. 672 “I, Too, Sing America”
Imagery Concrete images that appeal to the senses A quarter horse, no rider canters through the pasture thistles raise soft purple burrs her flanks are shiny in the sun
Mood The total feeling in a literary work or the choice of setting, objects, details, images and words that contribute to a specific mood
Stanza A group of consecutive lines in a poem that form a single unit
Simile Definition: A comparison between two unlike things using a word such as like, as, than, or resembles. Example: The steak is tougher than an old shoe. Example: My mom is as old as a Civil War soldier. Example: The cat is soft like peach fuzz.
Metaphor Definition: an imaginative comparison between two unlike things in which one thing is said to be like another Ex) Fog rubbing its back on windows makes a sudden leap and curls around the house to fall asleep By using words that we associate with a cats behavior, the author, Eliot, suggests a comparison without stating, “The fog is a cat.”
Metaphor (cont) Ex) Computers are the vehicles for tomorrow Ex) The parks are the lungs of London. Ex) My heart is a lonely hunter.
Onomatopoeia Definition: The use of words whose sounds imitate or suggest their meaning. Ex) Buzz, boom, tick tock
Personification Definition: A figure of speech in which an object or animal is spoken of as if it had human thoughts, feelings, or attitudes. Slowly, silently, now the moon Walks the night in her silver shoon; This way and that, she peers and sees Silver fruit upon silver trees
Repetition When the author repeats a word or phrase to emphasize it in the poem.
Hyperbole An exaggerated statement used especially as a figure of speech to heighten effect. There was a young lady from Lynn Who was so exceedingly thin That when she essayed To drink lemonade She slid down the straw and fell in. Let’s look at “Cremation of Sam McGee” pg. 637 for more hyperbole.
Symbol A person, a place, a thing, or an event that has meaning in itself and stands for something beyond itself as well Ex) The American eagle stands for freedom. Let’s read “The New Colossus” pg. 493 of you Literature book.
Meter The PATTERN of stressed and unstressed syllables/beats in spoken or written language
Rhyme The repetition of vowel sounds and all the sounds following them in words that are close together in the poem.
Rhythm A musical quality produced by the pattern of stresses of beats in spoken or written language