terms that have to do with sound and meaning Poetry Terms

ALLITERATION commencement of two or more words of a word group with the same letter

ALLITERATION from “Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet When far away an interrupted cry Came over houses from another street

ASSONANCE also called “vowel rhyme”— the same vowel sounds are used with different consonants in the stressed syllables of words (“penitent” and “reticence”); a partial agreement or correspondence in sounds

ASSONANCE from “Daffodils” by William Wordsworth “I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”

CONSONANCE correspondence of consonants, especially those at the end of a word; use of the repetition of consonants or consonant patterns

CONSONANCE from “ ‘T was later when the summer went” by Emily Dickinson ‘T was later when the summer went Than when the cricket came, And yet we knew that gentle clock Meant nought but going home.

TONE quality or character of sound the writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward his subject, his audience, or himself; the emotional coloring, or emotional meaning, of a work.

TONE “Jenny Kissed Me” by James Henry Leigh Hunt Jenny kissed me when we met, Jumping from the chair she sat in; Time, you thief, who love to get Sweets into your list, put that in! Say I'm weary, say I'm sad, Say that health and wealth have missed me, Say I'm growing old, but add, Jenny kissed me.

WORD CHOICES Go to The Writing Center

MEANING purpose or intention

PLAIN SENSEusing just the words and punctuation. FEELINGawe, tenderness, anger, amusement, etc. TONEAttitude towards the reader: confidential, appealing, etc. INTENTIONWhat is the poet trying to say? SUBJECTlove, death, family, nature, the city, the country, age, youth, war, civilization, pestilence THEMEbetter to have loved and lost... respect your elders... absence makes the heart grow fonder... truth … empathy … etc... MORALIs some kind of a lesson being taught?

DENOTATIVE the explicit meaning of the word

DENOTATIVE there are many words that denote approximately the same thing, but their connotations are very different innocent and genuine both denote an absence of corruption

CONNOTATIVE signifying or suggesting an associative or secondary meaning in addition to the primary meaning

CONNOTATIVE innocent is often associated with a lack of experience, where genuine is not poets use connotations to further develop or complicate a poem’s meaning.

FIGURATIVE metaphorical and not literal

FIGURATIVE Go to Frost Friends

ALLUSIONS a passing or casual reference; an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication

ALLUSIONS from “Parable of the Hostages” by Louise Glück The Greeks are sitting on the beach wondering what to do when the war ends. No one wants to go home, back to that bony island; everyone wants a little more of what there is in Troy

ANALOGIES a similarity or comparability between like features of two different things

ANALOGIES from “Night Clouds” by Amy Lowell The white mares of the moon rush along the sky Beating their golden hoofs upon the glass Heavens; The white mares of the moon are all standing on their hind legs Pawing at the green porcelain doors of the remote Heavens. Fly, Mares!