1. Poetry Terms:

2. Poetry
Def. Writing that communicates a powerful message in a special way
Example:
* Lyric Poem
* Haiku
* Nursery rhyme

3. Line Def. A group of words written horizontally across the page
Example:
* horizon ↔

4. Stanza Def. A group of lines Example:
It looks like a paragraph in a poem.

5. Couplet Def. A 2-line stanza Example:
1- True ease in writing come from art, not chance,
2- As those move easiest who have learned to dance.

6. Tercet Def. A 3-line stanza Example: 1. A murder of crows
2. Is something to see
3. After it snows.

7. Quatrain Def. A 4-line stanza Example: Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you;
But when the leaves hang trembling
The wind is passing through.

8. Rhyme
Def. When the end syllables of 2 or more words sound the same (note: spelling does not matter)
Example:
* high/ by
* you/ through

9. Alliteration
def. The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of each word
Example:
* Bush’s Bumbling Brigadiers
* Stars Set
* Low and Loud

10. Repetition Def. Using the same word or group of words over and over
Example:
* In Windy Nights by R. L. Stevenson – whenever, by, and gallop – are used to mimic the sound of the wind

11. Meter/ rhythm
Def. Patterns of sounds in a poem that give it a musical quality or a “beat”

12. Rhyme scheme Def. A pattern of rhymes within a stanza
(rhyme scheme for poem above = abcb)
Example:
- wind a
- you b
- trembling c
- through b

13. Traditional verse
Def. Poetry that has a regular meter and rhyme scheme
Example:
“Loveliest of Trees” (poem used above)

14. Free verse Def. Poetry that has no regular meter of rhyme Example:
“Song of Myself” by W. Whitman
I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the
journey-work of the stars,
And the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain
of sand, and the egg of a wren.
And the tree-toad is a chef-d’oeuvre for the
highest, …

15. Figurative language
Def. Words that create mental picture and bring out emotion
Example:
Metaphor, simile, and personification

16. Personification:
Def. When human characteristics are given to non-human things
Example:
* the trees are crying aloud

17. Onomatopoeia Def. Words that imitate sounds Example:
Twittering, bleating, barking

18. Metaphor Def. Compares two unlike things but not using like or as.
Example:
Jamie is a bubbling brook.

19. Simile Def. Comparing two things using the words, like, than, or as
Example:
From “Paul Revere’s Ride” - Across the moon like a prison bar

20. Image
Def. Words that refer to something the reader can understand by one of his or her senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch
Example:
* From “Paul Revere’s Ride” – that shall echo forevermore – sound
* From “Loveliest of Trees” – “the cherry now is hung with bloom along the bough” – sight

21. Symbol
Def. An image that stand for something else, something beyond itself
Example:
* Wind is a traditional symbol for change.
* Winter is a symbol for old age and death.

22. Hyperbole Def: an obvious exaggeration for effect. Example:
By the time 2nd period is over I’m starving to death!
“I’ll just die if I don’t get to see the Justin Bieber movie,” said Maggie

23. Allusion
Def: mentioning or referencing some person, place, literary character, event in history which most people would be familiar with.
Ex:
The argument my brother and sister had was World War II.
The only person more honest than John is Abraham Lincoln.

24. Speaker
Def. The narrator of a poem, not necessarily the poet, himself.

25. Theme
Def. The main idea or message expressed in a poem.

26. Tone
Def. The author’s attitude
Example:
Sarcastic, sad, disconnected

27. Mood:
Def. The feeling a reader is supposed to get from a piece of writing.
Example:
Fear, pity, offended, content

28. Lyric Poem:
Def. Writing that expresses the ideas & emotions of the author

29. Narrative Poem:
Poem that tells a story