1. Poetry
All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts
As You Like It

2. Poetry is an emotional response to life using figurative language.
An hour before the worshipp’d sun Peered forth the golden window of the east
Romeo and Juliet
ACT I Scene 1.
Personification is a type of figurative language that gives life to inanimate objects.

3. Other types of Figurative Language
Simile: two things are compared using “like” or “as.”
“I am constant as the northern star, Of whose true-fix'd and resting quality There is no fellow in the firmament."
--From Julius Caesar (III, i, 60 – 62)

4. Metaphor: direct comparison of unlikes
But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks;
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Romeo and Juliet
Alliteration: repetition of initial consonant sounds in successive words
Done to death by slanderous tongue Was the Hero that here lies"
-From Much Ado About Nothing (V, iii, 3-4)

5. Onomatopoeia: the use of words to suggest sounds.
Apostrophe: words that are spoken to a person who is absent or imaginary, or to an object or abstract idea.
O flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified!
Romeo and Juliet. ACT II Scene 4.
The moan of doves in immemorial elms, And murmuring of innumerable bees.
Tennyson
Onomatopoeia: the use of words to suggest sounds.

6. Poetry Devices
Rhyme: the occurrence of the same or similar sounds in two or more words
Rhyme scheme: the pattern of end rhyme in a poem
O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! A
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night A
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear; B
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear! B

7. Organizational Devices in Poetry
Verse: A line of poetry
Couplet: Two lines of rhymed poetry.
Shakespeare often used the “capping couplet” to end a scene, to show the exit of an important character, to end an important speech.
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; ("a" rhyme)
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.

8. Stanza: An organizational pattern of verse.
Quatrain: A four line stanza or poem.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? A
Thou art more lovely and more temperate. B
Rough winds do shake the daring buds of May A
And summer’s lease hath all to short a stay. B