1. Poetry 10 Terminology
By Isabel Cu

2. Poems
Definition- words organized in such a way that there is a pattern or rhythm, rhyme and/or meaning. The relationships between words are emphasized in poetry, so the various word-clusters or verses have a collective impact on the reader/listener (which is different from prose, where the words “hit” the reader one at a time in sentences)

3. Types of Poems

4. Ballad
Free Verse
Definition- a long poem that tells a story, usually a folktale or legend, in rhyme. Often set to music.
Example: La Belle Dame sans Merci
By John Keats
Definition- modern poetry that has no regular pattern of rhythm, rhyme or line length
Example: After the Sea-ship
By Walt Whitman

5. Concrete
Example:
Definition- Concrete poetry experiments with the very materials of the poem itself: words, letters, format. The final product does what it says in that the meaning of the poem is demonstrated by the words, letters, format of the poem. Concrete poems rely heavily on the visual or phonetic to get across their meaning.

6. Lyric
Narrative
Definition- A poem that tells a story, narratives may or may not rhyme.
Example: The Raven
By Edgar Allan Poe
Definition- A short poem of intense feeling and emotion.
Example: Sad in Blue
By Peter S. Quinn

7. Sonnet
Definition - A fourteen line lyric written in iambic pentameter , sonnets follow a rigid rhyme scheme, typical rhyme schemes for sonnets are the Shakespearean or English sonnet (abab cdcd efef gg) or the Italian or Petrarchan sonnet (abba abba cdc cdc OR abba abba cde cde). For more information about iambic pentameter and rhyme scheme, see “rhythm and rhyme” below.
Example: Sonnet XXIII: Methought I Saw my Late Espoused Saint
By John Milton

8. Poetic Devices
Sound, comparison and word play

9. Sound
Alliteration- Repeated consonant sounds at the beginning of a series of words. This devices uses sounds to catch the reader's attention.
Example: she sells sea shells by the sea shore
Assonance- Repeating vowel sounds in the middle of words. This device also uses sound to catch the reader's attention. This is a subtle device for which you have to listen to carefully.
Example: Fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese

10. Sound
Consonance- repeating consonant sounds in the middle of the words. This device uses sounds to catch the reader's attention. This is a subtle device, although it is less subtle that assonance.
Example: Dawn goes down
Euphony- Sounds that are very pleasant to hear. The opposite of cacophony.
Example: Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness
Onomatopoeia- Words that sound like what they mean.
Example: Swoosh

11. Comparison Metaphor- A direct comparison between two dissimilar items.
Example: The test will be a piece of cake.
Personification- a comparison between a non human item and a human so that the non human item is given human characteristics.
Example: The tree waved.
Simile- A comparison between two dissimilar items using like or as to make the comparison.
Example: His smile brightened up the room like the sun.

12. Word Play
Allusion- A reference in one piece of literature to something from another piece of literature. Allusions can also be references to person/events/places in history, religion or myth. Allusions are frequently made in poetry, but can occur in other genres as well.
Example: The rise in poverty will unlock the pandora's box of crimes
Repetition- deliberately repeated words, sounds, phrases or whole stanzas. Used to make a point in a poem.
Example: I am the stranger, you can't see me, I am the stranger

13. Word Play pt2
Figurative Language- The imaginative language that makes a poem rich to a leased. Figurative language often relies on comparison devices like simile, metaphor, and personification to make a point.
Example: can be a simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, idiom, cliche
Literal Language- The literal meaning of the poem, which ignores imagery, symbolism, figurative language and any imagination on the part of the poet or the reader.
Example: i write with a pencil

14. Word Play pt3 Hyperbole- A deliberate exaggeration to make a point.
Example: I was so hungry I could eat a horse.
Understatement- understatement achieves its effect through stating less than what is necessary.
Example: Someone gets 100 on a test and they say “I did okay”
Symbol- Something that represents something else.
Example: A dove can mean peace.

15. Word Play pt4
Oxymoron- Placing single word opposites beside each other for dramatic effect.
Example: Alone together
Paradox- A large oxymoron, an apparently contradictory statement that, despite the contradiction, has an a element of truth in it.
Example: I'm a compulsive liar.

16. Word Play pt5
Tone- The narrator's attitude toward the subject of the poem and sometimes, toward the reader of the poem.
Mood- The emotion of the poem. The atmosphere, the predominant feeling frayed by or in the poem. Usually through word choice or description.
Imagery- Poets create picture in the mind of the reader which appeal to the sense of sight; they also create descriptions to appeal to the other four senses. This collection of appeals to the five senses is called the imagery of the poem.

17. Verse Forms

18. Couplet
Two lines of poetry that rhyme. The last two lines of an English sonnet is usually a couplet.
Octave
Eight lines of poetry that have a rhyme scheme. The first part of an Italian sonnet is an octave.
Sestet
Six lines of poetry that have a rhyme scheme. The second part of an Italian sonnet is a sestet.

19. Quatrain
Four lines of poetry that have a rhyme scheme. Quatrains often have an abab or abcb rhyme scheme, as well as the aabb. The first three verses of an English sonnet are quatrains
Verse
A paragraph of writing in a poem. These paragraphs are written as clusters of rhyming lines in traditional poetry, such as octaves, sestet and quatrain.
Stanza
Another word for “verse”.

20. Rhythm and Rhyme

21. Blank Verse
Definition- Unrhymed iambic pentameter. All sonnets, shakespearean plays and the King James Version of the bible are written in blank verse. Unrhymed iambic pentameter is said to closely mimic the cadences of natural speech. See below for more information on iambic pentameter.
Example: Mending Walls by Robert Frost

22. Iambic Pentameter
An iamb is two syllables. The first one is not stressed or spoken; the second one is stressed. The words giraffe or destroy are examples of iambs. Five jambs in a row is a iambic pentameter.
Example: And I do love thee: therefore, go with me

23. Rhyme
Definition- When sounds match at the end of lines of poetry, it is considered rhyming.
Example: Hear the honking of the goose/ I think he's angry at the moose
Rhythm
Definition- A pattern of sounds in a poem; it may be regular pattern or irregular as in free verse.
Example: shall I compare thee to a summer's day

24. Rhyme Scheme
Definition- The pattern of a rhyme in a poem, indicated with letters of the alphabet. To decide on a rhyme scheme, you assigned a letter of the alphabet to all rhyming words at the end of lines of poetry, starting with the letter “a”. When you run out of one word rhyme sounds, you start with the next letter of the alphabet.
Example: (a a rhyme scheme)
I do not like green eggs and ham
I do not like them Sam I am