1. By: Ansley Ussery, Hannah Foster, Andrew Shaw, and Micah Rogers.
Poetry Terms
By: Ansley Ussery, Hannah Foster, Andrew Shaw, and Micah Rogers

2. Rhythm
Definition: The rhythm of a line of poetry is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in the line. A regular pattern of rhythm is called meter.
Example:
Chang McTang McQuarter Cat
Is one part this and twenty that
-John Ciardi
*from Chang McTang McQuarter Cat*

3. Alliteration .
A repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of the words
Example: Carley’s crazy cat was captured!

4. . Rhyme The repetition of similar sounds at the ends of words Example:
Chang McTang McQuarter Cat
Is one part this, and ten parts that
He’s one part saint, and two parts sin
One part yawn, and three parts grin
-John Ciardi

5. Limerick .
A short, funny, poem usually with 5 lines in the pattern a-a-b-b-a
Example: A bugler named Dougal MacDougal
Found ingenious ways to be frugal
He learned how to sneeze
In various keys
Thus saving the price of a bugle.
-Ogden Nash

6. Lyric Poetry .
Poetry that presents the thoughts and feelings of a single speaker
Example:
I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you–Nobody- too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Don’t tell! They’d advertise-you know
How dreary –to be-Somebody!
How public-like a frog-
To tell one’s name-the livelong June
To an admiring Bog!
-Emily Dickinson

7. Onomatopoeia
Definition: is the use of words whose sound suggests their meaning. The words bang and hiss are examples of onomatopoeia.
Example: when the glass plate fell on the floor , we all herd a huge “crash”!!!

8. Repetition Repetition Repetition example
Definition: is the use of a sound, word, or phrase more than once to bring attention to that particular quality of whatever they are talking about.
Shadows on the wall
Noises down the hall
Life doesn’t frighten me at all
Bad dogs barking loud
Big ghosts in a cloud
By Mary Angeolou
Life Doesn’t Frighten Me
example

9. Meter
Definition: In poetry, a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables-or a regular rhythm-is called meter. Although all poems have rhythm , not all poems have meter
Chang’ Mc Tang’ Mc Quar’ter Cat’
Is one’ part this’ and twen’ty that’
By:John Ciardi, from: “Chang Mctang McQuarter Cat”

10. Speaker
Definition: in a poem, the speaker is the voice that talks to the reader, like the narrator in a work of fiction. The speaker is not always the poet. He or she may be a character in the poem
In the poem, “The Windmill”by Longfellow the speaker is a windmill.
example:

11. Concrete Poetry Concrete Poetry is a
poem that tells a story in the shape of the story it is telling

12. Narrative Poetry Example:The raven by by Edgar Allen
Narrative Poetry is a poem that tells a story.

13. Haiku Example:In my new clothing
I feel so different
I must
Look like someone else
By BASHO
Haiku is a tradition of Japanese poetry.It is a 3 line poem.The first and third sentences contain 5 syllables,then in the 2 line it is a 7 syllables again.

14. Stanza “Change” A grouping of two or more lines within a poem.
The summer
Still hangs
Heavy and sweet
With sunlight
As it did last year
The autumn
Still comes
Showering gold and crimson
As it did last year Charlotte Zolotow
A grouping of two or more lines within a poem.

15. Couplet A rhymed pair of lines in a poem. “BARBARA FRIETCHIE”
Up from the meadows rich with corn,
Clear in the cool September morn,
By:John Greenleaf Whittier
(an example from the poem “Barbara Frietchie”)

16. Free Verse Poetry without regular patterns of rhyme or rhythm
“How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird
When the bird comes
If it comes
Observe the deepest silence
Wait for the bird to enter the cage
By: Jacques Prèvert

17. Concrete Poem
The arrangement of the poems words.