1. POETRY TERMS An Exciting Language

2. OXYMORON: joining contradictory terms to make a point or emphasize a phrase... (the cold sun, the kind killer, the small giant...) example: excerpt from "He Stands Upon His Tower Gazing" Together they are apart, apart together; opposed in flesh, combined in spirit. Apart is dependence but no freedom: together fleshly- one, but feeling separate. - Richard C. Guches

3. STANZA: a grouping of lines in a poem (like paragraphs in an essay)

4. REFRAIN: repetition of a group of lines, similar to the chorus of a song

5. RHYME: repetition of end sounds of words at the same places (usually end of each line)

6. RHYME SCHEME: the patterns of rhyme in a stanza (usually mapped out using A,B,C etc.)

8. IMAGERY: 1. sensory impressions and 2. figurative language

9. 1. Sensory impressions: writing which appeals to the senses (sight, taste, sound, touch, smell) examples: salty, smooth, rotten, jingle

10. 2. Figurative language: 2. Figurative language: similes (like or as), metaphors (is, are, am), and personification (human characteristics to inanimate objects or animals) to communicate a more symbolic meaning, rather than literal.

11. Example: Moons There are moons like continents Diminishing to a white stone Softly smoking In a fog-bound ocean. Equinoctial moons, Immense rain barrels spilling their yellow water. Moons like eyes turned inward, Hard and bulging On the blue cheek of eternity.

12. And moons half-broken, Eaten by eagle shadows... But the moon of the poet Is soiled and scratched, its seas Are flowing with dust. And other moons are rising, Swollen like boils- In their blood shot depths The warfare of planets Silently drips and festers. - John Highness

13. ASSONANCE: (or near rhyme) where stressed vowels in words agree but the consonants do not

14. Example: Excerpt from 258 When it comes, the Landscape listens Shadows-hold their breath- When it goes, ‘tis like the Distance On the look of death- -Emily Dickinson

15. ALLITERATION: (Or head rhyme) the echo of the first sound of several words in a line Example: The supercilious snake suddenly and softly hissed his message.

16. FREE VERSE: Poetry that doesn’t rhyme and doesn’t have a constant syllable count or line.

17. BLANK VERSE: Poetry that doesn’t rhyme but follows syllable or stressed patterns.

18. From Romeo and Juiet “but soft! What light through yonder window breaks It is the east and Juliet is the sun! Arise, fair sin, and kill the envious moon Who is already sick and pale with grief That thou her maid art far more fair than she.”

19. ONOMATOPEIA: Words which represent sounds (buzz, moo, meow, swish, whirr, hiss)

20. HYPERBOLE: When conscious exaggeration is used, not taken literally but for emotional effect

21. UNDERSTATEMENT: When the literal sense of what is said falls short of the magnitude of what is being talked about; also used for effect

22. PERSONA: The “second self” of the poet; when a poet creates a character of his/herself who is writing the poem (narrator or speaker who is separate from the poet)

24. And sometimes goin' in the dark Where there ain't been no light. So boy, don't you turn back. Don't you set down on those steps 'Cause you find it's kinder hard. Don't you fall now- For I'se still goin', honey, I'se still climbin', And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.