Poetry Terms

• Personification


  A figure of speech in which an animal, object, or idea is given human characteristics.
• Alliteration


  Repetition of initial consonant sounds.
• Rhyme


  The repetition of the same or similar sounds, usually at the ends of lines.
• Rhythm


  Beat created by the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in spoken or written language.
• Onomatopoeia


  The use of words or phrases whose sounds suggest their meanings. The sound of the word boom, for example, suggests an explosion.
• End rhyme


  Rhyme that occurs at the end of lines.
• Internal rhyme


  Rhyme that occurs within a single line of poetry.
• Stanzas


  A group of lines in a poem set off by blank lines.
• Simile


  A figure of speech that uses like or as to make a direct comparison between two unlike ideas.
• Metaphor


  Direct comparison between two unlike things. It does not use the words like or as.
• Hyberbole


  Fiqure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or humorous effect.
• Free Verse


  Poetry written without a regular rhyme scheme, meter, or form.
• Imagery


  Language that appeals to the five senses---touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight.
• Lyric poem


  Short poem that directly expresses the poet's thoughts and emotions in a musical way.

  
• Narrative poem


  Poem that tells a story.

  
• Rhyme scheme


  The sequence in which the rhyme occurs. The first end sound is represented as the letter a, the second b, etc. The ending of certain lines rhyme with each other.
• Poetry


  A type of writing in which the poet chooses and arranges words to create a strong feeling through meaning, sound, and rhythm.
• Sound devices


  Techniques used to create a sense of rhythm or to emphasize particular sounds in writing.
• Meter


  Regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that gives a line of poetry a predictable rhythm.
• Figurative language


  The use of words/language to create an image in the reader's mind.
• Mood


  The feeling or atmosphere created by the writer, but it is felt by the reader.
• Idiom


  A phrase or expression whose meaning differs from the meaning of the individual words. IDIOT
• Symbolism


  The use of an image or thing to stand for something else.
• Repetition


  A technique in which the same word or line is repeated for emphasis or unity. Helps to reinforce meaning and create an appealing rhythm.
• Refrain


  Stanza or line that is repeated throughout the poem.
• Connotation


  The ideas and feelings associated with the word as opposed to its dictionary meaning. COMMONLY THOUGHT
• Couplet


  Two consecutive lines of verse with end rhymes.
• Stanza break


  A blank line that signals that one stanza has ended and a new stanza is beginning.
• Limerick


  A humorous, rhyming, 5 line poem with a specific meter and rhyme scheme.

  
• Concrete poem


  A poem with a shape that suggests its subject.

  
• Haiku


  A Japanese form of poetry, consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. *Nature is usually the subject.

  
• Allusion


  A reference to another work, such as the Bible, mythology, or well-known event/person.
• Ballad


  A short poem with stanzas of two or four lines and a refrain that repeats; tells a story.

  
• Sonnet


  A poem that has 14 lines with ten to twelve syllables per line; first eight lines develop one idea, last six lines question that idea.
• Ode


  A poem that pays tribute to someone or something.
• Lines


  A row of words in a poem.
• Denotation


  Dictionary definitions of words.
• Pun


  a word that is a Play on words Ex. Ewe Crazy

  
• Acrostic poem


  a poem where the first letter of each line spells a word