Poetry Terms

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Poetry Terms
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alliteration

• the repetition of beginning
• consonant sounds
• pickled peppers

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allusion

• a reference to a mythological, literary, or
  historical person, place, or thing

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apostrophe

• a form of personification in which the absent or
  dead are spoken to as if present and the
  inanimate as of animate
• Mirror, mirror, on the wall.

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assonance

• the repetition of vowel sounds in a series of
  words
• eerie eels

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ballad

• songlike poem that tells a story

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conceit

• very elaborate comparisons between unlikely
  objects. The metaphysical poets such as John
  Donne were criticized for yoking together
  outrageous teams.

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consonance

• the repetition of a consonant sound with a series
  of words to produce a harmonious effect
• apples upon my spoon

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couplet

• pair of lines in poetry that rhyme

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diction

• word choice. Is the poet using formal or informal
  language? Does the poetry hinge on slang or a
  dialect? If so, what is the purpose?

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enjambment

• the running-on of one line of poetry into another

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hyperbole

• a deliberate, extravagant and often outrageous
  exaggeration. It may be used for either serious
  or comic effect.
• Im so thirsty, I could drink a lake.

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image

• language that appeals to one or more of our five
  senses

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irony

• the contrast between actual meaning and the
  suggestion of another meaning a contrast
  between what is expected and what is actual

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verbal irony

• the result of a statement saying one thing while
  meaning the opposite a contrast between what is
  said and what is meant. Its purpose is usually to
  criticize.

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situational irony

• occurs when a situation turns out differently
  from what one would normally expect, though often
  the twist is oddly appropriate

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dramatic irony

• occurs when a character says or does something
  that has more or different meanings from what he
  thinks it means, though the audience and/or other
  characters do understand the full ramifications
  of the speech or action is also said to occur
  when the audience knows something the character
  or characters do not know

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metaphor

• a comparison between two things without the use
  of like or as. This is usually referred to as
  an implied comparison. The poet states that one
  thing is another. It is usually a comparison
  between something that is concrete and something
  that is abstract.

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internal rhyme

• words within a line of poetry rhyme

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meter

• regular pattern of stressed and unstressed
  syllables in poetry

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metonymy

• the name for something closely related to it that
  then takes on a larger meaning

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onomatopoeia

• the use of words in which the sounds seem to
  resemble the sounds they describe

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oxymoron

• a form of paradox that combines a pair of
  contrary terms into a single expression. This
  combination usually serves the purpose of
  shocking the reader into awareness.

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paradox

• a situation or action or feeling that appears to
  be contradictory but on inspection turns out to
  be true or at least to make sense

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persona

• the character the writer assumes for the
  purpose of the work

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personification

• a kind of metaphor that gives inanimate objects
  or abstract ideas human characteristics

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pun

• a play on words that are identical or similar in
  sound but have sharply diverse meanings. Puns can
  have serious as well as humorous uses.

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sarcasm

• a type of irony in which a person appears to be
  praising something but is actually insulting it.
  Its purpose is to injure, to hurt, or to change.

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simile

• a comparison of two different things or ideas
  through the use of the words like or as. It
  is a definitely stated comparison in which the
  poet says one thing is like another.

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slant rhyme

• also known as approximate rhyme
• words at the ends of lines sound similar but are
  not exact rhymes
• Smitten to whimpers, of the dreary wind
• And waves that journeyed blind

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sonnet

• fourteen-line lyric poem usually with a set
  pattern of rhythm and rhyme

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speaker

• the character the poet takes in the poem. A
  speaker in poetry has the same function as a
  narrator in prose.

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symbolism

• the use of one object to suggest another hidden
  object or idea

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synecdoche

• a form of metaphor in which a part of something
  us used to signify the whole or the whole can
  represent a part

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syntax

• the ordering of words into a particular pattern.
  If a poet shifts words from the usual word order
  you know you are dealing with an older style of
  poetry or a poet who wants to shift emphasis onto
  a particular word.
• You may also be dealing with Jedi Master Yoda.

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tone

• the attitude of the speaker. Remember that the
  voice need not be that of the poet. Is the tone
  angry, sad, conversational, abrupt, wheedling,
  cynical, affected, satiric, etc.?

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understatement

• the opposite of hyperbole. It is a kind of irony
  that deliberately represents something as being
  much less than it really is.

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voice

• the sound of the narrators voice

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END RHYME

• Is created when the sound-alike words come at the
  ends of lines.

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Rhythm

• Created by a pattern of stressed and unstressed
  syllables.

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Metera regular pattern of stressed and
unstressed syllables.
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Free Verse

• Poem that does not contain regular rhyme or
  meter. Poem sounds more like everyday
  conversation. Poem may contain special sound
  effects such as onomatopoeia or alliteration.