Poetry Terms

1. Poetry Terms English 11 Mrs. Love

2. Alliteration • The repetition of the beginning sounds of words • “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,” “long-lived,” “short shrift,” and “the fickle finger of fate.”

3. Allusion • An instance of indirect reference • “Don’t act like a Romeo in front of her.” “Romeo” is a reference to Shakespeare’s Romeo, a passionate lover of Juliet, in “Romeo and Juliet”.

4. Antithesis • The direct opposite (usually followed by of  or to ) • Her behavior was the very antithesis of cowardly.

5. Approximate rhyme • A term used for words in a rhyming pattern that have some kind of sound correspondence but are not perfect rhymes. Often words at the end of lines at first seem like they will rhyme but are not pronounced in perfect rhyme.

6. Assonance • rhyme in which the same vowel sounds are used with different consonants in the stressed syllables of the rhyming words, as in penitent  and reticence. • An example of assonance in a sentence would be the repeated use of the /oo/ sound in the sentence, “True, I do like Sue.”

7. Ballad • A kind of narrative poem, adapted for recitation or singing; especially, a sentimental or romantic poem in short stanzas.

8. Blank Verse • unrhymed verse, especially the unrhymed iambic pentameter most frequently used in English dramatic, epic, and reflective verse. • Iambic pentameter refers to a certain kind of line of poetry, and has to do with the number of syllables in the line and the emphasis placed on those syllables.

9. Consonance the correspondence of consonants, especially those at the end of a word, in a passage of prose or verse. Great, or good, or kind, or fair,
 I will ne’er the more despair;
 If she love me, this believe,
 I will die ere she shall grieve;
 If she slight me when I woo,
 I can scorn and let her go;
 For if she be not for me,
 What care I for whom she be?

10. Couplet • a pair of successive lines of verse, especially a pair that rhyme and are of the same length. • "So, till the judgment that yourself arise,/You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes."

11. Direct Metaphor • The comparison of one thing to another without the use of like or as • “A man is but a weak reed”; “The road was a ribbon of moonlight.”

12. End Rhyme • End rhyme is defined as when a poem has lines ending with words that sound the same. • An example of end rhyme is the poem, Star Light, Star Bright.

13. Free Verse • The definition of free verse is poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter.

14. Hyberbole • The definition of hyperbole is a description that is exaggerated for emphasis. • An example of hyperbole is saying you are so hungry you could eat a horse.

15. Imagery • Pictures created by the mind or from memory. • An example of imagery is a person remembering what their first pet looked like.

16. Internal Rhyme • Arhyme that happens within a single line of poetry. • An example of internal rhyme is "while I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping."

17. Oxymoron • a combination of contradictory words. • An example of oxymoron is "definite maybe” or jumbo shrimp.”

18. Metaphor • a word or phrase used to compare two unlike objects, ideas, thoughts or feelings to provide a clearer description. • An example of a metaphor is calling the dependable father a rock.

19. Mood • A pervading impression of an observer • the somber mood of the painting.

20. Onomatopoeia • is a poetic structure of words to convey how something sounds. • An example of onomatopoeia is a train being called a “choo-choo” or hearing the frog land in the pond, “Splunk!”

21. Personification • giving human characteristics to non-living things or ideas. • An author describing the sun smiling on a field of flowers is an example of personification.

22. Rhyme • Rhyme is a poem composed of lines with similar ending sounds. • An example of rhyme is the childrens' poem "Hickory Dickory Dock."

23. Rhyme Scheme • a rhyme scheme is a specific pattern used in a poem that determines which lines rhyme. • An example of a rhyme scheme is an AA BB scheme, which means the first line rhymes with the second line, and the third line rhymes with the fourth line.

24. Satire • the use of irony, sarcasm and humor to criticize or show the ignorance of people. • An example of satire is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

25. Simile • a figure of speech where two unlike things are compared using the word "like" or "as" followed by a figurative example. • An example of a simile is "He is as hungry as a horse."

26. Stanza • A group of lines that are part of a poem. • An example of a stanza is the first four lines in a 12-line poem.

27. Symbol • a symbol is something that stands for or represents something else. • An example of symbol is a jack o' lantern representing Halloween.

28. Synecdoche [sinek′dəkē] • a figure of speech using a word that is a part to represent a whole, a whole to represent a part or a material to represent an object. • An example of a synecdoche is referring to a vehicle as "wheels," one policeman as "the police," cola as "Coke" and credit cards as "plastic."

29. Tone • the quality or implied meaning of something that is said. • An example of tone is sarcasm.

30. Verse • writing that has a specific rhythm to it or a specific section of a writing. • An example of verse is a stanza or group of four lines in a poem.