Poetry Terms
Poetry- a type of literature that uses very concise (very brief; using few words), musical, and emotionally charged words.
Poetic Language:
- Figurative Language-not the literal meaning; interpreted imaginatively
- Simile-comparison between two unlike things using like or as
It rained like cats and dogs.
- Metaphor- comparison between two things without using like or as; one thing is spoken of as being another
Death is a long sleep
- Personification- giving objects human qualities or characteristics
The moon sighed; The trees danced
- Hyperbole- Extreme exaggeration
A nose the size of a house
- Imagery- use of vivid language to create word pictures for the reader. Uses sensory language appealing to smell, taste, feel, sound, sight.
- Symbol- something that has a meaning and also represents or stands for something else.
- Devices-
- Alliteration- repetition of the first sound of several words. Example: “start their silent swinging”
- Onomatopoeia-use of words to imitate actual sounds. Example: “bang, tap, swish”
- Assonance-repetition of similar vowel sounds. Example: “deep, beneath, dreamless”; At, Ask
- Consonance- repetition of similar consonant sounds at end of accented syllables. Example: “spurt of a lighted match”; Will-Wall
- Repetition – repeating a word
- Rhyme – repetition of sounds at the end of words
i. End rhyme- rhyming words at ends of lines
ii. Internal rhyme- rhyming words are within the line
Rhyme:
A. Rhyme Scheme- A regular rhyming pattern of words in a poem (Usually found at the end of the lines)
Mary had a little lamb A
Its fleece was white as snow B
Everywhere that Mary went, C
The lamb was sure to go B
B. Rhyme Scheme of a Shakespearean Sonnet:
A,B,A,B C,D,C,D= the first 8 lines (an OCTET)
E,F,E,F = The last 6 lines are a SESTET
G,G= RHYMING COUPLET
C. Couplet- A pair of consecutive rhyming lines
Rhythm:
- Rhythm- the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables or beats in the lines
- Meter- the rhythmical pattern of a poem. This pattern is determined by the number and types of stresses, or beats, in each line.
- Foot- each group of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line.
- Lines are described in terms of the number of feet that occur in them
- Monometer-1 foot
- Dimeter-2 feet
- Trimeter-3 feet
- Pentameter- 5 feet
Poetic Structures:
1. Refrain- phrase or word that his repeated regularly in a poem
2. Stanza- groups of lines that form units in a poem (like a paragraph)
- Blank verse- poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
When I / see birch/ es bend/ to left/ and right
Across/ the lines/ of straight/ er dark/ er trees
Iambic pentameter- Lines of poetry with 5 Iambic feet; each with one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable (see example above)
- Free verse-verse not written in formal rhythmical pattern
Types of Poetry:
- Ballad- a poem intended to be sung; tells a story
- Haiku- three line verse form; (Japanese Poem)
first line has five syllables,
second line has seven syllables
Third line has five syllables.
A haiku tries to convey a single vivid emotion with images from nature.
- Lyric poetry- poetry expressing the observations and feelings of a single speaker. Never tells full story; zeroes in on an experience or creates and explores a single effect.
(Lyrics- Also words of a song)
- Narrative- type of poem that tells a story.
- Sonnet- fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter.
(Most common: Shakespearean sonnet; Elizabethan sonnet)
- Concrete Poetry- A poem with a shape that suggest it’s subject
