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Poetic Terms

+Rhyme

repetition of sound in accented syllables that appear in similar positions in lines of poetry

+Rhythm

a pattern of beats in a line of poetry or in a series of lines

Iambic pentameter “He jests at scars that never felt a wound.”

“He JESTS at SCARS that NEVer FELT a WOUND.”

+Rhyme Scheme

a pattern of rhymes "I cannot go to school today,"

Said little Peggy Ann McKay.

"I have the measles and the mumps,

A gash, a rash and purple bumps.

My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,

I'm going blind in my right eye.

My tonsils are as big as rocks,

I've counted sixteen chicken pox

+Figurative Language

Figurative language is a word or phrase that departs from everyday literal language for the sake of comparison, emphasis, clarity, or freshness

The tools used to create imagery – ex: simile, metaphor

+Metaphor

a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison without the use of the words “like” or “as”

“He is the sun in my sky”

“Time is a thief”

+Simile

a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison using the words “like” or “as”

“His stare was as fierce as fire”

“She danced like an angel”

+Personification

a figure of speech that gives objects or animals human characteristics

“But the child is watching the teakettle’s small hard tears dance like mad on the hot black stove” – from Elizabeth Bishop’s Sestina

+Imagery

Formation of mental images using descriptive language

Pictures in your mind

I took a walk around the world toEase my troubled mindI left my body laying somewhereIn the sands of timeI watched the world float to the darkSide of the moonI feel there is nothing I can do

--"Kryptonite" by Three Doors Down

+Alliteration

the repetition of initial consonant sounds in close succession

“I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet When far away an interrupted cry

Came over houses from another street”

- from Robert Frost’s Acquainted with the

Night

+Assonance

repeated vowel sounds in a sequence of words or lines for special effect

“From the molten-golden notes, And an in tune, What a liquid ditty floats”

– from The Bells by Edgar Allan Poe

+Consonance

repetition of the same consonant two or more times in short succession

“pitter patter”

“all mammals named Sam are clammy”

+Allusion

a reference to a literary or historic person or subject

“She has the same views as Diana, the moon goddess.” Taken from the modern text of Romeo and Juliet

+Hyperbole

an extreme exaggeration in a statement or figure of speech

“Her head was the size of the world!”

“I am so hungry I could eat a horse”

+Onomatopoeia

the use of words that sound like their meaning

MunchOoze

Sizzle!

Bang

Zip

+Repetition

saying a line or word over and over again

“Mother I need

mother I need

mother I need your blackness now

as the august earth needs rain.”

- take from Audre Lorde’s poem From the House of Yemanja

+Stanza

a group of lines in a poem that are written in a bunch

taken from Kimiko Hahn’s poem Daughter

Although I’m oldest I can’t

be the one who paints

Or speaks grandmother’s language

like a picture-bride marriage

To a still life: a plate

of oranges, plums and grapes

+Free Verse

lines that do not rhyme or have a rhythmic pattern

I May Be Dreaming, But Wouldn't It Be Great If...

…I were a genius who could get straight As in school without having to do any homework.

…My parents let me eat dessert first and then anything else wanted.

…My little sister moved to an island off the coast of Madagascar and I never heard from her again, except on my birthdays, when she'd send me a card with money in it.

…Instead of making me go to Sunday school, my parents would take me and my girlfriend to the amusement park, where I could practice the Golden Rule on the roller coaster by holding her hand whenever she got scared.

By: Bruce Lansky

+Blank Verse

Regular meter but no rhyme

(most commonly thought of as iambic pentameter with no rhyme)

But, soft, what light through yon-der win-dow breaks?

It is the east, and Jul-iet is the sun.

A-rise, fair sun, and kill the en-vious moon,

Who is al-read-y sick and pale with grief

That thou her maid art far more fair than she. Act 2,Sc. 2

+Lyric

a line of poetry that can be put to music in a song

“America the Beautiful”

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

+Theme

the main idea around which a poem is written. The lesson a poem hopes to teach.

+Tone

Writer’s attitude towards the subject and audience

Sweet is my hope.Pure is the life of my hope.With my sweet hopeI try to reach the higher worlds.With my pure hopeI try to fathom my inner worlds.But alas,In neither way do I succeed.I fail,I miserably fail.