poetry terms

Allegory

Narrative with 2 levels of meaning, one stated and one unstated

Alliteration

A repeat of the beginning sound or letter that is used in letters, poems and stories

Allusion

A reference in a work of literature to something outside the work especially to a well known or literary event, person or work

Analogy

A comparison between 2 things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification

Couplet

A pair of successive rhyming lines, usually of the same length

Epic

A long narrative poem in which a heroic protagonist engages in action of great mythic or historical significance

Haiku

A Japanese verse form most often composed, in English versions of three unrhymed lines of five seven and then five syllables

Hyperbole

A figure of speech composed of a striking exaggeration

Imagery

Using vivid or figurative language to represent ideas, objects or actions

Metaphor

A comparison that is made without pointing out a similarity by using words “like” “as” or “than”

Onomatopoeia

A figure of speech in which a word imitates the sound with an action or an object

Personification

A figure of speech in which the poet describes an abstraction, a thing, or a nonhuman form as if it were a person.

Simile

A comparison made with “as” “like” or “than”