Poetic Devices

Alliteration

Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words. For example, "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers." 

Assonance

Repetition of the same vowel sound in words close to each other. "The cat sat on the mat" is an example of assonance with the "a" sound.

Rhyme

Words that sound the same or similar, particularly at the ends of lines in poetry.

Metaphor

A statement that one thing is another, often unrelated, thing in order to make a comparison or highlight a similarity.

Simile

Comparing two things using like or as.

Hyperbole

Over-exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis.

Understatement

When a poet intentionally makes a situation seem less important or severe than it is.

Imagery

The use of language to appeal to our five senses.

Enjambment

The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.

Connotation

The emotional or cultural association with a word rather than its dictionary definition.

Denotation

The actual definition of a word, devoid of emotion or personal association.

Irony

When the outcome of a situation is different than what was expected.

Symbol

An object or action that means more than its literal meaning.

Personification

Applying human characteristics to non-human objects or concepts.

Onomatopoeia

Words that phonetically imitate or resemble the sounds of the actions they describe, like "buzz."

Oxymoron

A figure of speech in which contradictory terms appear in conjunction, such as "cruel kindness."

Paradox

A seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement that, upon closer inspection, contains a possible truth.

Conceit

a bold and extended metaphor that compares two seemingly dissimilar things, often in a surprising or intellectual way, serving to create a complex and often witty connection between them

Metonymy

a figure of speech where a word or phrase is used to represent something else that is closely associated with it, rather than the literal meaning of the word itself.

Synecdoche

a figure of speech where a part of something is used to represent the whole, or vice versa, creating vivid imagery and conveying complex ideas concisely.

Apostrophe

an apostrophe is a figure of speech where the speaker directly addresses a non-present person, an inanimate object, an abstract concept, or even a god or deity.

End stop

a pause at the end of a line of poetry, typically marked by punctuation like a period, comma, or semicolon

Free-Verse

a form of poetry that doesn't adhere to a strict rhyme scheme or metrical pattern, instead relying on the natural rhythms of speech and other poetic devices to create meaning and musicality; also called open-form poetry.

Caesura

a pause near the middle of a line of poetry

Internal rhyme

rhyme within a line of poetry, as opposed to end rhyme, at the end of a line.