Poetry Terms

Closed Form (Traditional)

Poetry with regular patterns of rhyme and rhythm

Open Form (Free Verse)

Poetry without consistent rhyme or meter; form is unique to each poem.

Imagery

Language that appeals to the senses—sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, or movement—to create vivid mental pictures.

Speaker

The voice or persona delivering the poem’s message.

Situation

The context or circumstances in which the speaker finds themselves.

Diction

The poet’s choice of words—can be abstract/concrete, general/specific, formal/informal.

Connotation

The emotional or cultural meaning of a word.

Denotation

Its dictionary definition.

Simile

A comparison using “like” or “as”

Metaphor

An implied comparison without using “like” or “as”

Personification

Giving human traits to non-human things

Hyperbole

Exaggeration for effect

Litotes

Understatement that implies more than it says

Paradox

A statement that seems contradictory but reveals a deeper truth

Synecdoche

A part represents the whole

Metonymy

One thing stands for something closely associated

Tone

The speaker’s implied attitude, shaped by diction, imagery, and form.

Irony

A contrast between expectation and reality—verbal, situational, or dramatic.

Syntax

Word order in a sentence; poets often manipulate syntax for rhythm, emphasis, or meaning.

Poem

A piece of writing that uses words, rhythm, and sound to express feelings or ideas

Theme

Main message or idea the poem is about

Line 

One row of words in a poem

Stanza

A group of lines in a poem

Rhythm

The beat or pattern of sounds in a poem.

Meter

The regular rhythm pattern made by stressed and unstressed syllables.

Iamb

Unstressed + stressed (example: be-LIEVE).

Trochee

Stressed + unstressed (example: TA-ble).

Anapest

Unstressed + unstressed + stressed (example: in-ter-VENE).

Dactyl

Stressed + unstressed + unstressed (example: BEAU-ti-ful).

Enjabment

When a sentence keeps going from one line to the next without punctuation.

Rhyme

Words that sound alike.

Ballad

A story poem, often with a repeating line or chorus.

Couplet

Two lines that usually rhyme and go together.

Haiku

A short poem with 3 lines (5-7-5 syllables), often about nature.

Sonnet

A 14-line poem with a set rhyme pattern.

Villanelle

A 19-line poem with repeating lines and rhyme.

Sestina

A long poem with 6-line stanzas that repeat the same end words in a pattern.

Allusion

A quick reference to something famous (like a book, person, or event).

Shakespearean Sonnet

3 quatrains + 1 couplet (ABAB CDCD EFEF GG)

Petrarchan Sonnet

an octave (ABBAABBA) + sestet (CDECDE)

Verbal irony

saying one thing but meaning another.

Situational irony

an unexpected outcome.

Dramatic irony

the audience knows something the character doesn’t.

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it represents (example: buzz, hiss, bang).