Poetry Terms

Alliteration

Repetition of the same initial letter in two or more words in a line of verse

Onomatopoeia

Use of word whose sound imitates its meaning or natural sound

Assonance

Repetition of similar vowel sounds in line of verse

Consonance

Repetition of similar consonant sounds in line of verse

Refrain

Repetition of word, phrase, line (for emphasis or meaning) usually at the end of stanza

Simile

Direct comparison between two unrelated things using like or as

Metaphor

Implied comparison between two unrelated things using a linking verb

Extended Metaphor

Device that develops a single, detailed comparison between two unlike entities over militple lines, stanzas or, and entire work

Personification

giving human qualities to inanimate objects, ideas, or animals

Hyperbole

Exaggeration for sake of emphasis

Apostrophe

Addressing someone (dead) or an idea, not present, as if present

Pun

A play on words that are identical or similar but have diverse meanings

Allusion

Reference to a famous person, place, event, or piece of literature

Couplet

A pair of rhyming lines, usually the same length and meter

Connotation

Ideas associated with a specific word

Denotation

Dictionary definition of a word (Think: “D” in denotation means dictionary)

Diction

Word choice in a poem

Enjambment

Poem with no punctuation

Imagery

Words that appeal to the five senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch)

Speaker

The narrator of the poem (not always the author)

Rhymes

Likeness of sounds between words

End rhyme

Like sounds of words at the end of two or more lines of verse

Internal rhyme

Like sounds between two or more words in the same line of verse (usually at the middle and end of line)