Literary Terms: Poetry Terms

alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in words.

assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds without the repetition of consonants.

caesura

A pause or sudden break in a line of poetry.

consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds not limited to the first letters of words.

sibiliance

The repetition of soft s or sh sounds in a line of poetry.

couplet

Two lines of verse the same length that usually rhyme.

didactic poetry

Poems that contain a clear moral, message, or purpose.

end rhyme

The rhyming of words that appear at the ends of two or more lines of poetry.

end-stopped

A metrical line ending with punctuation such as a colon, semicolon, or period.

enjambment

The running over of a sentence or thought from one line of poetry to another.

foot

The smallest repeated pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poetic line.

iambic

An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

trochaic

A stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.

free verse

Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme.

heroic couplet

Two successive rhyming lines that contain a complete thought.

internal rhyme

When the rhyming words occur in the same line of poetry.

meter

The pattern of repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.

onomatopoeia

The use of a word whose sound suggests its meaning.

repetition

The repeating of a word or phrase within a poem or prose piece.

rhyme

The similarity or likeness of sound existing between two words.

rhymed verse

Verse with end rhyme that usually has regular meter.

rhythm

The ordered or free occurrences of sound in poetry.

sonnet

A poem consisting of fourteen lines of iambic pentameter.

stanza

A division of poetry named for the number of lines it contains.

verse

A metric line of poetry named according to the kind and number of feet composing it.

personification

A literary device in which the author describes an animal, object, or idea as if it were a person.

simile

A comparison of two unlike things using 'like' or 'as'.

metaphor

A comparison of two unlike things without using 'like' or 'as'.

hyperbole

An exaggeration or overstatement.

denotation

The literal meaning of a word.

connotation

A word that invokes an additional idea or feeling beyond its literal meaning.

symbol

A person, place, thing, or event used to represent something else.

imagery

Words or phrases chosen to create a certain picture in the reader's mind.

visual imagery

Imagery that appeals to the sense of sight.

auditory imagery

Imagery that appeals to the sense of sound.

gustatory imagery

Imagery that appeals to the sense of taste.

olfactory imagery

Imagery that appeals to the sense of smell.

tactile imagery

Imagery that appeals to the sense of touch.

kinesthetic imagery

Imagery that conveys movement or action.

organic imagery

Imagery that conveys a specific feeling or emotion.