Key Elements of Poetry Analysis

subject

what the poem is about; the topic or event the poet chooses to engage.

theme

what the poem has to say about its subject; central idea; the meaning of poem.

tone

the attitude the poet takes toward the subject and theme.

denotation

the meaning of a word as defined in a dictionary.

connotation

the overtones or suggestions of additional meaning a word gains from context.

Imagery

language of sense experience; must to be concrete, rather than abstract; the mental pictures experienced by the reader of the poem--not just visual; the sense details which are vital to evoking emotion in poems.

Allusion

a meaningful reference, either direct or indirect, to something outside the poem itself--usually something in history, myth, or previous literature; a means of reinforcing the emotion or ideas of one's own work with the emotion or ideas of another work.

paradox

an apparent contradiction or absurdity that is somehow true. May be either situation or statement.

overstatement

exaggeration in the service of truth; sometimes called hyperbole.

understatement

saying less than the truth.

simile

a figure of speech (trope) in which an explicit comparison is made between two things essentially unlike.

metaphor

a figure of speech (trope) in which an implicit comparison is made between two things essentially unlike.

personification

a figure of speech (trope) in which human attributes are given to an animal, an object, or an abstraction.

symbol

a figure of speech (trope) in which something means more than itself.

allegory

a narrative or description having a second meaning beneath the surface, or literal, one.

euphony

When the sound of words pleases the mind and ear.

cacophony

Opposite of euphony; harsh discordant sounds.

alliteration

A succession of similar sounds, usually consonants.

assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds.

onomatopoeia

A word that captures or approximates the sound of what it describes, such as buzz.

rhyme

Occurs when two or more words or phrases contain an identical or similar vowel-sound, usually accented.

Rhythm

the patterned flow of sound in poetry and prose.

Repetition

the deliberate use of any element of language more than once; repeating words or phrases for effect.

Juxtaposition

a literary device wherein the author places a person, concept, place, idea or theme parallel to another.

consonance

Repetition of final consonant sounds.

stanza

(Italian for 'stopping-place' or 'room'); a group of lines whose pattern is repeated throughout the poem.

syllable

the basic component of words: a vowel sound that may be preceded or followed by consonant sounds.

meter

metrical language, the accents are arranged at apparently equal intervals.

iambic

a line made up primarily of iambs; unstressed/stressed syllables.

blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter (as in Shakespearean drama).

caesura

a pause in a line; usually occurring at a mark of punctuation.

end-stopped lines

where a line ends in a full pause, usually indicated by some mark of punctuation.

run-on lines

where the lines do not end in punctuation and are therefore read with only a slight pause.

Sonnet

A poem almost invariably of fourteen lines and following one of several set rhyme schemes.

Shakespearean Sonnet

A sonnet rhyming ABAB CDCDCD EFEF GG.

Volta

The turn in thought - from question to answer, problem to solution.