Poetry and Literary Devices: Definitions and Examples

Alliteration

Repetition of starting consonant sounds

Allusion

An indirect reference to something (a well known person, place, event, or literary work)

Assonance

Repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds

Caesura

A pause usually near the middle of a line of verse

Conceit

An elaborate notion of comparing two things

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds usually at the end of the word

Blank and think

Couplet

Two line stanza

Tercet

A stanza containing three lines

Quatrain

A stanza containing four lines

Cinquain

A stanza containing five lines

Sestet

A stanza containing six lines

Septet

A stanza containing seven lines

Octet or octave

A stanza containing eight lines

Diction

Use of words in a literary work

End-stopped

A line with the pause at the end

Enjambment

The continuation of the sense and grammatical construction from one line of poetry to the next

Eye rhyme

Words that look like they should rhyme based on spelling but sound different

Move and love

Free verse

Poetry written without standard regular meter, rhythm, or rhyme schemes

Hyperbole

An extreme exaggeration used to emphasize a point or add humor

Irony -Verbal

When a speaker says the exact opposite of what they actually mean

Irony - Situational

An event that turns out completely opposite from what was logically expected

Irony - Dramatic

When the reader or audience knows vital plot information that the characters do not

Litote

A deliberate understatement made by using a double negative to express an affirmative

She is not unhappy

Metaphor

A direct comparison stating that one thing is another unlike thing without using like or as

Metonymy

Replacing the name of something with a closely associated word

Crown to mean the king

Onomatopoeia

Words that mimic the actual sounds they describe

Buzz, hiss

Oxymoron

Two contradictory words paired right next to each other

Cruel kindness

Paradox

A statement that seems self contradictory but reveals a deeper truth upon closer inspection

Personification

Assigning human traits, emotions, or behaviors to non-human objects or animas

Pun

A clever play on words that exploits multiple meanings or similar sounding words for humor

Refrain

A phrase, line, or group of lines repeated at intervals throughout a poem

Simile

A comparison of two unlike things using explicit words such as "like" or "as"

Stanza

A grouped set of lines within a poem, acting like a poetic paragraph

Symbol

An object, person, or situation that represents a deeper, abstract meaning beyond its literal definition

Synecdoche

A figure of speech where a part represents the whole, or the whole represents a part (calling a car wheels)

Syntax

The structural arrangement of words and phrases to form proper sentences or poetic lines