Poetry Terms

Author

the writer who pens the poem

Speaker

the person, object, or concept speaking in the poem

Persona

the characteristics and traits of the speaker. The ‘character’ of the speaker. These traits help us understand who the speaker is both tangibly (the era they live in, the economic setting, their age, etc.) and conceptually (an idealist, a vagabond, a dreamer, etc.)

Voice

an author’s individual writing style or point of view. — is created through devices such as tone, diction, syntax, subject matter, grammar, and punctuation. Some author’s voices are so distinctive that we can recognize them.

Diction

an author’s word choice. Words and phrases that create tone, persona, voice, and more.

Syntax

the arrangement of words and phrases to create sentences. Untraditional arrangements create tone, persona, voice, and more.

Simile

a comparison of two objects using “like” or “as.” (i.e. The sun was like a tangerine.)

Metaphor

A comparison the implies one thing is another. (i.e. “the day boiled,” meaning the heat felt as hot as a pot of boiling water.)

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something closley associated with that thing or concept.

Personification

an inanimate object possess human qualities of form.

Symbol

a — can be any object, character, color, or even shape that represents an abstract concept without explanatory text. For example, Poise the Riveter represents empowerment and independence. A skeleton represents the concept of death.

Tone

the poet sets the — through the speaker, word choice, syntax, subject matter, etc.

Mood

— is the emotional response the reader has to the poem.

Situational Irony

when the outcome of an event is the opposite of what is expected: A contrast between what we get and what we expect to get. For example: We would not expect a professional race car driver to have a fender bender in a parking lot.

Dramatic Irony

when a character is unaware of the circumstances or situation, but the reader is clued in.

Verbal Irony

a manner of speaking the implies discrepancy: A difference between what is said and what is really meant. for example, the word “love” can mean “hate” here when we sarcastically say, “I just love to stay home and wash the dishes on a Saturday night!”

Understatement

to intentionally make a situation seem less important than it really is.

Hyperbole

to intentionally make a situation seem MORE important than it really is.

Apostrophe

— is a figure of speech in which the poet addresses an absent person, and abstract idea, or a thing.

Imagery

there are several types of imagery: visual (sight), auditory (sound), olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste), tactile (touch), kinesthetic (movement), and organic (experiences of the body, such as emotion, thirst, hunger, etc). Writers use them to create mental images for readers.

Denotation

the literal meaning of a word.

Connotation

the positive and negative associations we have with a word. For example, the word “blue” might go beyond denotation (the color) to an association with feelings of sadness or calm.

Rhyme

the repetition of syllables, typically at the end of a verse line. Rhymed words often share all sounds following the word’s last stressed syllable. Thus “tenacity” and “mendacity” rhyme.

Rhyme Scheme

— is usually the pattern of end rhymes in a stanza, with each rhyme encoded by a letter of the alphabet (ABBA BCCB, for example).

End Rhyme

lines end with words that sound the same.

Anaphora

repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a line. Often allows the reader to recognize and consider specific meaning.

Alliteration

the repetition of initial stressed, consonant sounds in a series of words within a phrase or verse line. “With swift, slow; sweet, sour.”

Assonance

the repetition of vowel sounds without repeating consonants; sometimes called vowel rhyme. For example: “leaping, and deep”.

Onomatopoeia

a figure of speech in which the sound of a word imitates its sense (for example, “choo-choo,” “hiss,” or “buzz”).

Stanza

a grouping of lines separated from others in a poem. The stanza, like a paragraph, can be used to mark a shift in mood, time, or thought.

Sonnet

Italian for “a little song.” A 14-line poem. The sonnet traditionally reflects upon a single sentiment, with a clarification or “turn” of thought in its concluding lines. It often follows an end rhyme pattern.

Shakespearean: lines of 4 then couplet; ABABCDCDEFEFGG

Ode

a formal poem that addresses and often celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea.

Elegy

often a melancholy poem that laments or mourns its subject’s death (but ends in consolation or comfort.)