Poetry Terms

Lyric

Poem in which the poet express feelings & emotions; presents a character in the first person to express his emotions

Free Verse

Poetry free of regular meter, meaning free of a strict pattern of stressed & unstressed syllables

Epigram

Rhetorical device that is a memorable brief interesting & surprising statement

Sonnet

14 line verse usually having one of several conventional rhyme schemes

Pindaric Ode

A public poem usually set to music that celebrated athletic victories

Epic

Long narrative poem about a hero who represents a particular group of people told through elevated speech

Elegy

Can be defined as a poem or song written in honor of Simone decreased. It typically laments or mourns the death of the individual

Ballad

Type of poetry/verse which was basically used in dance songs Ancient France

Smilie

Figure of speech comparing two unlike things w/like or as

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds. This can occur anywhere in the words

Imagery

Language that appeals to the five senses

Synecdoche

Metaphor in which the parts stands for the whole

Onomatopoeia

Use of words that sound like what they mean

Personification

Non-human things get human qualities

Anaphora

The repetition of a word/phase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines

Metaphor

Figure of speech comparing two unlike things, in which one becomes another

Alliteration

Repetition of first consonant sound

Hyperbole

Figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated greatly

Liotes

Understatement in which affirmative is expressed by negation

Volta

The turning point of a poem