Poetic Devices and Terms

alliteration

the repetition of sounds in a sequence of words (see also consonance and assonance)

blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter

anaphora

the repetition of a word or phrase, usually the beginning of a line

allegory

narrative with two levels of meaning, one stated and one unstated

apostrophe

direct address to an absent or otherwise unresponsive entity (someone of something dead, imaginary, abstract, or inanimate)

assonance

the repetition of vowel-sounds

beat

a stressed or accented syllable

binary

dual, twofold, characterized by two parts

caesura

an audible pause internal to a line, usually in the middle. (An audible pause at the end of a line is called an end-stop)

chiasmus

from the Greek letter Chi (X), a “crossed” rhetorical parallel. That is, the parallel from a:b::a:b changes to a a:b::b:a to become a chiasmus

climax

the high point; the moment of greatest tension or intensity. The climax can occur at any point in a poem. and can register on different levels, e.g. narrative, rhetorical, or formal

consonance

the repetition of consonant-sounds

couplet

two lines of verse, usually rhymed. Heroic couplet: a rhymed iambic pentameter couplet

diction

word choice, specifically the “class” or “kind” or words chosen

elegy

since the 17th century, usually denotes a reflective poem that laments the loss of something or someone

end-stopped line

a line that ends with a punctuation mark and whose meaning is complete

enjambed line

a “run-on” line that carries over into the next complete its meaning

foot

the basic unit of accentual-syllabic and quantitative meter, usually combining a stress with one or more unstressed syllables

free verse

poetry in which the rhythm does not repeat regularly

imagery

the visual (or other sensory) pictures used to render a description more vivd and immediate

meter

a regularly repeating rhythm, divided for convenience into feet

metonymy

a figure of speech i which something is represented by another thing that is commonly and often physically associated with it e..g. “White House” for “the president”

ode

a genre of lyric, an ode tends to be a long, serious, meditation on an elevated subject

refrain

a phrase of line recurring at intervals (note: the definition does not require that a refrain include the entire line, nor that it recur at regular intervals, though refrains often are and do)

rhythm

the patterns of stresses, unstressed syllables, and pauses in language. Regularly repeating rhythm is called meter

smile

a figure of speech that compares two distinct things by using a connective word such as “like” or “as”

speaker

the “I” of a poem, equivalent to the “narrator” of a prose text. In lyric poetry, the speaker is often an authorial persona

speech act

the manner of expression (as opposed to the content). Examples of speech acts include: question, promise, plea, declaration, and command

stanza

a “paragraph” of a poem: a group of lines separated by extra white space from other groups of lines

symbol

an image that stands for something larger and more complex, often something abstract, such as an idea or a set of attitudes

symbolism

the serious and relatively sustained use of symbols to represent or suggest other things or ideas. (Distinct from allegory in that symbolism does not depend on narrative)

synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole, e.g. “wheels” for “car”

tone

the speaker’s or author’s attitude toward the reader, addresses, or subject matter

trope

a figure of speech, such as a metaphor (trope is often used incorrectly, to mean topos

valediction

an act or utterance of farewell

homophone

each of two or more words having the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling, for examples new and knew

homonym

each of two or more words having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings and origins, for example tear and tear.