Poetry Components and Figures of Speech

Vocabulary flashcards covering core poetic components and common figures of speech.

Metaphor

An implicit comparison between two unlike things without using “like” or “as.”

Simile

An explicit comparison between two unlike things using “like” or “as.”

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or lines.

Refrain

A line or group of lines repeated at the end of stanzas in a poem.

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words.

Antithesis

A direct contrast or opposition between ideas or concepts.

Oxymoron

A combination of contradictory words that reveals a deeper meaning.

Apostrophe

A sudden break in speech to address an absent, dead, or abstract entity.

Rhetorical Question

A question asked for effect and not intended to be answered.

Catalog

An extensive, rhythmic list of items or elements within a poem.

Elegy

A formal lyric poem mourning the death of a person.

Hyperbole

An extreme exaggeration used for literary or rhetorical effect.

Epithet

A descriptive adjective or phrase expressing a key quality of a person or thing.

Metonymy

Referring to something by the name of something closely associated with it.

Litotes

An understatement that affirms something by negating its opposite, often using double negatives.

Pun

A play on words that exploits multiple meanings or similar sounds for humorous or rhetorical effect.

Parallelism

Repetition of similar grammatical structures for rhythm or emphasis.

Hyperbaton

Deliberate unusual word order for emphasis or stylistic effect.

Imagery

Descriptive language appealing to the senses (visual, tactile, olfactory, gustatory, kinetic).

Synesthesia

A literary device that blends or confuses different types of sensory impressions, describing one sense in terms of another.