In-Depth Notes on Elements of Poetry

ELEMENTS OF POETRY

ALLITERATION

  • Definition: Repetition of initial consonant sounds.
  • Example: "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers…"

ALLUSION

  • Definition: A reference to something from literature or history.
  • Example: "She gave a herculean effort cleaning up after the storm."

ASSONANCE

  • Definition: Repetition of internal vowel sounds.
  • Example: "…the private eye hired to pry into my business.” (from “Criminal” by Eminem)

CONNOTATION

  • Definition: A feeling associated with a word—not its dictionary definition.
    • Example:
    • Home = warm feelings, comfort.
    • House = a building where people live.

CONSONANCE

  • Definition: Repetition of final consonant sounds.
  • Example: "…the pup did lap up a cup of water."

DENOTATION

  • Definition: The literal or dictionary meaning of a word.
    • Example:
    • House = a building where people live.
    • Home = a place of warmth and family memories.

END RHYME

  • Definition: A rhyme that occurs in the final syllables of verses.
  • Example: "Whose woods these are I think I know, His house is in the village, though" (Robert Frost)

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

  • Definition: The use of words or expressions that differ from their literal meaning.
  • Example: "My head is spinning from all this new info!"

HYPERBOLE

  • Definition: A deliberate exaggeration or overstatement.
  • Example: "Mrs. Brown's so old her maiden name is Asaurus!"

IMAGERY

  • Definition: Descriptive language used to recreate sensory images.
  • Example: "Wind howled through the trees while mist rose in wisps from the moors."

METAPHOR

  • Definition: A direct comparison of two unlike things.
  • Example: "Life is a highway." "Schwenk is a mountain."

METER

  • Definition: The rhythmical pattern of a poem, determined by the number and types of stresses in a line.
    • Examples:
    • Iambic: "I wish I had some pumpkin pie." (unstressed/stressed)

METER CONTINUED

  • Types of Meter:
    • Dactylic: One stressed syllable followed by two unstressed.
    • Example: "… out of the mockingbird’s throat" (Walt Whitman).
    • Trochaic: One stressed followed by one unstressed.
    • Example: "By the shores of Gitche Gumee" (Longfellow).

ONOMATOPOEIA

  • Definition: The use of words that imitate sounds.
  • Examples: "thwack!", "Moo", "woof."

PERSONIFICATION

  • Definition: When a non-human subject is given human traits or characteristics.
  • Example: "Lightning danced across the sky."

PUN

  • Definition: A play on words that suggests two meanings.
  • Example: "The best thing to carry when you start feeling tired is a knapsack."

RHYME SCHEME

  • Definition: The pattern of rhymes (usually end rhyme) in a poem, indicated by letters of the alphabet.
  • Example:
    "Nature’s first green is gold, A
    Her hardest hue to hold. A
    Her early leaf’s a flower; B
    But only so an hour." (Frost) B

REPETITION

  • Definition: Repeating words or phrases to create a desired mood.
  • Example: "And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep." (Frost)

SIMILE

  • Definition: A comparison of unlike items using "like" or "as."
  • Example: "Schwenk is as big as a mountain."

SYMBOLISM

  • Definition: The use of one thing/item/idea to represent another.
  • Example:
    • rose = love
    • black = evil

TONE

  • Definition: The attitude toward the subject (or focus) of the work—NOT mood (mood is the feeling of the reader created by the work).
  • Examples:
    • "All morons hate when you call them morons." (Salinger)
    • "I shall be telling this with a sigh," (Frost)

CONCLUSION

  • Understanding these elements of poetry can enhance both reading and writing poetic works, enabling deeper analysis and appreciation of literature.