Literary Terms: Poetry Terms
alliteration: The repetition of initial consonant sounds in words such as “rough and ready.” Example: “Our gang paces the pier like an old myth.” assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds without the repetition of consonants. Example: ‘My words like silent raindrops fell.”
caesura: A pause or sudden break in a line of poetry.
consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds. Although it is similar to alliteration, consonance is not limited to the first letters of words. Example: “… and high school girls with clear skin smiles.”
sibiliance: The repetition of soft s or sh sounds in a line of poetry. It creates a hushed effect in the lines. “The shores sighed sweetly so as . . .”
couplet: Two lines of verse the same length that usually rhyme.
didactic poetry: Refers to poems that contain a clear moral, message, or purpose to convey to its readers.
end rhyme: The rhyming of words that appear at the ends of two or more lines of poetry.
end-stopped: A metrical line ending with punctuation such as a colon, a semicolon, or a period.
Example: “When I went to the zoo,”
enjambment: The running over of a sentence or thought from one line of poetry to another.
foot: The smallest repeated pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poetic line.
Iambic: An unstressed followed by a stressed syllable. Example: repeat
Trochaic: A stressed followed by and unstressed syllable. Example: older
free verse: Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme.
Heroic Couplet (Closed Couplet): Two successive rhyming lines that contain a complete thought.
Internal Rhyme: When the rhyming words occur in the same line of poetry. Example: “You break my eyes with a look that buys sweet cake.”
meter: The pattern of repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.
onomatopoeia: The use of a word whose sound suggests its meaning. Examples: clang, buzz, twang.
repetition: the repeating of a word or phrase within a poem or a prose piece to create a sense of rhythm. Example: “His laugh, his dare, his shrug/ sag ghostlike…”
rhyme: The similarity or likeness of sound existing between two words. Example: “sat” and “cat” are perfect rhymes because the vowel and final consonant sounds are exactly the same.
rhymed verse: Verse with end rhyme that usually has regular meter.
rhythm: The ordered, or free occurrences of sound in poetry. Ordered or regular rhythm is called meter. Free occurrence of sound is called free verse.
sonnet: A poem consisting of fourteen lines of iambic pentameter. There are two popular forms of sonnets:
Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet: (will not be tested on this)
Shakespearean (English or Elizabethan) Sonnet: Consists of three quatrains (four lines) and a final rhyming couplet (two lines). The rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd, efef, gg. Usually the question or theme is set forth in the quatrains while the answer or resolution appears in the final couplet.
Stanza: A division of poetry named for the number of lines it contains.
1.Couplet: two line stanza 2. Triplet: three line stanza 3. Quatrain: four line stanza 4. Quintet: five line stanza 5. Sestet: six line stanza 6. Septet: seven line stanza 7. Octave: eight line stanza
Verse: A metric line of poetry. It is named according to the kind and number of feet composing it.
Example: Iambic (an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable) Pentameter (five feet).
1. Monometer: one foot 2. Dimeter: two feet 3. Trimeter: three feet 4. Tetrameter: four feet 5. Pentameter: five feet 6. Hexameter: six feet 7.Heptameter: seven feet 8. Octometer: eight feet
personification: A literary device in which the author speaks of or describes an animal, object, or idea, as if it were a person. Example: “The rock stubbornly refused to move!”
Simile: A comparison of two unlike things in which a word of comparison (like or as) is used. Example: “She stood in front of the altar, shaking like a freshly caught trout.”
Metaphor: A comparison of two unlike things in which no word of comparison (like or as) is used.
Example: “ A green plant is a machine that runs on solar energy.”
Hyperbole: An exaggeration or overstatement. Example: “I have seen this river so wide it only had one bank.
Denotation: The literal meaning of a word
Connotation: A word that invokes another idea/feeling in addition to the literal meaning.
Symbol: A person, a place, a thing, or an event used to represent something else. Example: A dove is a symbol of peace.
Imagery: The words or phrases a writer selects to create a certain picture in the reader’s mind. Imagery is usually based on sensory details. Example: “The sky was dark and gloomy, the air was damp and raw, the streets were wet and sloppy.”
Visual Imagery: Sense of sight
Example: The clouds billowed like cotton candy.
Auditory Imagery: Sense of sound
Example: The frying pan clanged on the tile floor.
Gustatory Imagery: Sense of taste
Example: The tart lemon cookie caused my taste buds to recoil.
Olfactory Imagery: Sense of smell
Example: The apple pancakes’ sweet aroma filled the kitchen.
Tactile Imagery: Sense of touch
Example: The hedgehog’s spiny bristles pricked my finger.
Kinesthetic Imagery: Movement or action of objects or people
Example: The snowboarder rotated a full 1080 degrees when in the air.
Organic Imagery: A specific feeling or emotion
Example: My mind went blank with shock as I rode up the steep roller coaster.