Poetry Terms
By Joel, Jose, Brennan
Personification
Personification: An animal, object or idea given human characteristics.
The frog is showing an example of personification because it is wearing a
shirt and smiling.
Alliteration
Alliteration: Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.
This shows alliteration because the beginnings of all sound the same.
Rhyme
Rhyme: The repetition of the same or similar sounds, usually in stressed
syllables at the ends of lines.
Rhythm
Rhythm: Musical quality created by a pattern of beats or stresses in a line
of poetry.
Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia: The use of words or phrases whose sounds suggest their
meanings.
End Rhyme
End Rhyme: Rhyme that occurs at the ends of lines.
Internal Rhyme
Internal rhyme: Rhyme that occurs in a single line of poetry.
Stanzas
Stanzas: A group of lines in poetry set off by blank lines.
Symbol
Symbol: A person, place, an object, or an action that stands for something
beyond itself.
Simile
Simile: A comparison using like or as.
Metaphor
Metaphor: A direct comparison of two unlike things. It doesn’t use like or
as.
Hyperbole
Hyperbole: Figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for emphasis
or humorous effect.
Free Verse
Free verse: Poetry written without a common rhyme scheme, meter, or
form.
Imagery
Imagery: Language that appeals to the five senses- Touch, Taste, Smell,
Hearing, and Sight.
Lyric Poem
Lyric poem: Short poem that directly expresses the poet's thoughts and
emotions in a musical way.
Narrative Poem
Narrative Poem: Poem that tells a story
Rhyme Scheme
Rhyme Scheme: The sequence in which the rhyme occurs.
Poetry
Poetry: A form of writing that not uses only words, but also form, patterns of
sound, Imagery, and figurative language to convey its message.
Sound Devices
Sound Devices: Techniques used to create a sense of rhythm or to
emphasize particular sounds in writing.
Meter
Meter: Regular pattern of stressed syllables that gives a line of poetry a
predictable rhythm.
Figurative Language
Figurative language: The use of words to create an image in the reader's
mind.
Mood
Mood: The feeling or atmosphere created by the author.
Idiom
Idiom: A phrase or expression whose meaning is different from what the
words say literally.
Symbolism
Symbolism: A literary device where a physical object represents something
else.
Repetition
Repetition: A technique in which the same word or line repeated for
emphasis or unity. Helps to reinforce meaning and create an appealing
rhythm.
Refrain
Refrain: Stanza or line that is repeated throughout the poem.
Couplet
Couplet: Rhymed pair of lines in a poem.