mdickel-illistrated poetry terms

Poetry Terms

Personification

A figure of speech in which an animal , object, or idea is given human characteristics.

The apple has a face like a human. 

Alliteration

Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

Rhyme

The repetition of the same or similar sounds, usually in stressed syllables at ends of lines.

Rhythm

Musical quality created by a pattern of beats or stresses in a line of poetry.

 

Onomatopoeia

The use of words or phrases whose sounds suggest their meanings. The sound of the word
boom, for example,suggest an explosion.

Sound of an explosion. 

End Rhyme

Rhyme that occurs at the end of lines.

Internal Rhyme

Rhyme that occurs within a single line of poetry.

Stanzas

A group of lines in a poem set off by blank lines.

Symbol

A person, place, an object, or an action that stands for something beyond itself.

This could possibly be a symbol of a love poem 

Simile

A comparison using like or as.

A cheetah is like a car. They are both fast when not at rest. 

 

Metaphor

Direct comparison between two unlike
things. It does not use the words like or as.

People are mules. Very stubborn. 

Hyperbole

Figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or humorous
Effect.



Free Verse

Poetry written without a regular rhyme scheme, meter, or form.

Lyric poem

Short poem that directly expresses the poet’s thoughts and emotions in a musical way.

Rhyme scheme

The sequence in which the rhyme occurs. The first end sound is represented as the letter a, the
second b, etc.

Poetry

A form of writing that uses not only words,
but also form, patterns of sound, imagery,
and figurative language to convey its message.

Sound devices

Techniques used to create a sense of
rhythm or to emphasize particular sounds

In writing.

Meter

Regular pattern of stressed and
unstressed syllables that gives a line of

poetry a predictable rhythm.

Figurative language

The use of words to create an image in
the reader's mind.

Mood

The feeling or atmosphere created by the writer.

The writer wrote this to have a funny mood. 

Idiom

A phrase or expression whose meaning is
different from what the words say literally.

​ symbolism

A literary device where a physical object
Represents something else.
nts something else.
 

 
 
 
 
The dog treats may represent a person’s dog. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Repetition

A technique in which the same word or
line is repeated for emphasis or unity.
Helps to reinforce meaning and create an appealing rhythm.

.
Refrain

Stanza or line that is repeated throughout the poem.

Couplet

Rhymed pair of lines in a poem.