Poetry Terms

the repetition of the same sound at the start of a series of words in succession

A brief, intentional reference to a historical, mythic, or literary person, place, event, or movement.

A word, statement, or situation with two or more possible meanings

unstressed, unstressed, stressed

Contrasting or combining two terms, phrases, or clauses with opposite meanings.

Sound similar but don’t actually rhyme

the repetition of the vowel sound across words within the lines of the poem creating internal rhymes.

a poem in praise of dawn

any listeners of the poet

intended reading audience of the poet

Longer narrative poem that was written to be sung

Non-rhyming lines of poetry that still follow a strict meter

Usually Iambic Pentameter

Significant pause in the middle of a line of poetry

“seize the day”, seize the girl, time is short

an elaborate and fanciful metaphor or analogy, or a witty and ingenious comparison between two things that do not naturally belong to each other

Repetition of consonant sounds in a line of poetry

two-line verse often joined by rhyme or meter

Stressed, Unstressed, Unstressed

Word Choice

2 feet

the writer takes on the voice of a character and speaks through them.

Formal lament on the death of a person or on the passing of mankind and mankind’s things

Rhyme occurring at the end of a line

Thought ends at the end of the line

sonnet with the rhyme scheme

abab cdcd efef gg

Thought extends from line to line

a version of metaphor that extends over the course of multiple lines, paragraphs, or stanzas of prose or poetry.

repetition of accented vowel sounds + weak beats

a unit of measure consisting of one stressed and one or more unstressed beats

no rhyme or meter

6 feet

over exaggeration

Unstressed, Stressed

a type of metaphor that compares two things that are not alike without actually mentioning one of those things.

Rhyme occurring in the middle of a line of poetry

Rhyme Scheme:

abbabba cdcdcd

a form of understatement in which the speaker asserts something by negating the opposite

repetition on sound emphasis on the final beat

a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.

the pattern of unstressed and stressed syllables in the lines of poetry

use some associated object to represent a thing

1 foot

poem that tells a story

8 line verse

long lyric poem on a serious subject written in a elevated style

A figure of speech in which the sound of a word imitates its sense

A figure of speech that brings together contradictory words for effect

a seemingly self-contradictory phrase or concept that illuminates a truth

phrases with grammatical symmetry

5 feet

human like qualities to something not capable of them

4 line stanza

the pattern of sounds that repeats at the end of a line or stanza

enjambed lines

indicating the stressed and unstressed syllables in a line

6 line

The subject of the poem is described by comparing it to another object or subject, using 'as' or 'like'

sound similar but don’t actually rhyme

14 Iambic pentameter lines following a strict rhyme scheme

Stressed, Stressed

A grouping of lines separated from others in a poem

using part of the thing to represent the whole

4 feet

attitude taken toward the subject ( or sometimes audience) by the speaker (or poet)

3 feet

Stressed, Unstressed

19 lines

5 stanzas

first line is repeated as the last line of stanzas 2 and 4

Third line is repeated as the last line of stanzas 3 and 5

last two lines of the poem

aba

“turn”, shift in idea, perspective, tone, etc