Poetry Defining terminology Alliteration The repetition of similar

Poetry Defining terminology

Alliteration • The repetition of similar sounds, usually consonants or consonant clusters, in a group of words. • Used for emphasis; can have a musical quality • EXAMPLE • “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. ”

Allusion • A reference in a work of literature to a person, place, or event in another work of literature or in history, art, or music. • EXAMPLE • References to mythology or Shakespeare’s plays are very common. “He has the strength of Atlas. ”

Assonance • The repetition of similar vowel sounds, usually close together, in a group of words. • Used to please the ear and emphasize certain sounds. • EXAMPLE • “free and easy” and “night tide”

Blank Verse • Unrhymed iambic pentameter, where each line usually contains ten syllables and every other syllable is stressed. • EXAMPLE • “Bŭt sóft! Whăt ligh′t/through yon/der win/dow breaks? ”

Couplet • Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme. • EXAMPLE • “Did my heart love till now? Foreswear it, sight! / For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night. ”

Diction • A writer’s choice of words, particularly for clarity, effectiveness, and precision. • Choosing the “right” word • EXAMPLE • “Three blind mice, / See how they run. ” • “Three rodents with defective vision, Observe their rate of motion. ”

Dramatic poetry • Poetry in which one or more characters speak. • Each speaker always addresses a specific listener. • The listener may be silent or may be another character who speaks in reply.

Figurative language • Language that is not intended to be interpreted in the literal sense. • Always makes a comparison between different things. • Interpretation of poetry often depends on recognizing its figurative meaning.

Free Verse • Poetry that has no fixed meter or pattern and that depends on natural speech rhythms. • It may or may not rhyme. • Lines can be different lengths. • May suddenly switch rhythms.

Iambic pentameter • The most common verse line in English poetry. • It consists of five feet, with each foot an iamb. In other words, an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. • EXAMPLE • “Alack the day! He’s gone, he’s killed, he’s dead. ”

Imagery • Language that appeals to any one or more of the senses. • Visual is most common, but others are also used. • Effective poets select words to create the most vivid images. • EXAMPLE • “Cold, wet leaves/ Floating on mosscolored water, / And the croaking of frogs — / Cracked bell-notes in the twilight. ”

Internal Rhyme • Rhyme within a line of the poem. • EXAMPLE • “And all the night tide, I lay down by her side. ”

Lyric poetry • Poetry that expresses a speaker’s personal thoughts or feelings. • Often has a musical quality based on its musical origins—a poem sung to the lyre.

Metaphor • A figure of speech that draws a comparison between two unlike things without the use of any special language. • EXAMPLE • “She is the olive in a South Dakota martini. ”

Meter • A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry. EXAMPLE • Poe’s Eldorado – Gaily bedight. – A gallant knight – In sunshine and in shadow.

Narrative poetry • Poetry that tells a story. • Epic poetry like the Odyssey is a long poem that tells the story of Odysseus. • Ballads are another type of narrative poem.

Onomatopoeia • The use of a word whose sound in some degree imitates or suggests its meaning. • EXAMPLE • Cuckoo • Hiss • Rustle • snap

Personification • A form of figurative language that gives human qualities to something nonhuman. • EXAMPLE • “The wind whistled through the dancing trees. ”

Poetry • Language arranged in lines with regular rhythm and often a definite rhyme scheme. • The sound of its words and the strong feelings expressed by the lines distinguish poetry from other forms of literature.

Quatrain • Usually a stanza or a poem of four lines. • May also be a group of four lines in a poem unified by a rhyme scheme. • EXAMPLE • And the night shall be filled with music, / And the cares, that infest the day, / Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs, / and silently steal away.

Refrain • A word, phrase, line, or group of lines repeated regularly in a poem, usually at the end of each stanza.

Repetition • The return of a word, phrase, stanza form, or affect in any form of literature. • Poe believed that repetition was one of the most important and functional devices a poet could use to affect the reader.

Rhyme • The repetition of sound in two or more words or phrases that usually appear close to each other in a poem. • EXAMPLE • River/shiver; song/long; leap/deep

Rhyme scheme • The pattern of rhyme in a poem. • Each line is assigned a specific letter of the alphabet to determine the pattern of rhyme. • Mary had a little lamb ( ) • Its fleece is white as snow, ( ) • And everywhere that Mary went ( ) Her lamb was sure to go. ( )

Rhythm • The arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in a pattern. • Most apparent in poetry. • Often gives a poem a certain musical quality.

Simile • A figure of speech that compares two unlike things through the use of the words as, like, as if, than, such as. • EXAMPLE • “He eats like a bird. ” • “She’s cool as a cucumber. ”

Sound patterns • The way words are used to appeal to sense of sound. • EXAMPLE • Repetition of certain vowels can create a sad, lonely sound in a poem.

Speaker • The voice in the poem. • It may be the poet or a character (human or nonhuman) created by the poet.

Stanza • A group of lines forming a unit in a poem. • Its pattern may or may not be fixed.

Symbol / Symbolism • Something that represents something beyond itself. • EXAMPLE • Rose=love and beauty • Skull=death • Spring and winter=youth and old age • Dove=peace

Theme • The main idea or the basic message or meaning of a literary piece. • The theme is not the same as a subject.

Tone • The attitude a writer/poet takes toward his/her subject, characters, and readers.

Line • Words in a poem are written in lines which may or may not be sentences.

Form • The way a poem looks and is arranged on a page.