Poetry Terms

free verse

poetry that does not rhyme or follow a predictable pattern

persona poem

poet becomes someone/ something else (uses "I")

apostrophe

speaker of poem addresses something not living (uses "you")

narrative/ballad poem

poem tells a story

imagist poem

a snapshot of a moment in time

dramatic poem

characters talk

concrete poem

a poem that takes the shape of the subject

ode

poetic form in which one describes how/why someone/something is to be revered

clerihew

poetic form of four lines with an AABB rhyme scheme about a famous person, often humorous

limerick

5 line poem with an AABBA rhyme scheme, often humorous

haiku

Japanese style poem of 3 lines and 17 syllables (5-7-5) usually about nature.

line

a horizontal group of words in a poem, like a sentence

stanza

a vertical group of lines of a poem, like a paragraph

line break

where the line ends

speaker

the person/thing in a poem who is expressing an idea

mood

the feeling associated with a poem, such as happy, angry, hopeful, etc.

poetic license

creating new words, sometimes by combining existing words

inversion

changing the usual order of words

imagery

creating a picture with words through sensory details

connotation

emotional associations of words

denotation

the literal (dictionary) meaning of words

simile

comparing 2 unlike things with like or as

metaphor

comparing 2 unlike things with like or as

personification

something nonhuman is given human qualities

onomatopoeia

words that make the sound of their action/ definition (zoom, zap, buzz)

alliteration

repeating initial consonant sound

refrain

repeating line/phrase at same place in each stanza

rhyme/rhyme scheme

repeating the same sound in 2+ words (ex.: thought/brought, trying/crying)/ pattern of rhyme (AABB)

rhythm

a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem

repetition

repeating words, phrases, lines for effect

free verse

poetry that does not rhyme or follow a predictable pattern

persona poem

poet becomes someone/ something else (uses "I")

apostrophe

speaker of poem addresses something not living (uses "you")

narrative/ballad poem

poem tells a story

imagist poem

a snapshot of a moment in time

dramatic poem

characters talk

concrete poem

a poem that takes the shape of the subject

ode

poetic form in which one describes how/why someone/something is to be revered

clerihew

poetic form of four lines with an AABB rhyme scheme about a famous person, often humorous

limerick

5 line poem with an AABBA rhyme scheme, often humorous

haiku

Japanese style poem of 3 lines and 17 syllables (5-7-5) usually about nature.

line

a horizontal group of words in a poem, like a sentence

stanza

a vertical group of lines of a poem, like a paragraph

line break

where the line ends

speaker

the person/thing in a poem who is expressing an idea

mood

the feeling associated with a poem, such as happy, angry, hopeful, etc.

poetic license

creating new words, sometimes by combining existing words

inversion

changing the usual order of words

imagery

creating a picture with words through sensory details

connotation

emotional associations of words

denotation

the literal (dictionary) meaning of words

simile

comparing 2 unlike things with like or as

metaphor

comparing 2 unlike things with like or as

personification

something nonhuman is given human qualities

onomatopoeia

words that make the sound of their action/ definition (zoom, zap, buzz)

alliteration

repeating initial consonant sound

refrain

repeating line/phrase at same place in each stanza

rhyme/rhyme scheme

repeating the same sound in 2+ words (ex.: thought/brought, trying/crying)/ pattern of rhyme (AABB)

rhythm

a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem

repetition

repeating words, phrases, lines for effect