Poetry Vocabulary

Poetry

written in lines of arbitrary length instead of paragraphs-intense, imaginative; not prose.

stanza

a group of lines of verse

refrain

a line/stanza repeated at intervals.

line

a row of words in a poem

rhyme scheme

a pattern of rhyme sounds in a stanza.

Mood

the general feelings/atmosphere created in a poem; the feeling the reader gets after listening to a piece of poetry.

Simile

comparison using "like" or "as

Metaphor

comparison without using "like" or "as"; one thing is another.

Personification

1) animal, object, or idea given human qualities.
2) an inanimate object given human qualities.

Hyperbole

the truth is exaggerated to emphasize an idea.

Alliteration

the repetition of the same first sounds in a word-consonant sounds.

Onomatopoeia

words whose sounds imitate/suggest their meaning.

Rhyme

the repetition of the same sound.

Rhythm

the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry

Repetition

the action of repeating something that has already been said or written.

Theme

the poet's primarily purpose for writing the poem; the underlying message of the poem. What message is being sent to the reader, or what point is being mad?

Form

The way the poem looks on the page

Imagery

visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work.

Topic

subject of the poem