POETIC TERMSPOETIC TERMS

English 112Ms. Skilliter

A reference to a A reference to a historical figure, historical figure, place, or eventplace, or event.

The teams competed in a

David and Goliath struggle.

A broad comparison between two basically

different things that have some points in common.

Aspirations toward space are not new. Consider the worm that becomes a butterfly.

A direct comparison between two basically

different things. A simile is introduced by the words

“like” or “as”.

My love is like a red, red

rose.

An implied comparison between two basically different things. Is not

introduced with the words “like” or “as”.

His eyes were

daggers that cut

right through

me.

A great exaggeration to emphasize strong

feeling.

I will love you until all the seas go dry.

Human characteristics are given to non-human

animals, objects, or ideas.

My stereo walked out of

my car.

An absent person or inanimate object is

directly spoken to as though s/he or it were

present.

O Romeo, Romeo,

wherefore art thou Romeo?

A part stands for the whole or vice

versa.

The hands that created the work of

art were masterful.

Hints given to the reader of what is

to come.

And we mean well in going to this mask;

But ‘tis no wit to go.(Romeo; he has a feeling that

something bad is going to happen if he goes to the masquerade

ball…)

The use of concrete details that appeal to

the five senses.

Cold, wet leaves

floating on moss-

colored water.

A contrast between what is said and what is meant, or

when things turn out differently from what is

expected.

“I am the greatest, able to do least.”-Friar Laurence

The overall atmosphere or

prevailing emotional feeling of a work.

“It was the best of

times, it was the worst of

times.”

A seemingly self-contradictory

statement that still is true.

The more we

learn, the less

we know.

The repetition of identical sounds at the ends of lines of

poetry.

“I’ll tell thee as we pass; but this I pray,

That thou consent to marry us to-day.”

-Romeo.

The repetition of identical sounds within a line of

poetry.

“We three shall flee across the sea to Italy.”

A slant rhyme or half rhyme occurs when

the vowel sounds are not quite identical.

“And on that cheek and o’er that brow”

A mind at peace with all below”

The time (both the time of day and period in history) and place in which the action of a literary work takes

place.

“Tiger! Tiger!

burning brightIn the

forests of the night”

The repeating of a sound, word, phrase,

or more in a given literary work.

“Unseemly woman in a seeming man,Or ill-beseeming beast in seeming both!”

Friar Laurence

The repetition of sounds at the beginnings of

words.

“Swiftly, swiftly

flew the ship”

The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different

consonant.

“. . .But old folks, many feign as they were dead.

The repetition of consonant sounds

that are preceded by different vowel

sounds.

“With twenty hundred thousand times more

joy…”

The use of words whose sounds suggest the

sounds made by objects or activities.

BuzzWhoosh

Hum

Something concrete, such as an object, action, character,

or scene that stands for something abstract such as a

concept or an idea.

“Do not go gentle into that good night.Rage, rage against the dying of the

light.”-Dylan Thomas

Both phrases are symbols that

stand for death.

Both phrases are symbols that

stand for death.

The main idea or underlying

meaning of a literary work.

RacismJudgmentLoneliness

One word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely

associated.(“crown” for “royalty”)

“Only through the sweat of

your brow can you achieve

success”

“Sweat” stands for hard work.“Sweat” stands for hard work.

A pair of rhymed verse lines that

contain a complete thought.

“For never was a story of more woeThan this of Juliet and her Romeo.”