Poetry: Elements & Key TerminologyThe words needed to articulately discuss a poem.

1. alliteration Alliteration is the repetition of the same or very

similar consonant sounds usually at the beginnings of words that are close together in a poem.

What is repetition? What is a consonant sound? Here is an example of alliteration from the

famous poem “The Raven” by E. A. Poe: “Open here I flung the shutter, when with many

a flirt and flutter, In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly

days of yore.”

2. allusion An allusion is a reference to a statement, a

person, a place, or an event from literature, history, religion, mythology, politics, sports, science, or pop culture.

Here is an example of an allusion used in literature:

“The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry uses the term magi.

What does Magi refer to? It is a religious reference to the wise men from

the East who presented the infant Jesus with the first Christmas gifts.

3. assonance Assonance is repetition of similar vowel sounds

that are followed by different consonant sounds, especially in words that are close together in a poem.

What are vowel sounds? Here is an example of assonance: fade and

base. Here is an example of assonance from the poem

“Boy at the Window” by Richard Wilbur: “Seeing the snowman stand all alone/In dusk

and cold is more than he can bear/”

4. author An author is the writer of a literary work. What is literary? An example of an author is Robert Frost,

who wrote “The Road Not Taken”.

5. ballad A ballad is a song that tells a story. Ballads usually tell sensational stories of

tragedy or adventure. Ballads use simple language. Ballads use a great deal of repetition. Ballads have a regular rhythm and

rhyme scheme, which makes them easy to memorize.

5. ballad “The Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley

Randall on page 464 is an example of a ballad.

6. Blank verse Blank verse is poetry written in

unrhymed iambic pentameter. What is unrhymed? Unrhymed means there is no

rhyme. What is iambic pentameter? Iambic pentameter is when there

are five iambs in a line of poetry. An iamb is when an unstressed

syllable is followed by a stressed syllable, as in the word prefer.

“Pre” is an unstressed syllable. “fer” is a stressed syllable because

there is more emphasis placed on that syllable during pronunciation.

6. Blank verse Blank verse is the most important poetic

form in English epic and dramatic poetry.

Blank verse is the major verse form used in Shakespeare’s plays.

Here is a famous example from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare:

“But soft! What light through the yonder window breaks?”

8. contradiction

A contradiction is when two feelings, two events, or two statements are opposite of each other.

An example of a contradiction is in the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost.

Line 7 suggests one road might have “the better claim”, yet in line 10 the roads are being described as being “worn…about the same.”

7. connotation

The connotation of a word is all the meanings, associations, or emotions that have come to be attached to some words, in addition to the literal dictionary definition (denotation).

For example, skinny and slender have the same literal definition (thin).

But their connotations are very different. Skinny has a negative connotation because you are

saying something unflattering when you use this word.

Slender has a more positive connotation because you are giving a compliment.

What are the connotations of the highlighted words in this quote from Bertrand Russell?

“I am firm. You are obstinate. He is a pigheaded fool.”

9. couplet A couplet is two consecutive lines of

poetry that rhyme. What is consecutive? Here is an example of a couplet by

Alexander Pope: “I am his Highness’ dog at Kew;/ Pray

tell me, Sir, whose dog are you?”

10. dialect Dialect is a way of speaking that is characteristic

of a particular region or a particular group of people.

Dialects may have a distinct vocabulary. “yous”/ “ya’ll” Dialects may have a distinct pronunciation

system. “crick”/ “creek” Dialects may have a distinct grammar system. “Nows I’s a told yous”/ “Now, I have told you.” We all have a dialect because we live in different

regions and belong to different groups. However, one dialect usually becomes dominant

in a country or culture and becomes accepted as the standard way of speaking.

In the United States, the language known as standard English is the accepted dialect and is what you usually hear spoken by TV newscasters on the national channels.

11. diction Diction is a writer’s choice of words. When analyzing the writing style of an

author, diction, or word choice, is an important element to consider.

Connotations of words are also an important aspect of diction.

A writer’s diction could be described as simple and down-to-earth: house, home, digs.

A writer’s diction could be described as ornate, or flowery: domicile, residence, abode.

12. epic An epic is a long story which relates

the great deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of a particular society.

Most epics include elements of myth, legend, folk tale, and history.

The tone is serious and language is grand.

Examples of great epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, written by Homer.

13. Figure of speech

A figure of speech is a word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of another.

A figure of speech is not meant to be understood on a literal level.

Most figures of speech involve some sort of imaginative comparison between seemingly unlike things.

13. Figure of speech

There are some 250 different types of figures of speech!

The three most common are the simile, the metaphor, and personification.

An example of a simile: “I wondered lonely as a cloud.”

An example of a metaphor: “Fame is a bee.”

An example of personification: “The wind stood up and gave a shout.”

14. Free verse Free verse is poetry that does not have

a regular meter or rhyme scheme. Poets writing in free verse try to capture

the natural rhythms of ordinary speech. Free verse may use rhyme, alliteration,

onomatopoeia, refrain, and parallel structure to help create its music.

An example of a poem written in free verse is “Daily” on page 410.

14. Free verseDaily

 These shriveled seeds we plant,

corn kernel, dried bean,poke into loosened soil,

cover over with measured fingertips 

These T-shirts we fold intoperfect white squares

 These tortillas we slice and fry to crisp stripsThis rich egg scrambled in a gray clay bowl

 This bed whose covers I straighten

smoothing edges till blue quilt fits brown blanketand nothing hangs out

 This envelope I address

so the name balances like a cloudin the center of sky

 This page I type and retype

This table I dust till the scarred wood shinesThis bundle of clothes I wash and hang and wash again

like flags we share, a country so closeno one needs to name it

 The days are nouns:  touch them

The hands are churches that worship the world 

 ~ Naomi Shihab Nye ~

15. genre A genre is simply a category that a work

of literature is classified under. There are five major genres in literature:

nonfiction, fiction, poetry, drama, and myth.

What genre are we currently studying in depth?

The Odyssey, which is our next unit of study, is in the epic genre.

16. haiku Haiku is a Japanese verse form consisting of

three lines and, usually, seventeen syllables. There are five syllables in the first line, seven

syllables in the second line, and five in the third line.

The writer of a haiku tries to describe a particular moment of discovery or enlightenment.

A haiku often presents an image of daily life that relates to a particular season.

An example of a haiku is on page 419 in your literature book.

16. haikuGet out of my roadAnd allow me to plant theseBamboos, Mr. Toad.

-Miura Chora

A morning gloryTwined round the bucket:I will ask my neighbor for water.

-Chiyo

The old pond; a frog jumps in:Sound of water.

-Matsuo Basho

A dragonfly!The distant hillsReflected in his eyes.

-Kobayashi Issa

17. Hyperbole Is a figure of speech Uses exaggeration to express strong

emotion or to create a comic effect What is exaggeration? Sometimes hyperbole is called

overstatement. Writers will use hyperbole to intensify

a description or to emphasize the essential nature of something.

Ex: That limousine is as long as an ocean liner.

18. Iambic pentameter

Iambic pentameter is a line of poetry that contains five iambs.

An iamb is a metrical foot, or unit of measure, consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

Pentameter comes from the Greek word “penta”, which means five and “meter”, which means measure.

Ex: arise Here is an example from W. Shakespeare’s R &

J. “But soft! What light through the yonder

window breaks?”

19. idiom An idiom is an expression peculiar to a

particular language that means something different from the literal meaning of each word.

Ex: It’s raining cats and dogs. Ex: We heard it through the grapevine. Idioms make it difficult to translate a

piece of writing from one language to another.

20. imagery Imagery is language that appeals to the senses. Most images are visual, but imagery can also

appeal to the senses of sound, touch, taste, and smell, or even to several senses at once.

Imagery is an element in all types of writing, but it is especially important in poetry.

Here is an example from “Meeting at Night” by Robert Browning.

Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach;Three fields to cross till a farm appears;A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratchAnd blue spurt of a lighted match…

21. Implied metaphor

An implied metaphor is a type of metaphor where the comparison is implied and not directly stated.

An implied metaphor does not tell us directly that one thing is something else.

An implied metaphor uses words that suggest the nature of the comparison.

Ex: “O my love bursts into bloom” This phrase implies that the feeling of

love is like a budding flower.

22. irony Contrast between expectation and

reality That is between what is said and

what is really meant. (verbal irony) Example: calling LeBron James a

clumsy basketball player That is between what is expected

to happen and what really does happen. (situational irony)

22. irony Example: In “The Gift of the Magi”, the

female character sells her hair to buy her husband a chain for his pocket watch; the husband has sold his pocket watch to buy jeweled combs for his wife’s hair.

That is between what appears to be true and what is really true. (dramatic irony)

Example: In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows that Juliet is only faking death, but her lover Romeo doesn’t.

23. Lyric poetry

Lyric poetry is poetry that does NOT tell a story but is aimed only at expressing a speaker’s emotions or thoughts.

Most lyric poetry is short and implies a single, strong emotion.

The term “lyric” is Greek. In ancient Greece, lyric poems were recited to the

accompaniment of a stringed instrument called a lyre.

Today, poets still try to make their lyrics “sing”, but they rely on the musical effects created with rhyme, rhythm, onomatopoeia, etc. instead of instruments.

There is an example of a lyric poem on page 425.

23. Lyric poetry

Country Scene by Ho Xuan Hu’o’ngTranslated by John Balaban

The waterfall plunges in mist.Who can describe this desolate scene:

the long white river sliding throughthe emerald shadows of the ancient canopy

…a shepherd’s horn echoing in the valley,fishnets stretched to dry on sandy flats.

A bell is tolling, fading, fadingjust like love. Only poetry lasts.

24. metaphorA metaphor is a figure of speech

that makes a comparison between two unlike things, in which one thing becomes another thing without the use of the word “like”, “as”, “than”, or “resembles”.

Examples: “O my love is a red, red rose”“Fame is a bee.”

25. meter Meter is a regular pattern of stressed

and unstressed syllables in poetry. When we mark the meter of a poem, we

use for a stressed syllable and

for an unstressed syllable. Example: Slowly, silently, now the moon -Walker de la Mare, from the

“Silver”

26. mood Mood is a story’s atmosphere or the feeling it evokes. What is atmosphere? What is evokes? What are feelings? Mood is often created by a story’s setting. If a story is set in a wild forest at night, with wolves

howling in the distance, what type of mood is created?

The mood conveyed might be one of terror, tension, or uneasiness.

If a story is set in a cozy cottage or garden full of sunlight with birds chirping, what type of mood is created?

The mood conveyed might be one of peace or tranquility.

27. narrator The narrator is the voice telling the story. The narrator can be someone involved in the story

or someone who is not involved. If the character is involved in the story, there is

probably a first person point of view. If the character is not one of the characters in the

story, and thus, is not involved directly in the story, there is probably a third person point of view.

When we consider the narrator of a piece of literature, we must ask ourselves “Is this narrator reliable?”

What does it mean to be reliable? The choice of a narrator in literature is very

important because of the reliability factor.

28. onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is the use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning.

Onomatopoeia is very natural to us and we have probably been using it since our childhood.

Examples: crackle, pop, fizz, click, zoom, chirp.

Onomatopoeia adds to the musical quality of poetry.

28. onomatopoeia

And in the hush of waters was the soundOf pebbles, rolling round;Forever rolling, with a hollow sound:

And bubbling seaweeds, as the waters go,Swish to and froTheir long cold tentacles of slimy gray…

_James Stephens, from “The Shell”

29. parallelism

Parallelism is the repetition of words, phrases, or sentences that have the same grammatical structure or that state a similar idea.

Parallelism is also called parallel structure.

Parallelism helps make lines rhythmic and memorable.

Parallelism also helps heighten the emotional effect of words on the reader.

29. parallelism

Turn to page 1027 “It was the best of times, it was the

worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”

Charles Dickens, from A Tale of Two Cities

30. personification

Personification is a kind of metaphor in which a nonhuman thing or quality is talked about as if it were human.

Example: “The wind stood up and gave a shout.”

30. personification

This poetry gets bored of being alone,it wants to go outdoors to chew on the winds,to fill its commas with the keels of rowboats…

-Hugo Margenat, from “Living Poetry”

31. poetry Poetry is defined as a type of rhythmic, compressed language

that uses figures of speech and imagery to appeal to the reader’s emotions and imagination.

What is rhythmic? What is compressed? What are figures of speech? What is an appeal? The major forms of poetry are the lyric poem and the narrative

poem. What is a lyric poem? What is a narrative poem? Two types of narrative poems are the epic and the ballad. What is an epic? What is a ballad? Poetry has been described as “a search for the inexplicable”. What is inexplicable?

Point of view

Omniscient point of view

First-person point of view

Third-person point limited point of view

refrain

repetition

rhyme

End rhyme

Internal rhyme

Approximate rhymes

Rhyme scheme

rhythm

setting

simile Example: “ I wondered lonely as a

cloud.”

sonnet

speaker

stanza

style

symbol

theme

tone

Verbal irony