Poetry Terms

English 11

Couplet

• Two lines of poetry which rhymeLittle Bow PeepHas lost her sheep

Alliteration

• The repetition of consonant sounds in a line of poetry

• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

Assonance

• The repetition of vowel sounds in a line of poetry

• Like a diamond in sky

Oxymoron

• When two words which mean the opposite are put together

• Jumbo shrimp• The sound of silence• Loving hate• Blinding sight

Simile

• A comparison of two things which uses “like”, “as”, or “than”

• She swims like a fish• He’s faster than a speeding bullet• She as sly as a fox

Hyperbole

• A huge exaggeration for effect (not meant to deceive)

• I’m so hungry I could eat a horse• I must have cried a zillion tears• I have a ton of homework

Personification

• When human qualities are given to an inanimate (non-living) object

• The sun smiled down on us• The trees danced in the wind

Metaphor

• A direct comparison between two things (does not use a comparison word)

• Love is a rose.• The garden hose is a snake in the grass.

Onomatopoeia

• Sound words• Ouch• Ah choo• Biff, boom, bam• Baaa, moo, cheep cheep

Meter

• The beat or rhythm of a line of poetry“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day”

Imagery

• Using the five senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell) to fully describe something

• The aroma of rotten eggs wafting up from the corner of the room where a pair of damp sweat socks lay forgotten, brought the acrid taste of bile into his mother’s mouth.

Analogy

• Using something simple to explain something complex

• The heart works like a pump

Anachronism

• A person, place or object out of its natural order in time

• An automobile in a story about ancient Rome• Shakespeare’s use of dollars in Macbeth, in a time

where money did not exist

Antithesis

• Sharply opposing ideas place in parallel syntax• More light and light it grows• More dark and dark my woes

Allusion

• Making reference to a famous person, place or thing from mythology, the Bible, history, or Shakespeare

• He strode across the room, a modern Napoleon• He was the Jordan of the basketball court

Consonance

• Differing vowel sounds between repeating consonant sounds

• Short shirt• Leave love• Tip top• Hip hop• Zig zag

Connotation

• The associations we make with words (as opposed to their literal meanings)

• A house• An estate• An abode• A mansion• A shack

Denotation

• The dictionary definition of a word• House, mansion, estate, abode, etc: a residence; a

place to live

Cacophony

• Harsh or jarring sounds

Dissonance

Another word for cacophony

Euphony

• Pleasant, or pleasing sounds• Silence• smooth

Stanza

• A group of lines of poetry (like a paragraph)Whose woods these are I think I knowHis house is in the village thoughHe will not see me stopping hereTo watch his wood fill up with snow

Quatrain

• A four line stanza

Archetype

• A commonly used symbol in literature• A dove or an olive branch represent peace

Octave & Sestet

• Octave:• Eight lines of poetry • The first 8 lines of a Petrarchan sonnet

• Sestet:• Six lines of poetry• The last six lines of a Petrarchan sonnet

Pathetic Fallacy

• When nature reflects the mood• When there is a storm during a battle scene in Macbeth

Paradox

• A statement which at first appears contradictory, but which is actually true

• Parental punishment is an expression of love

Apostrophe

• A type of personification, where an inanimate object or idea is addressed as though present

• Death be not proud, though some have called thee mighty and dreadful, thou art not so.

Conceit

• An extended metaphorThe fog creeps in on little cat feetSits looking over harbour and city

And then moves on

juxtaposition

• Placing words / ideas side by side for effectMy name is Ozymandias, King of kings,Look on my works ye Mighty and despair.”And round the decay of that colossal wreckThe lone and level sands stretch far away.

By placing the bragging words of Ozymandias next to the description of the broken statue in the desert, the poet creates irony