Poetry Terms
This is a list of your poetry terms. Please study each one along with your notes as we discuss them.
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Figurative Language: using words beyond dictionary meaning; meaning is not taken literally, but interpreted Imagery: use of language to create vivid word pictures Approximate Rhyme: rhyming that is “close enough” Exact Rhyme: identical rhyme Internal Rhyme: Rhyme within the lines of a poem End Rhyme: Rhyme at the ends of lines Sonnet: a little song with 14 lines, 3 quatrains, and a couplet. Very specific rhythm and rhyme Iambus: a 2 syllable specific poetic foot with the accent on the second syllable Iambic Pentameter: rhythm pattern of sonnet. Meter consists of 5 iambus poetic feet Free Verse: poetry with no patterns or rules Paraphrase: to put what happens in a poem in your own words Oral Tradition: developing and passing down by word of mouth stories, beliefs, and customs from generation to generation Ex. Nursery Rhymes Ballad: a song or poem in short stanzas that tells a story in simple words Refrain: phrase or verse repeated at intervals Rhyme Scheme: pattern of rhyming words in poems Rhyme: repetition of sounds at ends of words 1. creates musical effects 2. emphasize and link words and ideas Rhythm: a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables (Meter) 1. to find and use rhythm pattern Rhythm Pattern: The pattern of rhythm in a poem Poetic Foot: a group of two or three syllables with the accent on one of them Metaphor: a comparison saying that one thing is another Ex. The sun is a golden chariot Stanza: group of lines considered a unit 1. couplet – stanza of two lines 2. tercet – stanza of three lines 3. quatraine – stanza of four lines 4. cinquain – stanza of five lines 5. sestet – stanza of six lines 6. heptastich – stanza of seven lines 7. octave – stanza of eight lines Prose: language heard in everyday life Ex. Short stories, essays, autobiographies, sentences, paragraphs Simile: A comparison using like or as Ex. The sun is like a golden chariot Parallel Structure: repetition of a grammatical pattern Concrete Poetry: poetry when a poem resembles the subject of the poem Onomatopoeia: the use of a word, such as buzz or hiss, which vocally imitates the sound it denotes Alliteration: repetition of an initial consonant sound Ex: Silly strawberries stink Sonny’s salad Personification: giving an inanimate object human characteristics Narrative Poetry: a poem that tells a story Symbol: anything that stands for or represents something else that its literal uses in poetry Lyric Poetry: poetry that expresses feeling and is musical Haiku: a three-line Japanese verse form
