Poetic Devices

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Alliteration

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-is the close repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words or syllables.
The similar sound can be found in a verse, a stanza, or a whole poem.
i.e., "fresh helds and green grass"
"the doves drift down to dine"
"The brethren brake, and blest"

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Allusion

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-a direct or indirect reference to a famous literary or history figure
-allusions expand or develop a significant idea, impression, or mood.
i.e., ‘Till the Master of All Good Workman shall put us to work anew!" (Kipling) -
“Has your mother met your new Romeo?"

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Assonance

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-is the close repetition of the same vowel sound at the beginning of word or syllables.
i.e., "mad as a hatter"
"Alone, alone, al! all alone,
Alone on a wide, wide sea."
"The glassy peartree leaves"

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Ballad

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-a narrative poem usually containing much repetition and a repeated refrain ballads were originally folk songs passed on from age to age

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Blank Verse

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-poetry which lacks rhyme but has a very specifm meter or rhythm called iambic pentameter, the language of the nobility in Shakespeare’s plays; the language of those who are
of a lower social status or who are speaking on a lower subject is written in prose.
i.e. "Rough winds do shake the dar ling buds of May."

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Connotation

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-the feelings and associations suggested by a word

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Epic

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-a long narrative poem which tells of the adventures of heroic characters, covers, a long period of time, or describe some monumental task

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Free Verse

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-verse written without any regular rhythm pattern, usually without rhyme. This is mainly modern verse form.

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Images

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-concrete details and figures of speech that help the reader to form vivid sense impressions of what is being described.

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Imagery

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-anything descriptive in poetry or prose which helps to visualize or realize a scene: imagery can create a picture, a sound, a taste, a smell or a touch in the mind of the reader (the five senses).
i.e.
sight imagery: "valleys the moon could be rolled in"
sound imagery: "air that was steeped in the wail of mosquitoes"
taste imagery: "And sunhot faspberries, eating them under a mighty Spruce"
smeil imagery: "under the fend Tents"
touch imagery: "Twisted his long legs up into space and kicked
To the crest"

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Irony

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-the general definition is a reversal of expectations - the meaning is not what it appears to be. There are three types of irony commonly referred to:
a. dramatic Irony: when the author shares information with the reader which is not known by a character.
b. situational Irony: when what happens turns out is the opposite of what is expected.
c. vemal Irony: a writer/speaker says one thing and means something entirely different.

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Lyric

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-any poem, usually short, presenting a single speaker's thoughts or feelings (not necessarily the poet's himself).
-originally a song set to music

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Metaphor

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-an comparison which says one thing is another. Implied metaphors are often used in prose which do not actually name the thing being compared. The relation is not specifically indicated by “like” or “as” as in a simile.
i.e. "Life is a dream."
"All the word's a stage."Shakespeare
"She New to his rescue." - implies she moved as a bsrd but doesn't state the comparison

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Meter/Metre

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-the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables which give its particular rhythm. The unit of measurement used to describe the metre within a line of poetry is a foot.

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Narrative

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-another word for story. Narratives have plot, conflict, characters, setting, point of view and theme. Narratives may be fictional or nonfictional.

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Ode

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-a lengthy lyric poem, serious in subject. Often a poem in praise of something.
i.e. "Ode to a Nightingale"

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Onomatopoeia

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-the use of words which resemble or enact the sound they describe
i.e. buzz bang moan sizzle

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Oxymoron

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-two words placed close together which are contradictory yet have truth in them
i.e. "O heavy lightness!...
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!" from Romeo and Juliet
"jumbo shrimp", "sweet sorrow"

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Parody

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-a parody is a humorous or satirical imitation of a written work. In a parody, the writer imitates the style of the original work but may deal with an entirely different subject. Or the writer may deal with the same subject but handle it from another point of view.
i.e. Parody from a Macbeth excerpt:
original: "Is this a dagger which I see before me
The handle towards my hand? Come, iet me clutch thee."
parody: "Is this a beggar which I see before me
Panhandling before my hand? Come, let me clout thee!"

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Personification

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-giving non-human things, abstract ideas, or forces of nature human qualities. Personification is a form of metaphor.

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Purpose

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-the poet’s of speaker’s apparent reason for expressing the idea contained in the poem.

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Refrain

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-the repetition of a phrase, a line or a series of lines at the same point in each stanza throughout the poem

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Rhyme

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-the identical or strong similarity between terminal sounds of words. Rhyme can appear within the poetic line (internal rhyme) or at the end of two or more lines

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Rhyme Scheme

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-any pattern of rhymes in poetry. Each new sound is assigned the next letter in the alphabet. The rhyme scheme for a Shakespearean sonnet is abab cdcd efef gg.

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Rhythm

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-the repeated beats or stresses in a line. If there is a reguiar rhythm it is cahed metre and can be further described as a series of stressed and unstressed syllables. The types of rhythms are: iambic, anapaestic, trochaic, dactylic and spondaic.