Poetic Terms

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Lyric

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A short poem, often song like, with the emphasis not on narrative but in the speakers emotion or reverie.

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Ode (hymm)

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A lyric poem that is long, elaborate, and on a lofty theme such as immortality or a hero's victory. (Positive)

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Narrative Poem

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A poem whose main purpose is to tell a story.

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Diction

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Choice of words and/ or grammatical constructions. (I.e., formal, colloquial jargon, slang, ect.)

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Tone

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The attitude of the author, evident from the diction, use of symbolism, irony, and figures of speech. (Tone can be described as playful, sad, happy humorous, ect.)

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Imagery

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Sensory content of poems; appeals to the five senses.

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Simile

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Comparison using like or as.

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Metaphor

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Comparison without using like or as.

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Personification

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Giving human qualities to inanimate objects such as love.

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Apostrophe

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And address to a person or thing not literally listening.

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Hyperbole

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Exaggeration.

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Irony

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Contrast or discrepancy between expectation and reality.

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Paradox

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An apparent contradiction.

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Symbol

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An image loaded with significance beyond literal definition; suggestive rather than definitive.

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Natural Symbols

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Symbols recognized as standing for sometimes in particular even by people from different cultures. (Raining cats and dogs is only relevant in America not Mexico ect.)

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Conventional Symbols

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Symbols which people have agrees to accept as standing for something other than themselves.

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Alliteration

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Sometimes defined as the repetition if the initial sounds.

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Assonance

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The repetition, in words or proximity, of identical vowel sounds preceded and followed by differing consonant sounds.

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Onomatopoeia

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The use of words that imitate sound, such as hiss or buzz.

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Connotation

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Suggested or associated meaning.

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Allusion

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A reference in a literary work to a person , place or thing in history or another work of literature.

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Free Verse (Vers Libre)

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Rhythmical lines varying in length, adhering to no fixed metrical pattern, and usually unrhymed. Seems formless but is not. Form or pattern often largely based on repetition and parallel grammatical structure.