Poetry 10 Terminology

Jaya Kailley

TYPES OF POEMS

Ballad

A poem that is typically long and tells a story. Often used for lyrics in a song.Ex: 'La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad' by John

Keats"O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

Alone and pallet loitering?The sedge has withered from the lake,

And no birds sing."

Concrete

A poem where the words are arranged to show a picture, the visual component is more important than the actual words themselves.

Ex. 'Sonnet in the Shape of a Potted

Christmas Tree' by George Starbuck

Free Verse

A form of modern poetry that doesn't have any patterns in rhyme, line length, or rhythm.

Ex. 'Plenty' by Kevin Connolly"The sky, lit up like a question orAn applause meter, is beautifulLike everything else today..."

Lyric

A poem short in length that has a lot of emotion.

Ex. 'Greetings From The Incredible Shrinking Woman' by Pat Lowther"It's not that

i'm getting smaller(I thought so at first)

But that the continent's..."

Narrative

A poem that tells a story. Can be free verse.

Ex. 'Love in the Silence of the Soul' by David Meade"As a young boySitting in a pew

The winter darkness pressing down Candlelight waves from hidden drafts

Shadows danced on the walls"

Sonnet

A poem of fourteen lines that is written in iambic pentameter. A typical rhyme scheme for a sonnet is abab cdcd efef gg, which is the form of a Shakespearean sonnet.

Ex. 'Sonnet XV' by Shakespeare"When I consider everything that growsHolds in perfection but a little moment..."

POETIC DEVICES: A - sound

Alliteration

The same consonant sound repeated at the beginning of a series of words.

Ex. '"...on the way, which with your luck," from 'Plenty' by Connolly

Assonance

The same vowel sound contained in a series of words.

Ex. "As he takes from you, I engraft you new." From 'Sonnet XV' by Shakespeare

Consonance

Similar to alliteration, except the consonant sound is in the middle of the words rather than at the beginning.

Ex. "Some rocks were large as buckets, others..." from 'Scavenging the Wall' by R. T. Smith

Euphony

Sounds that are pleasant to the ear.

Ex. "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness" from 'Ode to Autumn' by John Keats

Onomatopoeia

Words that sounds like what they mean.

Ex. "...waiting maybe to be flicked off, to thrash like a fish in the saltchuck" from

'Greetings from the Incredible Shrinking Woman' by Lowther

B - comparison

Metaphor

A comparison of two unlike things without using 'like' or 'as'.

Ex. "It is the star to every wand'ring bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his heigh be taken." From 'Sonnet CXVI' by Shakespeare.

(He is referring to love)

Personification

A comparison between something that isn't human and a human.

Ex. "Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks" from 'Sonnet CXVI' by

Shakespeare

Simile

A comparison between two unlike things using 'like' or 'as'.

Ex. "When I perceive that men as plants increase," from 'Sonnet XV' by

Shakespeare

C - word play

Allusion

Making a reference to something from one piece of literature in another piece of literature.

Ex. "The girl at the IGA who looks just like Julie Delpy, but you don't tell her --" from

'Plenty' by Connolly

Figurative Language

Could also be called 'flowery language'. Used to provide rich imagery. Often contains metaphors and personification.

Ex. "My lost memoryWhite and frozenNow melts colourReady to refract"

from 'Mediterranean' by Sudeep Sen

Hyperbole

An extreme exaggeration.

Ex. "The continent's expanding, stretching like silly putty" from 'Greetings from the Incredible

Shrinking Woman' by Lowther

Imagery

Creating a picture in the reader's mind by appealing to the four senses.

Ex. "Only random woods and snores Of two distant dogsOn.a very cold night

Clears fog that is unresolved." From 'Winter' by Sudeep Sen

Literal Language

The opposite of figurative language. Means exactly what it sounds like, the language is literal.

Ex. "Even lightening can be beautiful in a scary kind of way (there's a word for that but let's forget it for the moment). From 'Plenty'

by Connolly.

Mood

The feeling that the poem gives to the reader, the atmosphere of the poem.

Ex. 'Plenty' by Connolly makes the reader feel happy, appreciative, etc.

Oxymoron

Two opposite words placed side by side.

Ex: "darkness visible" from 'Book 1 of Paradise Lost' by John Milton

Paradox

A large oxymoron, or a contradictory statement. Used in a phrase.

Ex. 'Sweet like a Crow' by Michael Ondaatje

Repetition

Repetition is used to make a point, or to emphasize a certain sound, word, phrase, or stanza.

Ex: "...and watch the beautiful sky, beautiful storm, the people with their beautiful names..." from 'Plenty'

by Connolly

Symbol

Something that has a deeper meaning or represents something else.

Ex. "Beside a humble stone, a treeFloats in the cemetery's air,

Not planted in memoriam there,But growing wild, uncultured, free." From 'Last Hope' by Paul Verlaine

Tone

The author's attitude towards a piece of writing.

Ex. The tone of 'Sweet like a Crow' by Ondaatje would be sarcastic, dry, etc.

Understatement

The opposite of hyperbole, usually sarcastic.

Ex: the whole poem of 'This is Just to Say' by William Carlos Williams (seems like a heartfelt apologetic letter, ends up being about him eating

plums in the icebox)

VERSE FORMS

Couplet

Two lines of poetry that may rhyme.

Ex: "The maggot dreams of the ear andThe wound, that welcome dark between"

From 'Sonnet 146' by R.A. Villanueva

Octave

Eight lines of poetry.

Ex: "She was in love with the same dangerEverybody is. Dangerous..."

(+6 more lines)From 'Triolet' by Sandra Mcpherson

Quatrain

Four lines of poetry (usually have an abab or abcb rhyme scheme)

Ex: "The late Gracie Allen was a very lucid comedienne..."(+3 more lines in this stanza)

From 'Sonnet' by Alice Notley

Sestet

Six lines of poetry

Ex: 'The Mortician in San Francisco' by Randall Mann"This may sound queer,

But in 1985 I held the delicate handsOf Dan White:

I prepared him for burial; by then, Harvey MilkWas made monument - no, myth - by the years

Since he was shot."

Stanza

Another term for 'verse'.

Ex: "expanding, stretchingLike silly puttyOr like a movie

Seen in a dream" from 'Greetings' by Lowther

Verse

A paragraph of writing within a poem (aka stanza)

Ex: "it's not thatI'm getting smaller(I thought so at first)

But that the continent's"From 'Greetings...' by Lowther

RHYTHM & RHYME

Blank Verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter. Shakespeare's plays used this technique.

Ex: "your voice sounds like a scorpion..." from 'Sweet like a Crow' by Ondaatje

Iambic Pentameter

Five iambs in a row is considered iambic pentameter. An iamb is two syllables, with the first one unstressed and the second one stressed.

Ex: "within his bending sickle's compass come" from 'Sonnet CXVI' by Shakespeare

Rhyme

Words/lines that have the same sounds at the end.

Ex: "And all in war with Time for love of you,As he takes from you, I engraft you new."

From 'Sonnet XV' by Shakespeare

Rhythm

The pattern of sound within a poem.

Ex: iambic pentameter. "If this be error and upon me prov'd'" from 'Sonnet CXVI' by Shakespeare

Rhyme Scheme

The pattern of rhyme occurring in a poem. Rhyme schemes are shown with letters (ex. ABAB)

Ex: all Shakespearean sonnets have a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF

GG. (Such as Sonnet XV)