POETRY TERMS LIST

A LIST OF SEVERAL IMPORTANT TERMS POETS NEED TO KNOW

Assonance: in poetry, the repetition of the sound of a vowel or diphthong in non-rhyming stressed
syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible
i.e. - Try to light the fire

Consonance: the recurrence of similar sounds, especially consonants, in close proximity

i.e. - He stood on the road and cried.

Alliteration: the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely
connected words.
i.e. - Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers

Foot: The basic unit of measurement of poetic meter. A foot usually contains one stressed syllable and
at least one unstressed syllable.

The standard types of feet in English poetry are the iamb, trochee, dactyl, anapest, spondee, and
pyrrhic

Stress: the emphasis that falls on certain syllables and not others; the arrangement of stresses within a
poem is the foundation of poetic rhythm

Meter: The overall pattern of rhythm in a poem - the pattern of the beats. It is made up of poetic feet.
Onomatopoeia: the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named
i.e. cuckoo, sizzle, bang

Personification: the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman,

or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.
i.e.- The tree danced in the wind

Metaphor: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is
not literally applicable.
i.e. "“I had fallen through a trapdoor of depression,” said Mark

Conceit: a kind of metaphor that compares two very unlike things in a surprising and clever way. Often,
conceits are extended metaphors that dominate an entire passage or poem
i.e. – Romeo and Juliet:

“Thou counterfeit’st a bark, a sea, a wind;

For still thy eyes, which I may call the sea,
Do ebb and flow with tears; the bark thy body is,
Sailing in this salt flood; the winds, thy sighs;
Who, raging with thy tears, and they with them,
Without a sudden calm, will overset
Thy tempest-tossed body.”

Capulet compares Juliet to a boat in a storm. The comparison is an extended metaphor in which he compares
her eyes to a sea, her tears to a storm, her sighs to the stormy winds, and her body to a boat in a storm.

Paradox: a statement that contradicts itself and still seems true somehow
i.e. – Romeo and Juliet:

“The earth that’s nature’s mother is her tomb;

What is her burying grave, that is Rainbow in her womb…”

The contradictory ideas of the earth being the birthplace and a graveyard make these lines paradoxical
Euphony: the use of words and phrases that are distinguished as having a wide range of noteworthy
melody or loveliness in the sounds they create. It gives pleasing and soothing effects to the ear due to
repeated vowels and smooth consonants.

 Euphony involves the use of long vowel sounds, which are more melodious than consonants.
 Euphony involves the use of harmonious consonants, such as l, m, n, r, and soft f and v sounds.
 Euphony uses soft consonants or semi-vowels, including w, s, y, and th or wh, extensively to
create more pleasant sounds.

Cacophony: the use of words with sharp, harsh, hissing, and unmelodious sounds – primarily those of
consonants

 Cacophony is opposite to euphony, which is the use of words having pleasant and harmonious
effects.
 Generally, the vowels, the semi-vowels, and the nasal consonants (e.g. l, m, n, r, y) are
considered to be euphonious.
 Cacophony, on the other hand, uses consonants in combinations that require explosive delivery
(e.g., p, b, d, g, k, ch-, sh- etc.).

Satire: the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or
vices to inform or make people think.

Couplet: two lines of poetry that usually rhyme. Often entire poems are written in couplets.
i.e. Hear the honking of the goose
I think he’s angry at the moose

Elegy: a sad poem, usually written to praise and express sorrow for someone who is dead.
Haiku: a major form of Japanese verse, written in 17 syllables divided into 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5
syllables, and employing highly evocative allusions and comparisons, often on the subject of nature or
one of the seasons.
i.e.
Autumn moonlight—
a worm digs silently
into the chestnut.
Basho Matsuo (1644-1694)