Poetic

Devices
Poetic devices, techniques, gimmicks -
whatever you want to call them, there are
"tricks" that make poems "work."

YOU SEE AND HEAR POETIC DEVICES

EVERYDAY – IN POEMS, PROSE, SONG
LYRICS, AND ADVERTISEMENTS.
 Imagery
POETIC DEVICES
Hyperbole

Simile

Allusion
 ALLITERATION
Definition: Repetition of a particular sound
(consonant) in the stressed syllables of a series of
words or phrases.

Example: James Thomson's verse "Come…

dragging the lazy languid line along".
 ALLUSION
Definition: A figure of speech that makes a reference to a
place, person, or something that happened. This can be real or
imaginary and may refer to anything, including paintings, opera,
folk lore, mythical figures, or religious manuscripts. The reference
can be direct or may be inferred, and can broaden the reader’s
understanding.

Example: “He was a real Romeo with the ladies.”

 BALLAD
Definition: A figure of speech that makes a
reference to a place, person, or something that
happened. This can be real or imaginary and may
refer to anything, including paintings, opera, folk
lore, mythical figures, or religious manuscripts.
The reference can be direct or may be inferred,
and can broaden the reader’s understanding

Example: The song Imagine, by John Lennon, is an example of a ballad.

 IMAGERY
Definition: The "mental pictures" that
readers imagine whilst reading a passage of
literature. It signifies all the sensory perceptions
referred to in a poem, whether by literal
description, allusion, simile, or metaphor. Imagery
is not limited to visual imagery; it also includes
auditory (sound), tactile (touch), thermal (heat
and cold), olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste), and
kinesthetic (movement) sensations.

Example: The gushing brook stole its way

down the lush green mountains, which were
dotted with tiny flowers that smelled of vanilla
and trees alive with gaily chirping birds.
 HYPERBOLE
Definition: An extreme exaggeration used to
make a point. It is like the opposite of
“understatement.” Hyperboles are comparisons,
like similes and metaphors, but are extravagant
and even ridiculous.

Example: I am so hungry I could eat a horse.

It was so cold the polar bears were wearing
parkas.
  METAPHOR
Definition: Describes a subject by asserting
that it is, on some point of comparison, the same as
another otherwise unrelated object

Example: Our canoe flew down the river. My

life is a roller coaster.
 RHYTHM
Definition: A strong, regular, and repeated pattern
of movement or sound in a poem.

Example : A sonnet’s pattern is in Iambic Pentameter.

 SIMILE
Definition: A figure of speech that directly
compares two different things, usually by
employing the words "like" or "as" – also, but
less commonly, "if", or "than".

Example: Her skin was white as snow.