Elements of Poetry Study Guide Below, you will find 20 poetic elements or terms used often in poetry. For most of these elements you will also find an example. For each element underline the poetic element present. These are examples of figurative language. Figurative language is language that uses words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation. When a writer uses literal language, he or she is simply stating the facts as they are. Figurative language, in comparison, uses language in a creative way to make a particular point or comment, to create a certain affect in the reader. 1. Alliteration: the repetition of the same initial consonant sound in a series of words. Example: Acquainted with the Night by Robert Frost I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet When far away an interrupted cry Came over houses from another street 2. Apostrophe: A direct address to either a) an inanimate object as if it were alive or to b) a dead or absent person as if he/she were alive.
The Sound of Silence By Paul Simon Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again
Apostrophe (con’d): Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Twinkle twinkle little star How I wonder what you are Dear Ella (to Ella Fitzgerald) by Kenny Burrell Dear Ella Our Special First Lady of Song You gave your best for so long This is true 3. Assonance: The repetition of the same vowel sounds in successive words. Bells by Edgar Allen Poe Hear the mellow wedding bells, Golden bells! What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!
4. Comparison: Pointing out similarities and differences between one poem and another.
5. Concrete Poetry: Poetry which assumes the shape of the objects it describes.
5. Consonance: the repetition of the same consonant sounds within the successive words. The Bells by Edgar Allen Poe Hear the mellow wedding bells, Golden bells! What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!
6. Contrast: Putting things side by side that are so different that the reader can see each of them more clearly. Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare Romeo: “Oh Brawling Love! Oh Loving Hate!”
7. Eye Ryhme: words which look like they should rhyme but sound different when they are pronounced. slaughter : laughter sew : blew brow : crow said : laid 8. Free Verse Poetry: is a form of poetry that has very little rhythm, or rhyme, if any, and sometimes very little capitalization, if any. 9. Image: A word, or group of words, that appeals to one of the five senses: Sight, Hearing, Smell, Touch, Taste. Examples:
a) Visual Image: A word or group of word that appeals to the sense of sight. Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti "Look, Lizzie, look, Lizzie, Down the glen tramp little men. One hauls a basket, One bears a plate, One lugs a golden dish Of many pounds' weight.
The Red Wheelbarrow By William Carlos William so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
b) Auditory Image: A word or group of word that appeals to the sense of hearing. Example: After Apple Picking by Roberty Frost And I keep hearing from the cellar bin The rumbling sound Of load on load of apples coming in.
c) Olfactory Image: A word or group of words that appeals to the sense of smell.
After Apple Picking by Roberty Frost But I am done with apple-picking now. Essence of winter sleep is on the night, The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.
To Earthward by Robert Frost Of tears, the aftermark Of almost too much love, The sweet of bitter bark And burning clove.
d) Tactile Image: A word or group of words that appeal to the sense of touch. To Earthward by Robert Frost When stiff and sore and scarred I take away my hand From leaning on it hard In grass and sand
e) Gustatory Image: A word or group of words that appeals to the sense of taste. The Mouse and the Cake by Eliza Cook A mouse found a beautiful piece of plum cake, The richest and sweetest that mortal could make: 'Twas heavy with citron and fragrant with spice, And covered with sugar all sparkling as ice.
9. Lyric Poem: a poem with a single speaker expressing personal thoughts or feelings.
10. Metaphor: an implied or direct comparison between two different objects without the use of like or as. As I Walked Out One Evening by W.H Auden As I walked out one evening, Walking down Bristol Street, The crowds upon the pavement Were fields of harvest wheat.
11. Mood: the feelings or emotions a poem produces in the reader.
12. Narrative Poem: A poem that tells a story.
13. Onomatopoeia: Using words to create sound effects to show a word’s meaning. The Bells by Edgar Allen Poe By the twanging, And the clanging, How the danger ebbs and flows: Yet the ear distinctly tells, In the jangling And the wrangling, How the danger sinks and swells
14. Personification: is used when objects, animals or ideas are given human characteristics. As I Walked One Evening by W.H Auden 'I'll love you, dear, I'll love you Till China and Africa meet, And the river jumps over the mountain And the salmon sing in the street.
15. Refrain: A line or phrase that is repeated regularly in a poem.
16. Rhyme: The repetition of similar sounds at the end of to or more lines. The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock by Alfred Lord Tennyson Do I dare to eat a peach? I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. 17. Rhyme Scheme: The repeated patterns of end rhyme is a poems stanzas. 18. Rhythm: The beats of the lines in a poem.
19. Simile: A comparison between two different things using like or as. Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti Golden head by golden head, Like two pigeons in one nest Folded in each other's wings, They lay down, in their curtained bed: Like two blossoms on one stem, Like two flakes of new-fallen snow, Like two wands of ivory Tipped with gold for awful kings.
19. Stanza: A verse of poetry. 20. Theme: The main idea of a poem. The theme of the following poem is “love”: Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
