Poetry Terms

The repetition of consonant sounds, but not vowels, in a chunk of text.

Ex: A worm named Maurice took the garden by storm.

• Consonance

• Alliteration

• Ballad

An object or action that means something more than its literal meaning.

• Consonance

• Symbol

• Theme

The measured arrangement of sounds/beats in a poem, including the poet’s placement of emphasis and the number of syllable

• Tone

• Onomatopoeia

• Meter

A unified group of lines in poetry. This is often marked by spacing between sections of the poem

• Stanza

• Simile

• Symbol

A story/narrative in poetic form.

• Diction

• Ballad

• Consonance

The recurrence of stressed and unstressed sounds in poetry. Depending on how sounds are arranged, the _____ of a poem may be fast or slow, choppy or smooth.

• Rhythm

• Free Verse

• Enjambment

The repetition of vowel sounds in a chunk of text.

Ex: “Ivan will try to light the fire.”

• Theme

• Alliteration

• Assonance

The central meaning or dominant message the poet is trying to deliver to the reader.

• Theme

• Verse

• Tone

The author’s specific word choice.

• Simile

• Diction

• Enjambment

The attitude the poem’s narrator (this may or may not be the actual poet) takes towards a subject or character: serious, humorous, sarcastic, ironic, concerned, tongue-in-cheek, solemn, objective, etc.

• Ballad

• Verse

• Tone