Poetry Terms

The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

• Diction
• Alliteration
• Simile
• Theme

A brief reference to a real or fictional person, event, place, or work of art.

• Allusion
• Free Verse
• Rhythm
• Enjambment

The repetition of vowel sounds in a chunk of text. 

• Allusion
• Hyperbole
• Metaphor
• Assonance

This occurs when one line ends without a pause or any punctuation and continues onto the next line.

• Enjambment
• Rhythm
• Simile
• Tone

Poetry that does not rhyme or have a measurable meter.

• Free Verse
• Stanza
• Tone
• Onomatopoeia

A figure of speech in which an exaggerated statement is made.

• Hyperbole
• Enjambment
• Assonance
• Free Verse

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things without using connecting words, such as “like” or “as.” 

• Metaphor
• Simile
• Onomatopoeia
• Diction

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
• Caesura
• Alliteration
• Tone

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things using connecting words, such as “like” or “as.” 

• Simile
• Metaphor
• Rhythm
• Stanza

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

• Stanza
• Assonance
• Hyperbole
• Onomatopoeia