Poetic Devices
This type of poetic device is a comparison stating one thing as another. It suggests a non-literal similarity.
Metaphor
Poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter
Free Verse
"For there is always light,
if only we're brave enough to see it.
If only we're brave enough to be it."
Amanda Gorman
A single unit of sound in a word, consisting of a vowel sound with or without surrounding consonants
Syllable
The poet’s attitude toward the poem’s speaker, reader, and subject matter, as interpreted by the reader. Often described as a “mood” that pervades the experience of reading the poem, it is created by the poem’s vocabulary, metrical regularity or irregularity, syntax, use of figurative language, and rhyme.
Tone
An indirect reference to something
Allusion
A fourteen-line poem with a strict rhyme scheme, often written in iambic pentameter.
Sonnet
"Stil I Rise"
Maya Angelou
This describes the rhythm of a poem or other written work as it’s expressed through the number and length of the feet in each line
Metre
This poetic device, often used in spoken word poetry, involves intentionally using a word or phrase for effect, two or more times in a speech or written work
Repetition
An extravagant exaggeration
Hyperbole
A short lyrical poem, often in praise of something
Ode
This 26-year old Indian-born Canadian poet, illustrator, and author has sold more than 3.5 million copies of her two poetry collections, “milk and honey” and “the sun and her flowers,” both of which topped The New York Times bestseller list for well over a year.
Rupi Kaur
A combination of stressed and unstressed syllables
Foot
This is a type of nonverbal communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey the information-- an important part of spoken word poetry!
Body Language
The spelling of this term, which describes words that imitate the sound they denote
O-N-O-M-A-T-O-P-O-E-I-A
This type of poem is one that concerns the natural world, rural life, and landscapes. These poems have persevered from Ancient Greece (in the poetry of Hesiod) to Ancient Rome (Virgil) to the present day (Gary Snyder).
Pastoral Poetry
This influential poet frequently used iambic pentameter in his plays and sonnets in the early 16th and late 17th century.
William Shakespeare
This marks the metrical pattern of a poem by breaking each line of verse up into feet and highlighting the accented and unaccented syllables.
Scansion
This is a form of performance poetry that combines the elements of performance, writing, competition, and audience participation
Slam Poetry
The implied or suggested meaning associated with a word or phrase.
Connotation
A five-line poem that consists of a single stanza, an AABBA rhyme scheme, and whose subject is a short, pithy tale or description.
Limerick
This person is possibly the MOST influential poet in the history of the world. They are also undoubtedly the coolest and most iconic person in all ways possible.
Ms. Francois
A foot with two syllables; an unstressed followed by a stressed.
Iamb
A literary technique and a form of wit in which words are used to become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement.
Wordplay or Play-on-words