Poetry Terms Flashcards

Front

consonance

Back

the repetition of similar consonant sounds in a group of words. The term usually refers to words in which the ending consonants are the same but the vowels that precede them are different.

Front

simile

Back

a directly expressed comparison; a figure of speech comparing two objects, usually with 'like,' 'as,' or 'than.'

Front

parallelism

Back

a similar grammatical structure within a line or lines of poetry.

Front

symbol

Back

something that is simultaneously itself and also represents something else, usually a concept or an idea.

Front

assonance

Back

the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds. 'A land laid waste with all its young men slain' repeats the same 'a' sound in 'laid,' 'waste,' and 'slain.'

Front

verse

Back

a single line of poetry.

Front

syntax

Back

the ordering of words into patterns or sentences.

Front

onomatopoeia

Back

the use of words whose sound suggests their meaning. Examples are 'buzz,' 'hiss,' or 'honk.'

Front

imagery

Back

words that create an image in your head; the sensory details of a work.

Front

diction

Back

the use of words in a literary work.