Poetry Terms

the ordinary form of written language that uses sentences and paragraphs.

• Prose

• Narrative

• Lyric

• Lines

the art of expressing one's thoughts in verse. Written in lines and stanzas, with a lot of white space on the page.

• Prose

• Poetry

• Mood

• Speaker

A poem that tells a story. These poems often have all the elements of a short story, including characters, dialogue, setting, conflict, and plot.

• Narrative

• Lyric

• Limerick

• Haiku

A poem that expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet. These poems create a single, unified impression. It may resemble a song in form or style.

• Narrative

• Lyric

• Haiku

• Free Verse

the shape or structure of a poem; the way a poem looks on the page

• Lines

• Mood

• Form

• Tone

the arrangement of words; lines may or may not be sentences

• Form

• Stanza

• Symbol

• Lines

the feeling that a poem creates in the reader.

• Mood

• Tone

• Symbol

• Style

one who writes poetry

• Speaker

• Narrator

• Poet

• Songwriter

the imaginary voice a poet uses when writing a poem. The character telling the poem.

• Poet

• Narrator

• Speaker

• Tone

a group of lines that usually develop one idea

• Symbol

• Paragraph

• Theme

• Stanza