Poetry Terms

language that appeals to the senses (seeing, smelling, tasting, hearing, and touching)

• imagery

• repetition

• meter

• couplet

The intentional use of the same word or phrase two or more times. Draws the reader's attention to that particular word or phrase.

• metaphor

• stanza

• rhyme scheme

• repetition

Helps establish the poem's rhythm, affects the speed at which the poem is read and helps the poet create the poem's mood or feeling.

• quatrain

• haiku

• line length

• personification

The beat and pace of a poem.

• rhythm

• meter

• inversion

• allusion

The basic rhythmic structure of a line of poetry - the number of syllables and the pattern of emphasis

• imagery

• meter

• ballad

• sestet

The reversal of the normal word order of a sentence.

• theme

• analogy

• pun

• inversion

The pattern of rhymed lines in a poem.

• simile

• rhyme scheme

• allusion

• alliteration

An "open" form of poetry that does not have a consistent meter or rhyme scheme.

• figurative language

• extended metaphor

• free verse

• haiku

A group of consecutive lines in a poem that function as a unit, usually separated by double spaces.

• stanza

• sonnet

• pun

• meter

A rhyming two-line unit in a poem

• quatrain

• ballad

• couplet

• analogy