Poetic Terminology

The grammatiical order of words in a line of verse.

• Syntax

• Connotation

• Simile

• Metaphor

Poetry without a regular pattern of meter or rhyme

• Sonnet

• Ode

• Ballad

• Free Verse

A figureof speech involving a comparison between unlike things, using like, as or as though.

• Metaphor

• Syntax

• Simile

• Alliteration

A long, stately poem in stanzas of varied length, meter, and form. Usually, a serious poem on an exalted subject.

• Ode

• Ballad

• Lyric

• Sonnet

A 19 line lyric poem that relies heavily on repetition. The first and third lines alternate throughout the poem, which is structured in six stanzas, five tercets and a concluding quatrain.

• Ode

• Ballad

• Villanelle

• Sonnet

A strong pause within a line of verse.

• Tone

• Theme

• Alliteration

• Caesura

The repetition of consonant sounds, especially at the beginning of words.

• Alliteration

• Villanelle

• Closed Form

• Rhyme

The association called up by a word that goes beyond its dictionary meaning.

• Tone

• Rhyme

• Enjambment

• Connotation

The pattern of related comparative aspects of language, particularily of images in a literary work.

• Assonance

• Tone

• Imagery

• Diction

A type of structure or form in poetry characterized by freedom from regularity and consistency in such elements as rhyme, line length, metrical pattern, and overall poetic structure

• Closed Form

• Open Form

• Rhythm

• Dennotation