POETIC TERMS
FIGUARTIVE LANGUAGE is language
which is used to describe one thing in terms of
another. It helps the reader SEE comparisons and
relationships. The figures of
speech listed below are used to express language
figuratively.
FIVE FIGURES OF SPEECH
1.
SIMILE - a straight comparison of TWO UNLIKE THINGS using like or as
EX:
My love is like a rose
2.
METAPHOR – directly identifies TWO UNLIKE THINGS
EX:
My love is a rose
3.
PERSONIFICATION – a type of metaphor which gives an inanimate object
human characteristics EX: rosy fingered dawn
4.
SYMBOL – an object which stands for itself or something else
EX:
night symbolizes death or fear
5.
SYNEDOCHE – something which is used to refer to or imply something else
TONE is the attitude an author
has toward her subject or audience
BLANK VERSE is unrhymed iambic
pentameter—no rhyme
Shakespeare
ALWAYS wrote in blank verse
FREE VERSE is poetry not
controlled by any regular metrical pattern.
DICTION is the poet’s
arrangement of words in order to express a thought.
POETIC LICENSE is the poet’s
freedom to use language creatively.
MUSICAL DEVICES is the use of
language to create musical effects essential for the
reading of poetry.
FIVE TYPES OF MUSICAL DEVICES
1.
RHYME is the repetition of accented sounds.
FIVE
TYPES OF RHYME
a. slant rhyme-occurs when the rhyming sounds are similar
but not
identical EX:
notion/nation; bear/bore
b. end rhyme-rhyne occurring at the end of a line of poetry
EX:
sun/done
c. internal rhyme-occurs when words within a line of poetry
rhyme
EX: Once upon a midnight dreary,
while I
pondered weak & weary
d.
pure rhyme-occurs when the rhyming words are identical
EX:
in/sin
e. visual rhyme-occurs when the words in the expected rhyming
position do not rhyme but look as if they should
EX:
bear/near
2.
ALLITERATION is the repetition of initial consonant sounds
3.
ASSONANCE is the repetition of internal vowel sounds
…bird nor beast
Nor
falling branch disturbed its shining peace;
4.
REFRAIN is the repetition of a phrase, line or stanza
5.
ONOMATOPEIA is the sound a word makes which imitates or suggests its
meaning. EX: pow, fizz
SOME COMMON FROZEN FORMS IN
POETRY
COUPLET are two consecutive lines of verse which rhyme & usually
are of equal length.
THREE
KINDS OF COUPLETS
1.
A CLOSED COUPLET contains a complete thought & usually end
with
a period.
EX: A sweet disorder in the dress
Kindles
in clothes a wantonness.
2.
An OPEN COUPLET forms a part of a thought that is completed in the
third line.
EX: That’s my last Duchess painted on the
wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder…
3.
An HEROIC COUPLET is a closed couplet written in iambic
pentameter.
EX: ‘Tis hard to say, if greater want of
skill,
Appear
in writing or in judging ill.
QUATRAIN is any four line stanza
of verse.
SONNET is a poem consisting of
fourteen lines, usually written in iambic pentameter & dealing with one idea or emotion.
END-STOPPED LINE is a line of
verse which ends with a definite pause & usually has an end punctuation mark.
EX:
ENJAMBMENT is a line of verse in
which there is no such pause at the end of the line.
EX:
‘Tis pity learned virgins ever wed
With persons of no
sort of education.
THREE TYPES OF POETRY
A.
NARRATIVE POETRY tells a story.
TWO
TYPES
a. EPIC POEMS are long, usually celebrating a hero’s deeds
and is written
in stately, dignified language. EX: The Iliad
b.
A BALLAD is a short poem, meant to be sung and the mood tragic/sad.
Its
theme is often one of murder, love or the supernatural.
TWO TYPES 1.
FOLK/POPULAR BALLAD deals with common
people. Handed down orally from generation to
generation. The author is unknown or
anonymous.
2.
LITERARY BALLAD is written in a more
elaborate language. The author is known.
B.
LYRICAL POETRY is poetry used to express thoughts or emotions. Word
comes from the Greek ;lyrikos’ meaning a short poem sung in
accompaniment with a lyre. Subject of this type of poetry
deals with
beauty or remembrances ending with a gloomy future.
TWO TYPES
a.
THE SONNET contains 14 rhymed lines of poetry written in iambic
pentameter.
b.
AN ELEGY is a poem of mourning.
C.
DRAMATIC POETRY resembles a play. It is a dialogue between two people
or
a monologue. EX: Shakespearean plays.