Poetic Terms
It’s difficult to have a good understanding
of poetry without having a solid knowledge of the language it
employs. The terms defined below are basic techniques that
help the words to paint pictures and to convey deeper meanings
layered within.
Imagery techniques weave sensory perceptions into a poem through
language, making the words palpable.
Imagery - representation through
language of a sensory experience
- Visual imagery - something
described through sight, appears most commonly in
poetry.
- Auditory imagery -
representation of a sound
- Olfactory imagery -
representation of a smell
- Gustatory imagery -
representation of a taste
- Tactile imagery - touch:
hardness, softness, wetness, heat, cold
- Organic imagery - internal
sensation, hunger, thirst, fatigue, nausea
- Kinesthetic imagery -
movement, physical tension
Representing subjects through symbolic references can lend
mystique to poetry, by including figurative language a deeper
level of interpretation is necessary to fully grasp the theme.
Figurative Language- language using
figures of speech; can not be taken literally
- Metaphor - describing
something as something else
- Simile - metaphor using like
or as
- Personification - giving
human qualities to an object
- Synecdoche - using a part to
describe a whole
- Metonymy - choose something
related to an idea to represent the idea as a whole
- Hyperbole - exaggeration
- Litotes - form of
understatement by asserting the positive by negating the
negative (Example: This is no
small problem)
- Antithesis - juxtaposes
opposite ideas, heightens parallelism
- Apostrophe - addresses
subject of poet
- Symbol - object standing for
a concept, idea or emotion
- Allusion - reference lends
meaning of alluded story in addition
- Common allusions: Biblical,
historical, literary
- Connotation - symbolic
baggage attached to a word, significant, rich in imagery
- Denotation - acutal
definition
Incorporating melodic devices gives
poetry a desired tone, word selection is vital. Melodic Devices -
gives rhythmic, metered patterns to poetry
- Assonance - repetition of
vowel sounds within words
- Alliteration - first letter
repetition
- Consonance - repeated
consonant sound within words
- Onomatopoeia - sound
words, Example: BAM! SPLAT!
hiss... WHAM! CRASH!
- Cacophony - harsh, guttural
“d” “t ” “k”’s
- Euphony - hushed, pleasing
“m” “l” “s” ‘s
Rhyme - similarity or likeness of
sound existing between two words
- End rhyme - occurring at the
end of two or more lines of verse
- Internal rhyme - occurs
between two or more words in the same line of verse
- Masculine rhyme - one
syllable rhymes with one syllable of another
word ex:
light, bright
- Feminine rhyme - occurs when
the last two syllables of a word rhyme with
another ex:
lighting, fighting
- Triple rhyme - last three
syllables rhyme ex:
victorious, glorious
- Rhyme Scheme - pattern or
sequence in which rhyme occurs (a, b, a, b)
Skillful use of these techniques can be used
to create a poem that can inspire any emotion desired within
the reader. They unite to create tone, and tone lends
poignancy to the theme, which is the essence of poetry.