Elements of Poetry

Information from the Reader’s Handbook was used in preparing this

power point.

PoemsConvey an idea or a feeling

through carefully selected words and phrases. To unlock the meaning of a poem, you have to consider every word that the poet has chosen. You also need to be familiar with different techniques and styles that a poet may use.

Poetry elements include

Alliteration Allusion Hyperbole Figurative

Language Free Verse Idiom Imagery Lyric Poem Metaphor Mood / Tone

and Voice

Narrative Poem Onomatopoeia Personification Repetition Rhyme Rhyme Scheme Rhythm Simile Stanza Symbol

Alliteration Alliteration is the repetition of the

same consonant sound at the beginning of several words of the line of poetry or a sentence.

Example – Sally sells seashells by the seashore

Example – The sleek, silver snake slithered away.

AllusionAn allusion is a reference to

something with which the reader is likely to be familiar, such as a person, place or event from history or literature.

Hyperbole A hyperbole is an exaggeration or

the obvious stretching of the truth.

Example – Mrs. Reynolds caught a catfish three feet long.

Example – I have a ton of homework!

Figurative Language

Figurative language is made up of all the tools that a poet uses to create a special effect or feeling. It includes metaphor, simile, alliteration, personification and onomatopoeia.

Free VerseFree verse is poetry written without a regular rhyme scheme, meter, or form.

April Rain Songby Langston Hughes

Let the rain kiss you.

Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.

Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk.

The rain makes running pools in the gutter.

The rain plays a little sleep-song on our roof at night—

And I love the rain.

Imagery Imagery is language that

appeals to the five senses—touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight.

Example – The sweet fragrance of the honeysuckle eased my worries and relaxed my mind.

Example – The butterfly floated on the summer breeze and landed on the softness of a velvety rose blossom.

Lyric Poem A lyric poem is a short poem that directly expresses the poet’s thoughts and emotions in a musical way.

“A Red Red Rose”by Robert Burns

O my luve is like a red, red rose,

That’s newly sprung in June.

O my luve is like the melodie,

That’s sweetly play’d in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonie lass,

So deep in luve am I,

And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a’the seas gang dry.

MetaphorA metaphor is a direct comparison between two unlike things, It does not use the words like or as.

Example – Her eyes were soft blue pools.

Example – The stars were diamonds in the vast blue sky.

MoodMood is the feeling created in the reader by the poem or story. Words, phrases repetition, rhyme, and exaggeration all work together to create mood.

Narrative Poem

A narrative poem is a poem that tells a story. Narrative poems usually have all of the elments you would find in a short story: character, setting, conflict, and plot.

OnomatopoeiaOnomatopoeia is the use of words that sound like the noises they describe.

Examples: pop, click, boom, sizzle, zing

PersonificationPersonification is a type of

figurative language in which poets give an animal, object, or idea human qualities, such as the ability to hear, feel, talk, and make decisions.

Example – The story of the “Three Little Pigs”

Example – The sun cradled me with its warm rays.

Repetition Repetition means “to repeat”

something. It is the use of any element of language – a sound, word, phrase, or sentence = more than once.

Repetition holds a poem together with a pattern readers come to expect.

Repetition creates suspense and adds humor or music.

Repetition emphasizes meaning.

RhymeRhyme is the repetition of similar sounds. End rhyme is the repetition of similar sounds that come at the ends of lines of poetry.Internal rhyme occurs within a line when two words have similar sounds.

Rhyme SchemeRhyme scheme is a repeated regular pattern of rhymes usually found at the end of lines in a poem.

Example of Rhyme Scheme

“Adventures of Isabel”by Ogden Nash

Isbel met an enormous bear,

Isabel, Isabel, didn’t care;

The bear was hungry, the bear was ravenous,

The bear’s big mouth was cruel and cavernous.

The bear said, Isabel, glad to meet you,

How do Isabel, now I’ll eat you!

What is the rhyme scheme of this poem?

RhythmRhythm is the musical quality created by a pattern of beats or a series of stressed and unstressed syllables.

“First Fig”by Edna St. Vincent Millay

My candle burns at both ends;

It will not last the night;But ah, my foes, and oh,

my friends – It gives a lovely light!

SimileA smile is a comparison

between two unlike things using the words like or as.

Example – His feet were like boats.

Example – Her tears were as droplets of rain.

Stanza A stanza is a group of lines in a

poem set off by blank lines. It usually develops one idea.

A stanza in a poem is something like a paragraph in a prose. Stanzas are important because they give a poem shape on the page and help create the poem’s meaning.

Stanza is an Italian word that means “stopping place” or place to rest.

SymbolA symbol is something that

stands for something else.

Examples – a blue ribbon or gold medal is a symbol for first place. The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of freedom. The crown is a symbol of a king’s power.

Tone and VoiceTone is the attitude the

writer takes toward the audience, the subject, or a character.

The voice, or speaker, is the character or perspective that is taken on by a writer or poet. Often the voice is not identified by name.

IdiomsAre words, phrases or

expressions that cannot be taken literally. In other words when used in everyday language, they have a meaning other than the basic one you would find in a dictionary.

It is a phrase that sounds idiotic.

Examples of Idioms I’m on top of the world. That outfit cost me an arm and a

leg. Don’t cut corners on this project. By doing this, we’re killing two

birds with one stone. I’m caught between a rock and a

hard place. It’s raining cats and dogs.

Clichés Is an expression or idea of an

artistic work that has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning.

Examples: Time well spent scared to

death A waste of time all’s well that

ends well Fit as a fiddle the writing on the

wall