Glossary of Poetry Terms

Glossary of Poetry Terms

By Elisha L ai M s. Per k ins

2007

Glossary of Poetry Terms Written By Elisha Lai 1. Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of a word.

2. Anthology is a collection of literature works and poetry in a book or in a place.

3. Concrete Poem is a poem that has words arranged in a shape, usually in the shape

of the subject of the poem.

4. Couplet is a pair of lines that rhyme.

5. D iamante Poem is a poem that has 7 lines, shaped like a diamond (1st line and 7th

line [nouns])(2nd line and 6th line[adjectives])(3rd line and 5th line[‌ing words])(4th line[nouns][_ _*_ _]).

6. F ree Verse is a poem without rhyme or specific form, discusses one subject or theme.

7. H ai ku is a poem that has 17 syllables and 3 lines, 5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables

in the second line and 5 syllables in the third line.

8. I mage is pictures that poets create with words that appeal to the five senses.

9. Lime rick is a humorous poem with five lines, lines 1, 2 and 5 rhyme and lines 3 and 4

rhyme.

10. Ly ric Poem is a poem that describes a poet’s observations and feelings, usually

musical sounding.

11. Metaphor is a literary device that suggests similarity between two unlike things

without using like or as.

12. Monologue is an account of the thoughts of a person.

13. Na r rative Poem is a poem that tells a story.

14. Nonsense Poem is a poem that doesn’t make sense.

15. Onomatopoeia is the use of words to imitate sounds.

16. Paraphrase is putting something in your own words.

17. Personification is giving human qualities to non-human things.

18. Poetic License is the permission to not follow common forms or dramatical poem to

provide what poets feels.

19. Refrain is a regularly repeated line or group of lines after each stanza in a poem or

song.

20. Repetition is the use of words or phrases uses over and over again.

21. Rhyme is the repetition of sounds at the ends of words.

22. Rhythm is the sound pattern created by stressed and unstressed syllable.

23. Riddle is the word puzzle that has clues about the subject and not gives away the

answer.

24. Simile is a comparison where a similar quality is pointed out in two basically unlike

things using like or as.

25. Sonnet is a poem of 14 lines whose rhyme pattern is generally A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I

and J. 26. Speaker is the character telling the poem or a story, the ‘I’ in the poem.

27. Stanza is a group of lines of poetry, usually similar in length and pattern, and is

separated by spaces in a poem.

28. Theme is the underlying meaning or message of a work that presents about people or

about life.

29. Verse is a single line of poetry, usually not a complete sentence.