1. The Language of Poetry
Poetry Notes

2. Figurative Language
Definition: Language that communicates meaning beyond the literal meaning.
Examples: simile, metaphor, extended metaphor, hyperbole, personification

3. Simile
Definition: A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, using the word like or as
Example: The woman looked like a dog.

4. Metaphor
Definition: a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things that are basically unlike but have something in common.
Example: Life is a journey.

5. Extended Metaphor
Definition: A figure of speech that compares two essentially unlike things at some length and in several ways.
Example: “All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players”
-William Shakespeare, As You Like It

6. Hyperbole
Definition: A figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or humorous effect
Example: I have told you all to do your homework a thousand times.

7. Personification
Definition: Figure of speech in which human qualities are given to an object, animal, or idea.
Example: The books whispered in the quiet room.

8. Symbol
Definition: A person, place, object, or activity that stands for something beyond itself.
Example: A dove is a symbol for peace.

9. Connotation Definition: Attitude or feeling associated with a word
Example: Enthusiastic-positive association; rowdy- negative association

10. Alliteration
Definition: the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words
Example: “Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before”
-Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven”

11. Assonance
Definition: The repetition of vowel sounds with nonrhyming words
Example: “Only their usual maneuvers, dear”
-W.H. Auden, “O What Is That Sound”

12. Consonance
Definition: The repetition of consonant sounds within and at the end of words
Example: “lonely afternoon”
“Mammals named Sam are clammy.”
“Curse, bless me now! With fierce tears I prey.”

13. Rhyme Scheme
Definition: A pattern of end rhymes in a poem. A rhyme scheme is noted by assigning a letter of the alphabet, beginning with a, to each line. Lines that rhyme are given the same letter.
Example: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, a
And sorry I could not travel both b
And be one traveler, long I stood a
And looked down one as far as I could a
To where it bent in the undergrowth” b
-Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”

14. Rhythm
Definition: When words are arranged in such a way that they make a pattern or beat. A pattern of stressed or unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.
Example: There once was a girl from Chicago
Who dyed her hair pink in the bathtub
I’m making a pizza the size of the sun.
Hint: hum the words instead of saying them.

15. Iambic Pentameter
Definition: A metrical pattern of five feet, or units, of each of which is made up of two syllables, the first unstressed and the second unstressed.
Example: “My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand”
-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

16. Blank Verse
Definition: Unrhymed poetry written in iambic pentameter

17. Free Verse
Poetry that does not contain regular patterns of rhythm or rhyme

18. Haiku
Definition: A form of Japanese poetry in which 17 syllables are arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables
Example: “Harvest moon—
walking around the pond
all night long.”
-Basho

19. Lyric Poetry
Definition: A short poem in which a single speaker expresses thoughts and feelings
Examples: Langston’s Hughes’ “Theme for English B” and Pat Mora’s “A Voice”

20. Narrative Poetry
Definition: Poetry that tells a story or recounts events
Example: “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

21. Stanza
Definition: A group of two or more lines that form a unit in a poem

22. Quatrain
Definition: A four-line stanza, or group of lines, in poetry

23. Couplet
Definition: A rhymed pair of lines that may be written in any rhythmic pattern

24. “Across the Universe”
Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind Possessing and caressing me Jai Guru Deva OM Nothing's gonna change my world Nothing's gonna change my world Nothing's gonna change my world Nothing's gonna change my world Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes They call me on and on across the universe Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box They tumble blindly as they make their way across the universe Jai Guru Deva OM Nothing's gonna change my world Nothing's gonna change my world Nothing's gonna change my world Nothing's gonna change my world Sounds of laughter shades of live are ringing through my open ears Inciting and inviting me Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns It calls me on and on, across the universe Jai Guru Deva OM
(With a partner, find and record at least 5 examples of figurative language.)