Elements of Poetry

Definition of Poetry Literature in verse form (a controlled arrangement of lines and stanzas) Uses language to express layers of meaning

Literary Elements Figurative language –Language that is used imaginatively rather than literally to express ideas/feelings

Examples: Simile: uses “like” or “as” to compare 2 essentially unlike things Ex./She runs like the wind.

Metaphor Compares 2 like things describing one as if it were the other ex./ My brother’s room is a pigpen.

Personification A figure of speech in which human qualities are given to a non-human subject Ex./ The feather tickled my face.

Imagery Descriptive language that creates vivid impressions. Uses sensory language; appeals to the 5 senses

Musical qualities Poets often use sound devices to achieve a musical quality They do this by the language that they use

Rhythm Pattern created by stressed and unstressed syllables Ordered pattern of rhythm is called meter

Rhyme Repetition of identical sounds in the last syllables of words Pattern of rhyme at end of lines in a poem is called rhyme scheme

Alliteration Initial rhyme Repetition of first consonant Ex./the light lemon lollipop

Assonance Vowel rhyme Repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words Ex./ date and fade

Consonance Repetition of consonants within nearby words in which the separating vowels differ Ex./ milk and walk