The Language of PoetryPoetry Notes

Figurative Language

Definition: Language that communicates meaning beyond the literal meaning.

Examples: simile, metaphor, extended metaphor, hyperbole, personification

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Symbol

Definition: A person, place, object, or activity that stands for something beyond itself.

Example: A dove is a symbol for peace.

Connotation

Definition: Attitude or feeling associated with a word

Example: Enthusiastic-positive association; rowdy-negative association

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”

Assonance

Definition: The repetition of vowel sounds with nonrhyming words

Example: “Only their usual maneuvers, dear”

-W.H. Auden, “O What Is That Sound”

Consonance

Definition: The repetition of consonant sounds within and at the end of words

Example: “lonely afternoon”

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”

Rhythm

Definition: A pattern of stressed or unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.

Iambic Pentameter

Definition: A metrical pattern of five feet, or units, of each which is made up of two syllables, the first unstressed and the second stressed.

Example: “My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand”

-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Blank Verse

Definition: Unrhymed poetry written in iambic pentameter

Free Verse

Poetry that does not contain regular patterns of rhythm or rhyme

Haiku

Definition: A form of Japanese poetry in which 17 syllables are arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables

Example: “My aunt always said

slow and steady wins the race.

She died in a fire” (Alora).

Lyric Poetry

Definition: A short poem in which a single speaker expresses thoughts and feelings

Examples: Langston Hughes’ “Theme for English B” and Pat Mora’s “A Voice”

Narrative Poetry

Definition: Poetry that tells a story or recounts events

Example: “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

Stanza

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

Quatrain

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

Couplet

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

“Across the Universe”Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cupThey slither wildly as they slip away across the universe

Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mindPossessing and caressing me

Jai Guru Deva OM

Nothing's gonna change my worldNothing's gonna change my worldNothing's gonna change my worldNothing's gonna change my world

Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyesThey call me on and on across the universe

Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter boxThey tumble blindly as they make their way across the universe

Jai Guru Deva OM

Nothing's gonna change my worldNothing's gonna change my worldNothing's gonna change my worldNothing's gonna change my world

Sounds of laughter shades of live are ringing through my open earsInciting and inviting me

Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million sunsIt 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.)