Couplet
A pair of rhyming lines
Lyric poetry
Poems in which the speaker expresses thoughts and feelings.
Elegy
A specific type of lyric poem in which the speaker meditates about death. The tone is serious and the diction is formal.
Paraphrase
Rephrasing with your own words.
Concrete Poetry
A poem in which the poet uses a visible shape to create a picture related to the subject of the poem.
Ode
A poem that highly praises something - usually a person, an event, or an idea.
Ballad
A narrative poem that is meant to be sung or recited.
Dramatic Monologue
A poem in which the speaker addresses a silent or absent listener, as if engaged in a private conversation.
Form
A poem’s structure; the way the words are formed on a page.
Stanzas
A group of lines in a poem; similar to a paragraph
Traditional
Follows fixed rules
Has regular rhythm and/or rhyme
Examples: epic, ode, ballad, sonnet, haiku
Organic
Does not follow rules for form Does not have regular pattern of rhythm May not rhyme May use unconventional spelling, grammar, and punctuation Examples: free verse, concrete poetry
Free Verse
Do not adhere to regular rhythm or rhyme
Poetry Slam
Competitive performance of poetry
Connotation
An attitude or feeling associated with a word
Denotation
The literal or dictionary meaning of a word
Hyperbole
An overstatement or exaggeration
Simile
A comparison that uses the words “like” or “as”
Metaphor
A comparison between two unlike objects
Personification
Human qualities given to non-human things
Figurative Language
Descriptive comparisons
Rhyme
A pattern of repeated end sounds on words
Rhythm
Pattern of stressed/unstressed syllables
Alliteration
Repetition of the beginning letter of a word