Glossary for poetry terms Flashcards
alliteration
a series of repeated consonants in a line of poetry
colloquial
the language of everyday conversation
connotation
meanings the word implies
diction/lexicon
the choice of words
enjambement
when a line of poetry doesn’t pause at the end but runs on to the next line
image
a picture created in your head by the words on the page
imagery
any figurative language like metaphors, similes and personification
metaphor
language which is not meant literally, but which helps you understand the poet’s ideas
onomatopoeia
words which imitate sounds
personification
a type of metaphor where an object, idea or thing is written about as if it were a person
rhythm
the pattern of beats in a poem; is it regular or uneven
rhyme
the matching of sounds
half-rhyme
where the sounds nearly match
setting
where and when the events take place
simile
when you say something is like or as something else
stanza
an individual verse in a poem
symbol
an image which stands for something else
theme
the topic covered by the poem, rather than what just happens in it
tone
the attitude of the poem towards the subject and also towards the audience
assonance
the repetition of vowel sounds
caesura
a pause within a line of poetry
elegy
poem mourning the death of someone
end-stopped
when the ending of the line in a poem also matches with the pause in the sentence; opposite of enjambment
metre
a repeated pattern of rhythm in a poem
oxymoron
a figure of speech where two contrasting ideas are brought together
persona
the speaker from whose point of view the poem is told
plosives
strong explosive letters like p,b,t,k
monologue
a poem where a single person is speaking
sonnet
a 14 line poem with 5 beats per line and a rhyme scheme
sibilance
hissing sound
