stanzas
verses
figurative language
writing or speech not meant to be taken literally
metaphors
describe one thing as if it were something else
personification
gives human qualities to something that is not human
similes
use like or as to compare two apparently unlike things
symbol
anything that represents something else
sound devices
enhance a poem’s mood and meaning
alliteration
repetition of consonant sounds in the beginning of words
repetition
the use of any element of language more than once
assonance
repitition of vowel sounds followed by different consonants as in stressed syllables
consonance
repitition of similar consonant sounds at the ends of accented syllables
onomatopoeia
use of words that imitate sounds
rhyme
repetition of sounds at the ends of words
meter
rhythmical pattern in a poem
narrative
tells a story in verse
Haiku
three-line Japanese verse form
free verse
defined by its lack of strict structure
lyric
expresses the thoughts and feelings of a single speaker, often in a highly musical verse
ballads
songlike poems that tell a story
concrete
shaped to look like their subjects
limericks
humorous, rhyming, five-line poems with a specific rhythm pattern and rhyme scheme
rhyming couplets
pairs of rhyming lines
