Poetry Notes

1. Poetry Notes There are many literary devices commonly used to enrich the meaning and sound of poetry.

2. These literary devices enrich meaning by giving the reader several levels of connection: • simile: a comparison of two unlike things which uses “like” or “as.” Example: The compliment lifted her like invisible wings. • metaphor: a comparison of two unlike things which does not use “like” or “as.” Example: Shadows stalked the night, a black cat on all fours.

3. personification: attributing human feelings, thoughts, or actions to non-human things. Example: Slowly, silently, now the moon walks the night. • symbol: a person, a place or a thing that has meaning in itself, but that stand for something else as well. Example: A flame burned between Romeo and Juliette as they sat around the fire.

4. imagery: concrete details that appeal to the senses; by using specific images, an author establishes mood and arouses emotion in his readers; creating a picture. Example: “Swamp” by Vince Freeman • hyperbole: An obvious and intentional exaggeration; an extravagant statement, not meant to be taken literally Example: “I waited an eternity.”

5. concrete poetry: it visually presents something important about a poem’s meaning. Some poems are shapes filled in with words; in other poems words may outline a shape or imitate a movement.

6. These literary devices enrich sound by giving poetry a pleasing depth beyond the literal meaning of the words. • onomatopoeia: The use of words whose sounds imitate or suggest their meaning. Example: buzz, rustle, boom, tweet. • alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds in worlds that are close together. Example: The sun was shining on the sea.

7. assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close together. Example: Two mules went through the food. • rhyme: The repetition of accented vowel sounds and all sounds following them in words that are close together in a poem. Example: Do you see what I mean? There is a hole in the screen internal rhyme: rhyme within lines. end rhyme: rhyme at the ends of lines.

8. Rhyme continued… • types of rhyme: • couplet: two lines that rhyme in one stanza • triplet: three lines that rhyme in one stanza Rhyme Example: “The Road Not Taken”

9. tone: An author’s attitude toward his subject as expressed in a literary work Example: The tone of the Declaration of Independence is determined and confident. • allusion: A reference within a literary work to a historical, literary, or biblical character, place, or event. Example:

10. idiom: A common expression that has acquired a meaning that differs from its literal meaning. Example: “It’s raining cats and dogs” or “That cost me an arm and a leg.”