Poetic Devices
Poetry is the kind of thing poets write. — Robert FrostMan, if you gotta ask, you’ll never know. — Louis Armstrong
Alliteration: Repeated consonant sounds at the beginning of words placed near each other, usually on the same or adjacent lines. A somewhat looser definition is that it is the use of the same consonant in any part of adjacent words.
Example: fast and furious
Example: Peter and Andrew patted the pony at Ascot
In the second definition, both P and T in the example are reckoned as alliteration. It is noted that this is a very obvious device and needs to be handled with great restraint, except in specialty forms such as limerick, cinquain, and humorous verse.
Assonance: Repeated vowel sounds in words placed near each other, usually on the same or adjacent lines. These should be in sounds that are accented, or stressed, rather than in vowel sounds that are unac- cented.
Example: He’s a bruisin’ loser
In the second example above, the short A sound in Andrew, patted, and Ascot would be assonant.
Consonance: Repeated consonant sounds at the ending of words placed near each other, usually on the same or adjacent lines. These should be in sounds that are accented, or stressed, rather than in vowel sounds that are unaccented. This produces a pleasing kind of near-rhyme. Example: boats into the past
Example: cool soul
Cacophony A discordant series of harsh, unpleasant sounds helps to convey disorder. This is often furthered
by the combined effect of the meaning and the difficulty of pronunciation.
Example: My stick fingers click with a snicker And, chuckling, they knuckle the keys;
Light-footed, my steel feelers flicker And pluck from these keys melodies. —“Player Piano,” John Updike
Euphony: A series of musically pleasant sounds, conveying a sense of harmony and beauty to the language. Example: Than Oars divide the Ocean,
Too silver for a seam—
Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon
Leap, plashless as they swim.
— “A Bird Came Down the Walk,” Emily Dickenson (last stanza)
Onomatopoeia: Words that sound like their meanings. In Hear the steady tick of the old hall clock, the word tick sounds like the action of the clock, If assonance or alliteration can be onomatopoeic, as the sound ‘ck’ is repeated in tick and clock, so much the better. At least sounds should suit the tone – heavy sounds for weightiness, light for the delicate. Tick is a light word, but transpose the light T to its heavier counterpart, D; and transpose the light CK to its heavier counterpart G, and tick becomes the much more solid and down to earth dig.
Example: boom, buzz, crackle, gurgle, hiss, pop, sizzle, snap, swoosh, whir, zip
Repetition: The purposeful re-use of words and phrases for an effect. Sometimes, especially with longer phrases that contain a different key word each time, this is called parallelism. It has been a central part of poetry in many cultures. Many of the Psalms use this device as one of their unifying elements.
Example: I was glad; so very, very glad. Example: Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward... ...
Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them
Volley’d and thunder’d...
Rhyme: This is the one device most commonly associated with poetry by the general public. Words that have different beginning sounds but whose endings sound alike, including the final vowel sound and everything following it, are said to rhyme.
Example: time, slime, mime
Double rhymes include the final two syllables.
Example: revival, arrival, survival Triple rhymes include the final three syllables.
Example: greenery, machinery, scenery
Example: My stick fingers click with a snicker And, chuckling, they knuckle the keys;
Light-footed, my steel feelers flicker And pluck from these keys melodies. —“Player Piano,” John Updike
Euphony: A series of musically pleasant sounds, conveying a sense of harmony and beauty to the language. Example: Than Oars divide the Ocean,
Too silver for a seam—
Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon
Leap, plashless as they swim.
— “A Bird Came Down the Walk,” Emily Dickenson (last stanza)
Onomatopoeia: Words that sound like their meanings. In Hear the steady tick of the old hall clock, the word tick sounds like the action of the clock, If assonance or alliteration can be onomatopoeic, as the sound ‘ck’ is repeated in tick and clock, so much the better. At least sounds should suit the tone – heavy sounds for weightiness, light for the delicate. Tick is a light word, but transpose the light T to its heavier counterpart, D; and transpose the light CK to its heavier counterpart G, and tick becomes the much more solid and down to earth dig.
Example: boom, buzz, crackle, gurgle, hiss, pop, sizzle, snap, swoosh, whir, zip
Repetition: The purposeful re-use of words and phrases for an effect. Sometimes, especially with longer phrases that contain a different key word each time, this is called parallelism. It has been a central part of poetry in many cultures. Many of the Psalms use this device as one of their unifying elements.
Example: I was glad; so very, very glad. Example: Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward... ...
Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them
Volley’d and thunder’d...
Rhyme: This is the one device most commonly associated with poetry by the general public. Words that have different beginning sounds but whose endings sound alike, including the final vowel sound and everything following it, are said to rhyme.
Example: time, slime, mime
Double rhymes include the final two syllables.
Example: revival, arrival, survival Triple rhymes include the final three syllables.
Example: greenery, machinery, scenery
Less effective but sometimes used are sight rhymes. Words which are spelled the same (as if they
rhymed), but are pronounced differently are called sight rhymes or eye rhymes.
Example: enough, cough, through, bough
Example: enough, cough, through, bough
Allegory: A representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning. Sometimes it can be a single word or phrase,
such as the name of a character or place. Often, it is a symbolic narrative that has not only a literal
meaning, but a larger one understood only after reading the entire story or poem
Allusion: A brief reference to some person, historical event, work of art, or Biblical or mythological
situation or character.
Ambiguity: A word or phrase that can mean more than one thing, even in its context. Poets often search out such words to add richness to their work. Often, one meaning seems quite readily apparent, but
other, deeper and darker meanings, await those who contemplate the poem.
Example: Robert Frost’s ‘The Subverted Flower’
Analogy: A comparison, usually something unfamiliar with something familiar. Example: The plumbing took a maze of turns where even water got lost.
Apostrophe: Speaking directly to a real or imagined listener or inanimate object; addressing that person or thing by name.
Example: O Captain! My Captain! our fearful trip is done...
Cliché: Any figure of speech that was once clever and original but through overuse has become outdated. If you’ve heard more than two or three other people say it more than two or three times, chances are the phrase is too timeworn to be useful in your writing.
Example: busy as a bee
Connotation: The emotional, psychological or social overtones of a word; its implications and associations apart from its literal meaning. Often, this is what distinguishes the precisely correct word from one that is merely acceptable.
Contrast: Closely arranged things with strikingly different characteristics. Example: He was dark, sinister, and cruel; she was radiant, pleasant, and kind.
Denotation: The dictionary definition of a word; its literal meaning apart from any associations or connota- tions. Students must exercise caution when beginning to use a thesaurus, since often the words that are clustered together may share a denotative meaning, but not a connotative one, and the substitution of a word can sometimes destroy the mood, and even the meaning, of a poem.
Euphemism: An understatement, used to lessen the effect of a statement; substituting something innocuous for something that might be offensive or hurtful.
Example: She is at rest. (meaning, she’s dead)
Hyperbole: An outrageous exaggeration used for effect. Example: He weighs a ton.
Irony: A contradictory statement or situation to reveal a reality different from what appears to be true. Example: Wow, thanks for expensive gift...let’s see: did it come with a Fun Meal or the Burger King equivalent?
Metaphor: A direct comparison between two unlike things, stating that one is the other or does the action of the other.
Example: He’s a zero. Example: Her fingers danced across the keyboard.
Ambiguity: A word or phrase that can mean more than one thing, even in its context. Poets often search out such words to add richness to their work. Often, one meaning seems quite readily apparent, but
other, deeper and darker meanings, await those who contemplate the poem.
Example: Robert Frost’s ‘The Subverted Flower’
Analogy: A comparison, usually something unfamiliar with something familiar. Example: The plumbing took a maze of turns where even water got lost.
Apostrophe: Speaking directly to a real or imagined listener or inanimate object; addressing that person or thing by name.
Example: O Captain! My Captain! our fearful trip is done...
Cliché: Any figure of speech that was once clever and original but through overuse has become outdated. If you’ve heard more than two or three other people say it more than two or three times, chances are the phrase is too timeworn to be useful in your writing.
Example: busy as a bee
Connotation: The emotional, psychological or social overtones of a word; its implications and associations apart from its literal meaning. Often, this is what distinguishes the precisely correct word from one that is merely acceptable.
Contrast: Closely arranged things with strikingly different characteristics. Example: He was dark, sinister, and cruel; she was radiant, pleasant, and kind.
Denotation: The dictionary definition of a word; its literal meaning apart from any associations or connota- tions. Students must exercise caution when beginning to use a thesaurus, since often the words that are clustered together may share a denotative meaning, but not a connotative one, and the substitution of a word can sometimes destroy the mood, and even the meaning, of a poem.
Euphemism: An understatement, used to lessen the effect of a statement; substituting something innocuous for something that might be offensive or hurtful.
Example: She is at rest. (meaning, she’s dead)
Hyperbole: An outrageous exaggeration used for effect. Example: He weighs a ton.
Irony: A contradictory statement or situation to reveal a reality different from what appears to be true. Example: Wow, thanks for expensive gift...let’s see: did it come with a Fun Meal or the Burger King equivalent?
Metaphor: A direct comparison between two unlike things, stating that one is the other or does the action of the other.
Example: He’s a zero. Example: Her fingers danced across the keyboard.
Paradox: A statement in which a seeming contradiction may reveal an unexpected truth.
Example: The hurrier I go the behinder I get.
Personification: Attributing human characteristics to an inanimate object, animal, or abstract idea. Example: The days crept by slowly, sorrowfully.
Pun: Word play in which words with totally different meanings have similar or identical sounds. Example: Like a firefly in the rain, I’m de-lighted.
Simile: A direct comparison of two unlike things using “like” or “as.” Example: He’s as dumb as an ox.
Example: Her eyes are like comets.
Symbol: An ordinary object, event, animal, or person to which we have attached extraordinary meaning and significance – a flag to represent a country, a lion to represent courage, a wall to symbolize separation. Example: A small cross by the dangerous curve on the road reminded all of Johnny’s death.
Point of View: The author’s point of view concentrates on the vantage point of the speaker, or “teller” of the story or poem. This may be considered the poem’s “voice” — the pervasive presence behind the overall work. This is also sometimes referred to as the persona.
Personification: Attributing human characteristics to an inanimate object, animal, or abstract idea. Example: The days crept by slowly, sorrowfully.
Pun: Word play in which words with totally different meanings have similar or identical sounds. Example: Like a firefly in the rain, I’m de-lighted.
Simile: A direct comparison of two unlike things using “like” or “as.” Example: He’s as dumb as an ox.
Example: Her eyes are like comets.
Symbol: An ordinary object, event, animal, or person to which we have attached extraordinary meaning and significance – a flag to represent a country, a lion to represent courage, a wall to symbolize separation. Example: A small cross by the dangerous curve on the road reminded all of Johnny’s death.
Point of View: The author’s point of view concentrates on the vantage point of the speaker, or “teller” of the story or poem. This may be considered the poem’s “voice” — the pervasive presence behind the overall work. This is also sometimes referred to as the persona.
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1st Person: the speaker is a character in the story or poem and tells it from his/her
perspective (uses “I”).
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3rd Person limited: the speaker is not part of the story, but tells about the other charac-
ters through the limited perceptions of one other person.
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3rd Person omniscient: the speaker is not part of the story, but is able to “know” and
describe what all characters are thinking.
Line: The line is fundamental to the perception of poetry, marking an important visual distinction from prose. Poetry is arranged into a series of units that do not necessarily correspond to sentences, but rather to a series of metrical feet. Generally, but not always, the line is printed as one single line on the page. If it occupies more than one line, its remainder is usually indented to indicate that it is a continu- ation.
There is a natural tendency when reading poetry to pause at the end of a line, but the careful reader will follow the punctuation to find where natural pauses should occur.
In traditional verse forms, the length of each line is determined by convention, but in modern poetry the poet has more latitude for choice.
Verse: One single line of a poem arranged in a metrical pattern. Also, a piece of poetry or a particular form of poetry such as free verse, blank verse, etc., or the art or work of a poet. The popular use of the word verse for a stanza or associated group of metrical lines is not in accor- dance with the best usage. A stanza is a group of verses.
Stanza: A division of a poem created by arranging the lines into a unit, often repeated in the same pattern of meter and rhyme throughout the poem; a unit of poetic lines (a “paragraph” within the poem). The stanzas within a poem are separated by blank lines.
Stanzas in modern poetry, such as free verse, often do not have lines that are all of the same length and meter, nor even the same number of lines in each stanza. Stanzas created by such irregular line group- ings are often dictated by meaning, as in paragraphs of prose.
Rhetorical Question: A question solely for effect, which does not require an answer. By the implication the answer is obvious, it is a means of achieving an emphasis stronger than a direct statement.
Example: Could I but guess the reason for that look?
Example: O, Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
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Ballad: a narrative poem written as a series of quatrains in which lines of iambic tetrameter
alternate with iambic trimeter with an xaxa, xbxb rhyme scheme with frequent use of repetition
and often including a refrain. The “story” of a ballad can be a wide range of subjects but
frequently deals with folklore or popular legends. They are written in a straight-forward
manner, seldom with detail, but always with graphic simplicity and force. Most ballads are
suitable for singing: “Barbara Allen” is an example.
Many of the oldest ballads were first written and performed by minstrels as court
entertainment. Folk ballads are of unknown origin and are usually lacking in artistic finish. Because they are handed down by oral tradition, folk ballads are subject to variations and continual change. Other types of ballads include literary ballads, combining the natures of epic and lyric poetry, which are written by known authors, often in the style and form of the folk ballad, such as Keats’ ‘La Belle Dame sans Merci.”
- Concrete Poetry: also known as pattern poetry or shaped verse, these are poems that are printed on the page so that they form a recognizable outline related to the subject, thus convey- ing or extending the meaning of the words. Pattern poetry retains its meaning when read aloud, whereas the essence of concrete poetry lies in its appearance on the page rather than in the words; it is intended to be perceived as a visual whole and often cannot be effective when read aloud. This form has had brief popularity at several periods in history.
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Haiku: a Japanese form of poetry consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five
syllables. The elusive flavor of the form, however, lies more in its touch and tone than in its
syllabic structure. Deeply imbedded in Japanese culture and strongly influenced by Zen
Buddhism, haiku are very brief descriptions of nature that convey some implicit insight or
essence of a moment. Traditionally, they contain either a direct or oblique reference to a season
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Limerick: a light or humorous form of five chiefly anapestic verses of which lines one, two
and five are of three feet and lines three and four are of two feet, with a rhyme scheme of
aabba. Named for a town in Ireland of that name, the limerick was popularized by Edward
Lear in his Book of Nonsense published in 1846, and is generally considered the only fixed
form of English origin.
While the final line of Lear’s limericks usually was a repetition of the first line, modern limericks generally use the final line for clever witticisms and word play. Their content also frequently tends toward the ribald and off-color.
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Ballad: a narrative poem written as a series of quatrains in which lines of iambic tetrameter
alternate with iambic trimeter with an xaxa, xbxb rhyme scheme with frequent use of repetition
and often including a refrain. The “story” of a ballad can be a wide range of subjects but
frequently deals with folklore or popular legends. They are written in a straight-forward
manner, seldom with detail, but always with graphic simplicity and force. Most ballads are
suitable for singing: “Barbara Allen” is an example.
Lyric: derived from the Greek word for lyre, lyric poetry was originally designed to be sung. One
of the three main groups of poetry (the others being narrative and dramatic), lyric verse is the most
frequently used modern form, including all poems in which the speaker’s ardent expression of a
(usually single) emotional element predominates. Ranging from complex thoughts to the simplicity
of playful wit, the melodic imagery of skillfully written lyric poetry evokes in the reader’s mind
the recall of similar emotional experiences.
- Ode: any of several stanzaic forms more complex than the lyric, with intricate rhyme schemes and irregular number of lines, generally of considerable length, always written in a style marked by a rich, intense expression of an elevated thought praising a person or object. “Ode to a Nightingale” is an example.
Imagery: The use of vivid language to generate ideas and/or evoke mental images, not only of the visual sense, but of sensation and emotion as well. While most commonly used in reference to figurative language, imagery can apply to any component of a poem that evoke sensory experience and emotional response, and also applies to the concrete things so brought to mind.
Poetry works it magic by the way it uses words to evoke “images” that carry depths of meaning.
The poet’s carefully described impressions of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch can be transferred to the thoughtful reader through imaginative use and combinations of diction. In addition to its more tangible initial impact, effective imagery has the potential to tap the inner wisdom of the reader to arouse meditative and inspirational responses.
Related images are often clustered or scattered throughout a work, thus serving to create a particular mood or tone. Images of disease, corruption, and death, for example, are recurrent patterns shaping our perceptions of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Examples:
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Sight: Smoke mysteriously puffed out from the clown’s ears.
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Sound: Tom placed his ear tightly against the wall; he could hear a faint but distinct thump
thump thump.
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Touch: The burlap wall covering scraped against the little boy’s cheek.
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Taste: A salty tear ran across onto her lips.
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Smell: Cinnamon! That’s what wafted into his nostrils.
Synesthesia: An attempt to fuse different senses by describing one kind of sense impression in words normally used to describe another.
Example: The sound of her voice was sweet.
Example: a loud aroma, a velvety smile
Tone, Mood: The means by which a poet reveals attitudes and feelings, in the style of language or expres- sion of thought used to develop the subject. Certain tones include not only irony and satire, but may be loving, condescending, bitter, pitying, fanciful, solemn, and a host of other emotions and attitudes. Tone can also refer to the overall mood of the poem itself, in the sense of a pervading atmosphere intended to influence the readers’ emotional response and foster expectations of the conclusion.
Another use of tone is in reference to pitch or to the demeanor of a speaker as interpreted through inflections of the voice; in poetry, this is conveyed through the use of connotation, diction, figures of speech, rhythm and other elements of poetic construction.
