Poetry Terms: Lines ♥

 

DEFINITION
Each line is created by many words. To create another line, you press "Enter"

EXAMPLE

Friends are prisoners of expectation,
Reflected in the mirror of their need.
Instead of being happy on their own,
Each knows that one cannot survive alone,
Nor think unless another plants the seed.
Dependent all for person on relation,
So to be fed, must one the other feed. 


*DIFFERENT COLORS = DIFFERENT LINES

 

SIGNIFICANCE

How can a poem be a poem without lines? Of course it can't. A poem must have lines, different lines in order to be a poem. A line isn't necessarily be a full sentence but as long as different lines connect and create a meaning to a poem then it's okay. Lines complete poems.

Poetry Terms: Symbol ♥

DEFINITION
Something that has meaning for its own but also represents something else.

EXAMPLE

The winter apples have been picked, the garden turned.

Rain and wind have picked the maple leaves gone.

The last of them now bank the house or have been burned.

None are left upon the trees or on the lawn.

Green and tall as ever it grew in spring the grass

Grows not too tall, will not be cut again this yea.

Geraniums in bloom behind the window glass

Are safe. Fall has fallen yet winter is not yet here.

How warm the late November sun although how wan.

The white house stands a symbol of fulfillment there,

Housing one old woman, a cat, and one old man

After abundance but before the earth is bare.

                (Symbol - Robert Francis)

SIGNIFICANCE

Personally, I think it's better to have something that represents something else instead of just saying or telling what it is. It's much better if people can guess instead of just reading and finding out right away what the author means. By using symbols, people can interpret which object symbolizes which object.

Poetry Terms: Onomatopoeia ♥

 

DEFINITION
Words' sounds which truly demonstrates their meanings.

EXAMPLE

Knock-knock
Who's there?
Doughnut
Doughnut who?
Doughnut worry it is just a joke!

SIGNIFICANCE

Onomatopoeia is really cool and it's also an extremely hard word to pronounce and spell. It's cool when you say a word and actually hear what it sounds in real life. For example, when you talk about a bee, if you just say the word "bee", it's pretty boring but if you use its sound which is "buzz", it's so much better. Onomatopoeia is one of the best ways to create imagery.

Poetry Terms: Assonance ♥

DEFINITION
The repetition of the vowel sounds of two words or more.

EXAMPLE

- Fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese
- Try to light the fire

SIGNIFICANCE

Like alliteration, assonance isn't necessary to be used. It makes the poem sound better and funnier. When you hear things that sound the same continuously, you'd find it entertaining and humorous.

Poetry Terms: Alliteration ♥

DEFINITION
The repetition of the consonant sounds of two words or more.

EXAMPLE

Betty Botter bought some butter,
but, she said, the butter’s bitter;
if I put it in my batter
it will make my batter bitter,
but a bit of better butter
will make my batter better.
So she bought a bit of butter
better than her bitter butter,
and she put it in her batter
and the batter was not bitter.
So ’twas better Betty Botter
bought a bit of better butter.
 

SIGNIFICANCE

Alliteration isn't necessarily used in poems, but it makes poem sound cooler and funnier. When I think of alliteration, I think about tongue twister because when you say too many words with the same first initial, your tongue gets twisted which is really cool. Therefore, alliteration can help to make the poem become more entertaining.

Poetry Terms: Meter ♥

 

DEFINITION
The pattern of rhythm; the pattern of the stressed and unstressed syllables.

EXAMPLE

~      ~   /   ~    ~      /   ~    ~    /
From  the  centre  all  round  to  the  sea,
~   ~    /   ~    ~    /     ~    ~      /
I  am  lord  of  the  fowl  and  the  brute.

 

SIGNIFICANCE

When you have a pattern of rhythm, the poem will sound much like a song. It will make the poem sound a lot more interesting and cool. As you read a poem that has meter, you can actually feel the beat of the poem. That is totally awesome!

Poetry Terms: Elegy ♥

DEFINITION
A poem for someone who has died.

EXAMPLE

I have not lost my rings, my purse,
My gold, my gems-my loss is worse,
One that the stoutest heart must move.
My pet, my joy, my little love,
My tiny kitten, my Belaud,
I lost, alas, three days ago.

       (Elegy on His Cat - Joachim Du Bellay)

SIGNIFICANCE

Elegy is either dedicated to the dead ones or about them. This makes poetry more interesting because we can have diversed types of poems.

Poetry Terms: Couplet ♥

DEFINITION
When two rhyming lines that are next to each other.

EXAMPLE

All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending
       (My Happy Ending - Avril Lavigne)
 

SIGNIFICANCE

There are many types of rhymes but couplet is one of the most common. It's the easiest and the fastest way to recognize the rhyme since the lines are right next to each other. It just simply makes the poem sound better when you hear it.

Poetry Terms: Rhyme ♥

DEFINITION
The identity in sound of words, especially at the end.

EXAMPLE

I can feel you all around
In the silence I hear the sound
Of your footsteps on the ground
And my heart slows down.
       (Invisible - Jonas Brothers)
 

SIGNIFICANCE

When people talk about poetry or poems, they think of rhymes. Therefore it's a major thing in poems. Even though it's not necessary be in a poem, it still makes the poem sound better. Once the poem sounds catchy, the reader would want to read more. Rhymes just make a poem sound more like...a poem.

Poetry Terms: Rhythm ♥

DEFINITION
The rise and fall of one's voice, created by stressed and unstressed syllables to create a beat to the poem.

EXAMPLE

Who says,
Who says you're not perfect,
Who says you're not worth it,
Who says you're the only one that's hurting,
Trust me,
That's the price of beauty,
Who says you're not pretty,
Who says your not beautiful,
Who says
        (Who Says - Selena Gomez)
 

SIGNIFICANCE

When you read a poem, it's better if you include rhythm in it. With stressed and unstressed syllables, the poem will sound much better and more appealing. Once you think that the poem sounds good, you would want to read it over and over again to find out about the meaning clearer.

Poetry Terms: Tone ♥

 

DEFINITION
The pitch or strength of your voice when you read a poem. When your voice goes up and down, it can create different moods to the poem.

EXAMPLE

What are words
If you really don't mean them
When you say them
What are words
If they're only for good times
Then they don't
When it's love
Yeah, you say them out loud
Those words, They never go away
They live on, even when we're gone

    (What Are Words - Chris Medina)
 

SIGNIFICANCE

If you read the poem out loud with some tones in it, you can feel the moods and the emotions that the author's trying to create. By using tones, the poem will sound more dramatic and emotional, lively and realistic.

Poetry Terms: Speaker ♥

 

DEFINITION
The poem's narrator or the first person of the poem

EXAMPLE

I am sharp and focused
I wonder what the camera really sees
I hear the buzzing bee
I see flowers in early morning light
I want to stop light in a box
I am sharp and focused
 

SIGNIFICANCE

When the poem is in a first-person perspective, it'll be absolutely easier for us to understand the poem, especially the feeling of the character. Not only in poetry but in any type of literature, it is always easy to know the characters' feelings if it is told by a first-person perspective.

Poetry Terms: Personification ♥

 

DEFINITION
A comparison between a non-human thing to a human. This just simply means the author wants to make a non-human thing sound like a human.

EXAMPLE

The Cat and The Fiddle
Hey diddle, Diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laughed
To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
     - Mother Goose
 

SIGNIFICANCE

This type of figure of speech makes many connections to human beings which is a pretty good thing because we're humans and we understand things better if they relate to us. By making animals, objects or the nature sound more human-like, we feel like their "actions" are closer to us and it's easier to guess what their "feelings" and "emotions" are. This can also mean that when we get to the point where we can truly understand the mood and the feeling of the poem, we can REALLY get the poem.

Poetry Terms: Interpretation ♥

 

DEFINITION 
An explanation of a meaning of an artistic piece of work.

EXAMPLE

My Best Friend
Once was here
now is gone
I will always
love forever
the laughs
the tears
the smiles
without her
my life has no direction
no ups nor downs
no smiles or frowns
I miss her
I cry
I see her
I lie
whatever went wrong
I can mend
I will always
love forever
my very best friend
     - Athena

INTERPRETATION: This poem is simply about the author missing her best friend. She remembers every good moments she had with her friend and all of the bad moments as well. She will never forget the things that they did together because everything were just so memorable. Maybe she did something wrong, or maybe they were separated by a different reason and now that makes her missing her friend so bad.
 

SIGNIFICANCE

Interpretation is an essential skill when you study about poetry and poems. When you read a poem, you don't just simply read it, you need to understand it as well. You can guess what the author's trying to say through his/her's figure of speech throughout the poem. Another way to interpret easily is to make connections. Everything is easier when you have a connection to it; making it closer to yourself.

Poetry Terms: Simile ♥

DEFINITION
A figure of speech which is used to compare two unlike things by comparing words such as like, as, or more than.

EXAMPLE

Your teeth are like stars;
they come out at night.
They come back at dawn
when they're ready to bite.
 

SIGNIFICANCE

Simile is different from metaphor and it has its own positive sides. Metaphor is a bit more interesting because sometimes we need to guess what's the author trying to compare. However, by using simile, comparison can be easily recognized by the audience and it makes the poem easier to be understood.

Poetry Terms: Extended Metaphor ♥

DEFINITION 
A poem with several lines that use metaphor.

EXAMPLE

Charlie is a bomb.
He is waiting to explode.
The bomb is full of anger;
he has a short fuse.
He may go off at any time.
 

SIGNIFICANCE

If you have lots of lines in a poem that use metaphor, the audience might get really excited to read the poem because they will have to interpret what do the lines mean and it's nice to have people to think about what you write. By comparing many times in a poem, the audience will find the poem a bit "abstract" and they will want to read more.

Poetry Terms: Metaphor ♥

DEFINITION 
Compare two things without using connecting words.

EXAMPLE

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed.

But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st.

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

SIGNIFICANCE

It's important to compare things in a poem because if a poem only focuses on one thing it will be boring. When you compare things, you can compare something small to something significant and abstract. You can also compare big things to small things that are more connected and close to people so they can understand what you mean easily. Metaphor doensn't use connecting words and it's a pretty good choice because it makes it a little bit more complicated to guess what the author means. That will give us different answers and interpretations which will be really interesting.

Poetry Terms: Stanza ♥

DEFINITION
An arrangement of a specific number of lines forming a division of a poem. A stanza can have a fixed length, meter and rhyme scheme but not necessarily so.

EXAMPLE

I don't expect you soon to love me,

Nor are my own feelings clear.

Passion is the ornate entrance

To a world we crave and fear.

We cannot know where this will take us, 

Nor whether we will ride for long,

But pleasure is the overture

That flows into the larger song.

So come with me with open mind

And heart, and we the time will prove

With laughter and with joy unfettered,

And, perhaps, someday with love.

*DIFFERENT COLORS REPRESENT DIFFERENT STANZAS

SIGNIFICANCE

Stanzas don't necessarily be included in a poem, but they are pretty important if you're writing a long poem. If you're writing a ten-thousand-lined poems without a break, the audience will get tired just by looking at it. By having a break and divide the poem into sections, the audience will be more attracted to the poem. Also, each stanza has each new idea so it'll be easier to jump into a new idea if there's a division in between. It's just simply nice to have a break in something which is super long.

Poetry Terms: Imagery ♥

DEFINITION

Languages that are used so that the audience can imagine or picture the scene in their minds to make it easier to understand

Synonym: Descriptive Language

EXAMPLE

Elegance
A ballet dancer is a swan
Without the beak or feathers
A ballet dancer is the seasons
Without a change in weather
A ballet dancer is a portrait
With a difference to this art
The picture captures feeling
The dancer embraces heart

      -Mary O. Fumento, 1981

SIGNIFICANCE

Imagery is extremely important to poetry. It helps you to picture the scenes and experiences all of the five senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. The more you can feel what the poem is trying to give you, the more you can understand it. Every person will have a different image in their minds for the same poem because people think in their own ways and none of them are exactly the same. Therefore, imagery can bring a very interesting and diverse collection of interpretations.

Poetry Terms: Poetry ♥

DEFINITION

A type of literature that rhymes [not necessary] and helps us to express our imaginative, beautiful and elevated thoughts and feelings.

EXAMPLE

Poetry is lovely

Its lyrics are aimed to please

SIGNIFICANCE

Poetry is a very important part of literature. Poetry is probably one of the best ways to express your feelings and thoughts through beautiful words. It is something that comes from your heart because it is supposed to be sharing your feelings with others and connect with other people more.