Poetry

Key Terms Defined

Stanza

l Two or more lines of poetry that together form one of the divisions of a poem.

l  It’s like a paragraph but in a poem we call them stanzas

I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Couplet

l  In a poem, a pair of lines that are the same length and (usually) rhyme and form a complete thought.

I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

Imagery

l The use of pictures, figures of speech and description to evoke ideas, feelings, objects, actions, states of mind etc

l You need to explain the picture you imagine to the examiner

When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; In this image I can imagine loads of yellow daffodils looking like a crowd of people.

Personification

l Giving something humanlike qualities l Creates a descriptive image The daffodils danced in the breeze

Alliteration

l Repetition of the same consonant sounds at any place but often at the beginning of words

l Connects words/produces pleasing effect to the ear

She sells seashells by the seashore

Assonance

l The repetition or pattern of (the same) vowel sounds

l  Impacts the tone e.g. broad vowels create a somber tone

Mosses supposes his toeses are roses The rain in Spain lands mainly on the plane

Onomatopoeia

l A figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds.

l Appeals to our senses. Adds fun or playfulness

l  Buzz, hiss, clippety-clop, splat, thump, tick-tock l  “The moan of doves in immemorial elms, And murmuring of innumerable bees” Tennyson’s

Come Down, O Maid

Hyperbole

l A figure of speech in which deliberate exaggeration is used for emphasis. Many everyday expressions are examples of hyperbole

l  Tonnes of money, l  waiting for ages, l  a flood of tears

Metaphor l A figure of speech in which two

things are compared, usually by saying one thing is another

l Shows likeness between two things often considered not to be similar

The worlds a stage, he was a lion in battle, drowning in debt, a sea of troubles

Rhyme

l The occurrence of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or more words.

I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils

Rhyme Scheme

l The pattern that is made by the rhyme within each stanza or verse.

Simile

l A figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word ‘like’ or ‘as’ or ‘than’.

Creates a memorable or striking image What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? ‘Harlem’ by Langston Hughes