Poetry Terms-Tools for building, analyzing poems

Imagery techniques weave sensory perceptions into a poem through language, making the words
palpable.
Imagery - representation through language of a sensory experience

Visual imagery - something described through sight, appears most commonly in poetry.
Auditory imagery - representation of a sound
Olfactory imagery - representation of a smell
Gustatory imagery - representation of a taste
Tactile imagery - touch: hardness, softness, wetness, heat, cold
Organic imagery - internal sensation, hunger, thirst, fatigue, nausea
Kinesthetic imagery - movement, physical tension

Representing subjects through symbolic references can lend mystique to poetry, by including
figurative language a deeper level of interpretation is necessary to fully grasp the theme.
Figurative Language- language using figures of speech; can not be taken literally

Metaphor - describing something as something else

Simile - metaphor using like or as
Personification - giving human qualities to an object
Synecdoche - using a part to describe a whole
Metonymy - choose something related to an idea to represent the idea as a whole
Hyperbole - exaggeration
Litotes - form of understatement by asserting the positive by negating the negative
(Example: This is no small problem)
Antithesis - juxtaposes opposite ideas, heightens parallelism
Apostrophe - addresses subject of poet
Symbol - object standing for a concept, idea or emotion
Allusion - reference lends meaning of alluded story in addition
Common allusions: Biblical, historical, literary
Connotation - symbolic baggage attached to a word, significant, rich in imagery
Denotation - acutal definition

Incorporating melodic devices gives poetry a desired tone, word selection is vital. Melodic Devices gives rhythmic, metered patterns to poetry

Assonance - repetition of vowel sounds within words

Alliteration - first letter repetition
Consonance - repeated consonant sound within words
Onomatopoeia - sound words, Example: BAM! SPLAT! hiss... WHAM! CRASH!
Cacophony - harsh, guttural d t ks
Euphony - hushed, pleasing m l s s

Rhyme - similarity or likeness of sound existing between two words

End rhyme - occurring at the end of two or more lines of verse

Internal rhyme - occurs between two or more words in the same line of verse
Masculine rhyme - one syllable rhymes with one syllable of another word
ex: light, bright
Feminine rhyme - occurs when the last two syllables of a word rhyme with another ex:
lighting, fighting
Triple rhyme - last three syllables rhyme ex: victorious, glorious
Rhyme Scheme - pattern or sequence in which rhyme occurs (a, b, a, b)

Analyzing Shakespearean Sonnets

Scansion and rhythm: how many syllables per line? How many accents? Is
the line in strict iambic pentameter, or does it vary?
Rhyme: where are the rhymes? Are there visual as well as aural rhymes?
Internal and/or partial rhymes?
Figures of speech:
Alliterations: repeated patterns of consonants
Assonance: repeated patterns of vowels
Onomatopoeia: "sound effect" words that sound like what they mean
o These lead you to: the physical experience of the phonemes in the
body. What emotional responses do you discover from these sounds?
Metaphors & similes: personifications of abstract qualities, or comparisons
between different things
Meaning: parse the grammar and make sure you understand the sentence
structure. Write the verse as if it were in prose and see what it reveals.
Who are you? What is the persona of the speaker?
Who are you speaking to? Who in the life of you, the actor, has occupied a
similar emotional space?
Attitude/emotion: how do you feel about what you are saying?
Body words: can you use your full vocal range to resonate words that either
directly or indirectly refer to head, eyes, heart, guts, etc., in the actual body
parts named?
Microcosm/macrocosm: in Elizabethan times, the body was a microcosm of
the universe, divided into a hierarchy of kingdoms that each had their own
hierarchy. Can you use the hierarchy of the body (e.g., head = heaven, king;
bowels = hell, earth, the lowborn) to find vocal resonance for those
references?
Puns, jokes, double meanings: Shakespeare includes lots of sexual and
scatological puns. Consult Shakespeare's Bawdy if you're unsure. There may
be more body words than you originally thought.
Turning Points: Each sonnet has its own story arc. Where is the climax?
Does the sonnet rely on the rhetorical device of thesis, antithesis, and
synthesis to make its point? For speeches from the plays, how does the
character's thought move and change through the speech? Where are the
turning points? How does the structure of your sonnet or speech fit with the
other sonnets or the scene?
Other rhetorical devices:
Antitheses: look for balanced but contrasted opposing words & phrases
Ladder: look for sequences of words or phrases that build to a climax

In addition: Analyze themes of the sonnets. The overarching themes tend to be three: 1) The
transience of beauty, the harsh price of desire and the fact that life is too short. But obviously, he goes
beyond this. Note: in sonnets 1-126, Shakespeare is addressing a young man. In sonnets 127-154, he
is discussing the dark lady.