Term

Meaning

Example

alliteration

repetition of the initial consonant sounds

terrible truths and lullaby lies

assonance

repetition of vowel sound

mystery disguised within

consonance

repetition of consonant sounds, but not vowel sounds

gloomy woman

imagery

language that evokes sensory images

·        drip of ruby teardrops (aural/sound)

·        to wake up where the green grass grows (visual/sight)

·        lips like cool sweet tea (oral/taste)

·        streaming through a velvet sky (tactile/touch)

·        the stench of the underworld (olfactory/smell)

internal rhyme

rhyming that occurs within the line (rather than at the end)

piece of me emerges

metaphor

comparison of unlike things (made without using like or as)

I am the "Lone Star"

onomatopoeia

a word that imitates the sound it represents

Boo! Who?

personification

giving human qualities or characteristics to animals or objects

tears of amber fall from my soul

rhyme

a pattern of words that contains similar sounds at the end of the line

life for me
is wild and free

rhyme scheme

a repeated pattern of rhymed words at the end of the line

lusty eyes (A)
passionate cries (A)
rich blood, (B)
bitter sweat (C)
she/he loves (D)
and dies (A)

simile

a comparison using like or as

notes dance across the page like stars twinkle in the night sky

stanza

a group of poetic lines (also called a verse)

Like glistening sun
and moon like day and gloomy night
like pure earth and gentle clouds
transformation - life and death

symbol

an object or action that means more than its literal meaning

always open like a rosebud about to bloom (a young girl)

Definitions from http://storytrail.com/poetry/poeticdevices.htm