ELEMENTS OF POETRY
(Structure, Sounds, Imagery, and Figurative Language)
STRUCTURE
An important method of analyzing a poem is to look at the stanza structure or style of
a poem. Generally speaking, structure has to do with the overall organization of lines
and/or the conventional patterns of sound although many modern poems may not
have any identifiable structure (free verse).
Stanzas. Stanzas are a series of lines grouped together and separated by an empty line
from other stanzas. They are the equivalent of a paragraph in an essay. One way to
identify a stanza is to count the number of lines. Thus:
couplet (2 lines)
tercet (3 lines)
quatrain (4 lines)
cinquain (5 lines)
sestet (6 lines) (sometimes it's called a sexain)
septet (7 lines)
octave (8 lines)
Other Poetic Forms
Acrostic – a poem in which the first letter of each word forms a word – usually a
name – if read downward.
Example: “A Rock Acrostic” by Avis Harley.
Haiku - a Japanese three-line poetic form – usually about nature – with lines of three,
seven, and five syllables, respectively.
Example: I call to my love
on mornings ripe with sunlight.
The songbirds answer.
Limerick – a humorous rhyming poem written in five lines and having a particular
meter. It often begins with “There once was a…”
Example: Limericks by Edward Lear.
Sonnet – a poem that is 14 lines long, generally written in iambic pentameter.
Example: “Sonnet 116” by William Shakespeare.
Free Verse – a poem that does not follow a predictable form or rhyme scheme or
metric pattern.
Example: “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes.
List or Catalog Poem – a poem in the form of a list, that uses sensory details and
precise language to persuade the reader to take notice of what is being
listed.
Example: “Things To Do If You Are a Subway” by Robbi Katz.
Villanelle – a challenging poetic form that includes five tercets (aba rhyme)
followed by a quatrain (abaa rhyme) and a pattern of repetition of lines
1 and 3 of the first stanza.
Example: “Is There a Villain in Your Villanelle?” by Joan Bransfield Graham.
SOUNDS
Rhythm – the basic beat in a line of a poem.
Example: Whose woods these are, I think I know” is the first line from “Stopping by
Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost. Notice that the accented words
(underlined) give the line a distinctive beat.
Meter – a pattern of stressed and unstressed (accented and unaccented) syllables
(known as a foot) in a line of poetry.
Example: In an iambic pentameter, the pattern is five iambic (unaccented + accented)
feet in each line (see Verse).
End Rhyme – same or similar sounds at the end of words that finish different lines.
Example: from “The King of Cats Sends a Postcard to His Wife” by Nancy Willard:
Keep your whiskers crisp and clean,
Do not let the mice grow lean,
Internal Rhyme – same or similar sounds at the end of words within a line.
Example: from “The Ancient Mariner by Thomas Coleridge,
"In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud"
"Whiles all the night through fog-smoke white"
Assonance – the repetition of vowel sounds within words in a line.
Example: from “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore:
The children were nestled all snug in their beds
Consonance – the repetition of consonant sounds within words in a line.
Example: by T. Gray
And all the air a solemn stillness holds.
Alliteration – the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.
Example: “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out” by Shel
Silverstein.
Onomatopoeia – words that sound like their meaning.
Example: buzz, swish, hiss, gulp.
Repetition – sounds, words, or phrases that are repeated to add emphasis or create
rhythm. Parallelism is a form of repetition.
Examples: Two lines from “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll showing parallelism:
Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Refrain – a line or stanza repeated over and over in a poem or song.
Example: In “Jingle Bells,” the following refrain is repeated after every stanza:
Jingle Bells, jingle bells, Jingle all the way!
Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh!
Word Play – to play with the sounds and meanings of real or invented words.
Example: from the poem “Synonyms” by Susan Moger:
Claptrap, bombast, rodomontade,
Hogwash, jargon, and rant
IMAGERY
Precise Language – the use of specific words to describe a person, place, thing, or
action.
Example: When the elders said she was too old,
Reverend Mona surrendered her tabernacle
next to Fast Frankie‟ s Pawn Shop
Sensory Details – the use of descriptive details that appeal to one or more of the five
senses.
Example: from “The Sea” by James Reeves
The giant sea dog moans
Licking his greasy paws
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Simile – a comparison of two unlike things, using the words like or as.
Example: “I read the shoreline like an open volume.”
Metaphor – a comparison of two unlike things, not using the words like or as.
Example: “Ribbons of sea foam / wrap the emerald island.”
Personification – to ascribe human traits to non-human or non-living things.
Example: “The unfurled sailboat glides on / urged by wind and will and brilliant bliss.”
Symbolism – a person, place, thing, or action that stands for something else.
Example: In “From Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes, a set of stairs symbolizes life.
Hyperbole – the use of exaggeration to express strong emotion or create a comical
effect.
Example: “I‟ m so hungry I could eat a hippo.”
Verbal Irony or Sarcasm – when you mean the opposite of what you say.
Example: “My darling brother is the sweetest boy on Earth,” she muttered
sarcastically.
Situational Irony – when the outcome of a situation is the opposite of what is
expected.
Example: After many years of trying, Mr. Smith won the lottery -- and immediately died
of a heart attack.
Pun – a humorous phrase that plays with the double meaning or the similar sounds of
words.
Example: “Tomorrow you shall find me a grave man,” said the duke on his deathbed.
Allusion- a reference to a familiar person, place, or event.
Example: The following two lines from the poem “My Muse” contain an allusion to
Pandora‟ s Box:
hunched over from carrying
that old familiar Box
Idiom - a cultural expression that cannot be taken literally.
Examples: She is the apple of his eye. He drives me up the wall.
