|
Element
|
Description
|
Example
|
|
Verse
|
A
verse is a line of poetry, rather than a prose sentence.
Each verse usually begins with a capital letter. Poems are
usually
laid out with a large left margin, but are NOT centered. |
"The Dog" by Ogden
Nash has four verses:
The truth I do not
stretch or shove.
When I state the dog is full of love.
I've also proved, by actual test,
A wet dog is the lovingest.
|
|
Stanza
|
A
stanza is a group of verses in a poem, considered as a unit, separated
from the next stanza by an empty line. It is analogous to a
paragraph
in prose.
|
First two stanzas of
the "This Land" by Woody Guthrie:
This land is your land,
this land is my land,
From California to the New York island,
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.
As I was walking that
ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway,
I saw below me that golden valley,
This land was made for you and me.
|
|
Rhyme
|
Rhyme
repeats a final vowel sound or syllable in two or more words.
Rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyme.
The pattern is represented by the letters a-b-c and so on.
- The first verse is called "a."
- A verse that rhymes with "a" is also called "a."
- The next verse that doesn't rhyme is called "b," "c," and
so on.
|
Rhyme scheme a-a:
(The second verse rhymes with verse a.)
| Any
hound a porcupine nudges |
(a)
|
| Can't
be blamed for
harboring grudges. |
(a)
|
Rhyme scheme a-b-c-b:
| Roses
are red, |
(a) |
(first verse)
|
| Violets
are blue, |
(b) |
(doesn't rhyme)
|
| Sugar
is sweet, |
(c) |
(doesn't rhyme) |
| And
so are you. |
(b) |
(rhymes with verse b)
|
|
|
Alliteration
|
Alliteration repeats the initial sound of
words for a musical effect
or for emphasis. |
Windy waves wash the shore. |
|
Rhythm
|
Rhythm
is a pattern of beats or stresses in the sound of spoken language.
|
Twink le, twink
le, lit tle star,
How I won
der what you are. |
|
Figurative
Language
|
Also called figure of speech,
this goes beyond the ordinary,
literal meanings of words to express ideas in a fresh, new way.
|
Some types of
figurative language include
See more below.
|
|
Metaphor
|
Metaphor
is a kind of figurative language in which something is described
as though it were something else. The meaning of the words is
expanded
by association with the comparison.
|
Noyes:
The wind was a torrent
of darkness
among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon
tossed upon cloudy seas.
Berry:
My temper burnt our friendship to
cinders.
|
|
Personification
|
Personification is a particular kind of
metaphor in which a non human
subject is described with human characteristics, or an inanimate object
is given living characteristics. |
Sandburg:
The fog comes on
little cat feet.
|
|
Simile
|
A
simile is a kind of figurative language that makes a direct comparison
between two different subjects, using the words "like"
or "as."
|
Longfellow:
And the muscles
of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron
bands.
Longfellow:
It sounds to him like
her mother's voice,
Singing in Paradise!
|
|
Imagery
|
Word
images are evoked with sensory detail, using words that
appeal to the senses:
- sight
- hearing
- touch
- taste
- smell
The purpose is to help the reader experience the subject.
|
Sweet
crystal fall of showers
|
sight
|
Drum
and gush of waters
|
hearing
|
Sun
on their cheeks like a warm fire
|
touch
|
Slurping
sweetness of vanilla ice cream
|
taste
|
| In
the cellar's dank dampness |
smell
|
The following verses mix the senses:
Nights filled with soft
laughter,
fireflies and restless stars,
the winding sound of crickets
rubbing
dampness from their wings ...
|
|
Onomatopoeia
|
Pronounced AH no MAH to PEE ya,
this is the
use of words that imitate
sounds to appeal to the listener's sense of hearing.
|
The rusty
spigot
sputters
... and plash!
gushes rushes splashes
clear water dashes. |
| Hyperbole |
Pronounced hi PER bo lee,
this is
extreme exaggeration, to provide emphasis or humor.
|
from Nye, Beowulf:
His laughter cracked stones.
Eliot:
He's broken every human law,
he breaks the law of gravity.
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