The main elements of poetry are imagery, shape, sound ...



The main elements of poetry

I. IMAGERY is the language that creates a concrete representation of an object or an experience.

Colorful Language is the use of precise and lively words and phrases that help to create a clear picture.

Figure of Speech is language meant to be understood imaginatively instead of literally.

o Hyperbole is a figure of speech using exaggeration

o Metaphor is a figure of speech in which one thing is written about as if it were another.

o Simile is a figure of speech creating a comparison using like or as.

o Personification is a figure of speech describing something which is not human as if it were human.

II. The SHAPE of a poem is how it looks on the page.

A concrete poem is a poem with a shape that suggests its subject.

III. The SOUND of a poem is created through the use of rhyme, rhythm, alliteration,

assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia, and repetition.

Rhyme is the repetition of sound at the ends of words.

Rhythm is the pattern of beats in a line of poetry.

Alliteration is the repetition consonant sounds at the beginning of words. (wandering

Willy)

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds within words. (Peter Piper)

Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds anywhere in words. (thirst of first)

Onomatopoeia is the use of words or phrases, like meow and beep, that sound like what

they name.

Repetition is more than one use of a sound, word or phrase.

IV. MEANING in poetry is created in many ways. The use of symbols appeals to emotion, and techniques such as dialogue, flashback and irony can add meaning to a poem.

Irony is a literary and poetic device that may be defined as follows: A contrast or discrepancy

between what is said and what is meant, or between what happens and what is expected to happen.

V. Poetry comes in two main FORMS: narrative and lyric.

A narrative poem is a verse that tells a story.

A lyric poem is highly musical verse that expresses the emotions of a speaker without telling a

story.

Haiku is a highly specialized form of lyric poetry. It is a traditional three-line poem. It has five

syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third.

Free verse is poetry that does not use regular rhyme, rhythm, meter, or division of stanzas.

OVER, PLEASE (

Poetry Links

Use the following links to research various poets and their poetry.  

• The Academy of American Poets:

• Poets' Corner:

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• Fooling With Words with Bill Moyers:

• Spotlight on Voices & Visions: (Listen to poets read their poems and follow links to find out more about the poet and their ideas.)

• The Atlantic Online Poetry Pages:

o  (Click on a link to read or listen to the poem.)

• The Internet Poetry Archive: (Click on a poet to bring you to their page, then click on a link to select a poem and click on the title to hear it read.)

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Messy Room by Shel Silverstein

Whosever room this is should be ashamed!

His underwear is hanging on the lamp.

His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,

And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.

His workbook is wedged in the window,

His sweater's been thrown on the floor.

His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,

And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.

His books are all jammed in the closet,

His vest has been left in the hall.

A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,

And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall.

Whosever room this is should be ashamed!

Donald or Robert or Willie or--

Huh? You say it's mine? Oh, dear,

I knew it looked familiar!

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