Poetry Devices Structure and Forms

POETRY DEVICES,
STRUCTURE, AND
FORMS
IMAGERY
Descriptive language that appeals to the five senses.
There are five types of imagery you need to know…

IMAGERY (CONT.) Visual Imagery-
Imagery that deals with picturing something.
Example: The dark, black cloud began to block the azure, blue sky as we sat and watched on the beach.
Auditory Imagery-
Imagery that deals with sound and hearing.
Example: The doorbell rang and Rayna screamed, “I’ll get it!”
IMAGERY (CONT.)
Olfactory Imagery-
Imagery that represents a smell.
Example: The garbage can released
an odor of rancid, three-week-old
milk.
Gustatory Imagery-
Imagery that represents a taste.
Example: Mark tasted the briny,
bitter salt water for the first time.
IMAGERY (CONT.)
Tactile Imagery-
Imagery that represents touch.
Example: She dug her toes in the
wet sand, but she was still sweating
from the hot sun.
TONE
An author’s attitude toward his or her
subject matter.
We can figure out tone by an
author’s word choice, punctuation,
sentence structure, and figures of
speech.
SAMPLE TONE WORDS:
sympathetic, serious, ironic,
sad, bitter, humorous, angry,
apologetic, critical, proud
MOOD
The emotional quality of a literary
work.
•Mood is determined by setting, subject

matter, and tone.
•SAMPLE MOOD WORDS:
• Cheerful, gloomy, bleak, eerie,
tense, calm, ominous, uncertain,
miserable
POETRY DEVICES
• Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds,

generally at the beginning of words.
• Example: Sally sells sea-shells by the sea shore.
• Consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds

within or at the end of words that do not rhyme or are
preceded by different vowel sounds.
• Example: The clock struck twelve, and he was tickled with

excitement as the ball dropped.
• Assonance: The repetition of same or
similar vowel sounds in words that are
close together.
• Example: So long lives this, and this gives life

to thee.
Do you like blue?
POETRY DEVICES CONTINUED
• Diction: A writer’s choice of words; an important element in
the writer’s voice or style.
• Denotation: The literal, dictionary meaning of a word.

• Example: The word “home” means, “the physical structure within which
one lives, such as a house.”
• Connotation: The suggested or implied meanings associated

with a word beyond its dictionary definition.
• Example: Words can have positive or negative connotations. The word
“home” might suggest positive thoughts of comfort, family, protection,
etc.
POETRY DEVICES (CONT.)
• Onomatopoeia: The use of a word or phrase that imitates
or suggests the sound of what it describes.
• Examples: Hiss, crack, swish, murmur, mew, buzz.
• Apostrophe: A literary device in which a speaker addresses

an inanimate object, an idea, or an absent person.
• Example: Oh, mother, where would I be without your guidance!

POETRY DEVICES (CONT.)
• Repetition: The recurrence of sounds,

words, phrases, lines or stanzas in a poem.
• Writers use repetition to emphasize an

important point, to expand on an idea, to
create rhythm, and to increase the unity of
the work.
• Example: The repeated chorus of a song

emphasizes the message of that song.
POETRY DEVICES: 3 TYPES OF
RHYME
• End Rhyme: The rhyming of words at the end of a line.
• Example: They could not excuse the sin.
That was committed by his kin.
• Internal Rhyme: Rhyme that occurs within a single line of poetry.
• Example: No, baby, no, you may not go.”
• Slant Rhyme: Two words sound similar, but do not have a perfect
rhyme.
• Example: The words jackal and buckle.

STRUCTURE ITEMS
Speaker: The voice that communicates

with the reader of a poem (like a narrator).
Stanza: A group of lines forming a unit in

a poem or a song.
Line: The basic unit of poetry. The line is

a word or a row of words (not a sentence
that extends over to the next line, though).
STRUCTURAL ITEMS (CONTINUED)
• Four types of poems based on line number:
• Couplet: Consists of two lines.
• Quatrain: Consists of four lines.
• Sestet: Consists of six lines.
• Octave: Consists of eight lines.

STRUCTURAL ITEMS (CONTINUED)
• Rhyme Scheme: The pattern that end rhymes form in a

stanza or poem.
• Rhyme scheme is designated by the assignment of a

different letter of the alphabet to each new rhyme.
Roses are red A
Violets are blue B
You stole my heart C
Then were untrue B
POETRY TYPES
• Narrative Poem: A poem that tells a story.

Narrative poems are usually contrasted with lyric
poems.
• Lyric Poem: Poetry that expresses a speaker’s

personal thoughts or feelings.
• Free Verse: Poetry that has no fixed pattern of

meter, rhyme, line length, or stanza arrangement.
POETRY TYPES (CONT.)
• Ode: A long, serious lyric poem that is elevated in tone

and style.
• Some odes celebrate a person, an event, or even a
power or object.
• Haiku: A traditional, nature-inspired Japanese form of
poetry that has 3 lines and 17 syllables.
• Lines one and three are five syllables each.
• Line two is seven syllables.
• Sonnet: A lyric poem of 14 lines, typically written in
iambic pentameter and following strict patterns of
stanza division and rhyme.
HAIKU POEMS
• One thing haiku poems try to do is present

imagery and details that try to convey a
larger insight or meaning.
• For example, a writer is not simply describing a

setting, but they are describing a setting to provide
insight or a larger meaning.
SAMPLE HAIKU POEMS
Nature Haiku: Skies so azure blue
Youthful hue makes my heart race
Infinite blessing
Person Haiku: Angry from day one

Critical of all that’s fun
You suffer the most
Create a Haiku about nature or a favorite setting and

create a haiku about a person or type of person.

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POETRY DEVICES,

There are five types of imagery you need to know…

•Mood is determined by setting, subject

• Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds,

• Example: Sally sells sea-shells by the sea shore.

• Consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds

• Example: The clock struck twelve, and he was tickled with

• Example: So long lives this, and this gives life

• Denotation: The literal, dictionary meaning of a word.

• Connotation: The suggested or implied meanings associated

• Examples: Hiss, crack, swish, murmur, mew, buzz.

• Apostrophe: A literary device in which a speaker addresses

• Example: Oh, mother, where would I be without your guidance!

• Repetition: The recurrence of sounds,

• Writers use repetition to emphasize an

• Example: The repeated chorus of a song

• Example: No, baby, no, you may not go.”

• Example: The words jackal and buckle.

Speaker: The voice that communicates

Stanza: A group of lines forming a unit in

Line: The basic unit of poetry. The line is

• Four types of poems based on line number:

• Couplet: Consists of two lines.

• Quatrain: Consists of four lines.

• Sestet: Consists of six lines.

• Octave: Consists of eight lines.

• Rhyme Scheme: The pattern that end rhymes form in a

• Rhyme scheme is designated by the assignment of a

• Narrative Poem: A poem that tells a story.

• Lyric Poem: Poetry that expresses a speaker’s

• Free Verse: Poetry that has no fixed pattern of

• Ode: A long, serious lyric poem that is elevated in tone

• One thing haiku poems try to do is present

• For example, a writer is not simply describing a

Person Haiku: Angry from day one

Create a Haiku about nature or a favorite setting and

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