Lesson 1: Writing Poetry
Vocabulary
It is important to know and understand some of the common terms used for talking about poetry.
Abstract Language: words that denote concepts rather than specific things (love, beauty, truth, etc.)
Alliteration: the repetition of the initial sounds of words in a line or lines of verse (book/ beach, b)
Allusion: a reference within a poem to some other literary work, Biblical story, myth, or historical event
Concrete Language: words that denote specific, palpable things (run, jump, table, basket, etc.), rather than abstract concepts (see abstract language above)
Connotation: the suggested meaning of a word, rather than the literal meaning. Consider the differences between the words doctor, physician, surgeon, cardiologist, healer.
Consonance: the repetition of consonants at the ends of words (think/hook, k)
Feet: the units of poetry, composed of syllables arranged in a pattern of accented and unaccented syllables
An iambic foot consists of two syllables with the accent on the second one.
A trochaic foot consists of two syllables with the accent on the first one.
An anapestic foot is made up of three syllables with the accent on the last one.
A dactylic foot is made up of three syllables with the accent on the first one.
A spondaic foot has two accented syllables.
Figurative Language: language that says one thing while suggesting another, such as a metaphor or simile
Hidden or Internal Alliteration: the repetition of consonants in the middle of words (runner/flannel, n)
Iambic Pentameter: poetry that has five feet per line (the pentameter part) and each foot has two syllables with the accent on the second syllable (the iambic part). Many of Shakespeare’s works were written in iambic pentameter.
Metaphor: a comparison of two things that identifies one as the other (the sun was a slice of lemon in the sky)
Meter: the measure for rhythm in a poem, usually defined by the number of feet (see feet above)
Dimeter consists of two feet per line.
Trimeter consists of three feet per line.
Tetrameter consists of four feet per line.
Pentameter consists of five feet per line.
Hexameter consists of six feet per line.
Heptameter consists of seven feet per line.
Octameter consists of eight feet per line.
Rhyme Scheme: the order in which the lines of a poem rhyme. An aabb rhyme scheme means that the first two lines rhyme and the last two lines rhyme. An abab rhyme scheme means that the first and third lines rhyme and the second and fourth lines rhyme.
Simile: a comparison of two things that uses a linking word such as like or as (the sun looked like a slice of lemon in the sky)
Stanza: a group of lines in a poem, similar to a paragraph in prose. The lines in a stanza generally share the same meter and rhyme scheme.
Symbol: an image that radiates meaning that might be hard to express in other words by which can be felt, such as in the symbols of dreams
