Poetic Devices
Name of
Definition
Device
1
Alliteration
2
Allusion
3
Anaphora
4
Assonance
5
Ballad
6
Blank Verse
7
Connotation
8
Consonance
9
10
Couplet
Denotation
A stanza of two lines that rhyme
11
12
Diction
Free Verse
13
14
Hyperbole
Iambic Pentameter
Word Choice
Unrhymed poetry with lines of
varying length, containing no
specific metrical pattern
Extreme exaggeration
5 iambs (foot of meter) per line;
each iamb contains two
The repetition of the same
consonant sound in a series of
words
A passing reference to a person,
event, place, or phrase that the
writer assumes the reader will
recognize
A poem containing unrhymed
lines of iambic pentameter
Example
Poetic Devices
15
Imagery
16
Metaphor
17
18
Meter
Mood
19
Onomatopoeia
20
Oxymoron
21
Parallelism
22
Personification
23
Pun
24
25
Repetition
Rhyme Scheme
26
Rythm
27
Simile
28
Sonnet
29
Symbol
30
Tone
syllables—one unstressed, one
stressed
An image an author uses to
convey a feeling idea, theme,
etc.; usually appealing to one or
more of the five senses
A direct comparison not using
like or as.
The reaction a reader has to the
atmosphere or feelings a piece
of literature evokes
The sound and spelling of a
word echoes the sound it
represents
A combination of words that
appear to be contradictory
Giving animals, objects, or ideas
human qualities
A play on words wherein a word
is used to convey two meanings
at the same time
Repeating a word or phrase
The pattern of rhymed words in
a stanza or generalized
throughout a poem expressed in
alphabetical terms
Recurrences of stressed and
unstressed syllables at equal
intervals, similar to meter.
A comparison between two
unlike things using “like” or “as”
A lyric poem of 14 lines written
in iambic pentameter; rhyme
scheme is ABABCDCDEFEFGG
An object that represents
something else—often a broad
idea
Expresses the author’s attitude
toward his or her subject