Cohen
English 9
A Poet’s Guide to Poetic Devices
Poetic
Devices
Definition
Example
Alliteration
Deep into that darkness peering,
long I stood there wondering,
fearing, Doubting, dreaming
dreams no mortal ever dared to
dream before.
Assonance
Hear the mellow wedding bells,
Golden bells! What a world of
happiness their harmony
foretells!
Consonance
▪ All’s well that ends well.
▪Peter Piper picked a peck of
pickled peppers.
▪A blessing in disguise.
Onomatopoeia
Metaphor
Simile
Moo, purr, quack, buzz, hiss,
sizzle, etc.
That child is a mouse. Last night,
I plowed through a book... Love
is a long, long road.
Your teeth are like stars, they
come out at night.
My Own Example
Personification
Imagery
Hyperbole
The wind whispered through the
dry grass.
Then a mile of warm sea-scented
beach; Three fields to cross till a
farm appears; A tap at the pane,
the quick sharp scratch And blue
spurt of a lighted match…
Here once the embattled farmers
stood, And fired the shot heard
round the world.