Poetic devices
| 20 Poetic Devices with Meanings and Examples 1. Alliteration: The repetition of the same sound at the beginning of words. Example: “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.” 2. Assonance: The repetition of the same vowel sound within words. Example: “The cat sat on a mat.” 3. Consonance: The repetition of the same consonant sound within words. Example: “He struck a streak of luck.” 4. Meter: The rhythmic pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem. Example: “Tyger, tyger, burning bright.” 5. Rhyme: The correspondence of sounds at the end of words. Example: “Roses are red, violets are blue.” 6. End Rhyme: Rhyme that occurs at the end of lines of poetry. Example: “The woods are dark, the night is long.” 7. Internal Rhyme: Rhyme that occurs within a line of poetry. Example: “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary.” 8. Rhyme Scheme: The pattern of rhymes in a poem, usually indicated by letters. Example: ABAB is a common rhyme scheme. 9. Imagery: The use of vivid language to create mental pictures. Example: “The sun was a ball of fire in the sky.” 10. Simile: A comparison between two things using “like” or “as.” Example: “He is as strong as a lion.” 11. Metaphor: A comparison between two things that are not alike. Example: “Life is a journey.” 12. Personification: Giving human qualities to non-human things. Example: “The wind howled in the night.” 13. Hyperbole: An exaggeration for effect. Example: “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.” 14. Symbolism: The use of objects or images to represent ideas or concepts. Example: The dove is a symbol of peace. 15. Allusion: A reference to a famous person, place, or event. Example: The phrase “raining cats and dogs” is an allusion to Norse mythology. 16. Irony: A contrast between what is expected and what actually happens. Example: The character dies in a hospital bed, ironically the place meant to save lives. 17. Paradox: A statement that seems contradictory but is actually true. Example: “This sentence is false.” 18. Oxymoron: A figure of speech combining contradictory terms. Example: “Bittersweet chocolate” 19. Onomatopoeia: A word that imitates a sound. Example: “The bee buzzed.” 20. Enjambment: The continuation of a sentence or thought from one line of poetry to the next. Example: “The woods are dark, the night is long, And the wind blows cold.” |
