Poetic Terms Explained

Why do poets use:

1.Full Rhyme
The effect is used in humorous and satiric verse. Full rhyme is a rhyme in which the words involved have the last two or more sounds in accord and so the only difference is earlier in the word or line. Full rhyme is sometimes known as strict rhyme.

2.Half Rhyme
Half rhyme is a kind of rhyme in which the consonants of the two words sound the same but the vowels differ e.g. buck/back. This is sometimes known as pararhyme.

3.Internal rhyme
A correspondence of word-sounds within the line, rather than as in conventional rhyme, at the end of lines.

4.Assonance
The reiteration of the same vowel sounds close enough together to be noticed by the ear. It is more aural than alliteration because it is not so visible on the page.

5.Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of consonants close enough together to be noticed by the ear. It usually appears on stressed syllables.

6.Consonance
Broadly, this can mean the overall harmony or concord of sounds. More specifically it includes the correspondence of certain sounds, as for instance in assonance or alliteration.

7.Enjambment
Enjambment is the continuation, or run-on, of one line of poetry into the next; that is, the syntax flows through the line-break. This is the opposite of end-stopped lines.

8.Caesura
This is the term used to denote the break in a metrical verse line, usually at halfway. It is in effect a pause, but a distinct one that falls at virtually the same point in the series of formal lines.

9.Simile
A simile is a basic form of metaphor, in which the comparison is directly conjoined, usually with 'like' or 'as'.

10.Metaphor
A metaphor expresses one thing in terms of another by suggesting a likeness between them.

11.Personification
Personification is when inanimate objects are given human qualities.

12.Repetition
Repetition adds emphasis to a poem. Repeating words also pushes a poem forward and makes the poem flow. If repetition is used in effectively and too often the poem can become boring, it must be constructed.

13.Stanzas
A group of lines shaped in the same way, with the lines usually, although not always of the same length. Traditionally they would be rhymed, but not always, especially in the twentieth century. Stanzas can vary greatly in length and structure. They serve the function of segmenting the poem and providing pauses in its progression.

Macclesfield Tutorial College [http://www.macctutorialcollege.com] is an independent college, and offers full time and part time courses to students from 16 years old to adult. The college offers GCSE and A Level courses is a wide range of subjects. The college offers a high level of education, resulting in a predominant number of students going onto higher education. The college can be contacted at office@experttutorials.co.uk