Poetic Devices in Literature

What are Poetic Devices?

• A poetic device is a special literary tool that shapes words, sounds, and phrases to convey meaning.
• Poetic devices empower speakers and writers to enhance the literal meaning of words by drawing attention to the sound, form, and function of words.
• The English language contains dozens of poetic devices.

Importance of Poetic Devices

• Poetic devices add to the reader's enjoyment, understanding, and experience of poetry.
• Poetic devices were used in famous works of poetry, such as The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, Beowulf, and The Divine Comedy.
• Poetic devices help to:
  • Add rhythm and sound to a poem
  • Enhance the imagery in a poem
  • Intensify feelings and emotions in a poem
  • Create greater meaning in a poem
  • Add structure to a poem

Types of Poetic Devices

• Allusion: A reference to one work of literature in another work of literature.
• Anaphora: The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses.
• Antithesis: The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.
• Apostrophe: Directly addressing a nonexistent person or an inanimate object as though it were a living being.
• Assonance: The identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words.
• Chiasmus: A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed.
• Climax: Any use of language that is characterized by a feeling of mounting intensity across three or more successive words, phrases, clauses, or sentences.
• Dysphemism: The use of a somewhat negative or derogatory term for another word.
• Euphemism: The use of an inoffensive or more socially acceptable term for a word that may be considered offensive, explicit, or impolite.
• Hyperbole: The use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect.
• Irony: The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning.
• Litotes: An understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite.
• Merism: A pair of contrasting words or phrases used to express totality or completeness.
• Metaphor: An implied comparison between two unlike things that have something in common.
• Metonymy: A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is substituted for another word that is closely related to it or a word that represents it.
• Oxymoron: A figure of speech in which contradictory terms appear side by side.
• Paradox: A statement of two things that appear to be contradictory, but are actually both true.
• Parallelism: A literary device in which parts of the sentence are grammatically similar or identical in construction.
• Personification: A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or quality is given human qualities or abilities.
• Pun: A play on words.
• Simile: A comparison using "like" or "as" between two unlike things that have certain qualities in common.
• Synecdoche: A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole.
• Understatement: A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is.

Devices That Create Rhythm and Meter

• Iamb: Contains one unstressed and one stressed syllable.
• Trochee: Contains one stressed and one unstressed syllable.
• Spondee: Contains two stressed syllables.
• Anapest: Consists of three beats, two unstressed and one stressed.
• Dactyl: Consists of three beats, one stressed and two unstressed.
• Amphibrach: Consists of one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable and ending with another stressed syllable.
• Pyrrhic: Consists of two unstressed syllables.
• Couplet: Two lines of poetic verse that form a unit, usually with the same meter and rhyme.
• Internal Rhyme: The use of a rhyme involving a word in the middle of a line and another either at the end of that line or in the middle of the next line.
• Repetition: The use of a word or phrase more than once in order to emphasize meaning.

Devices That Intensify Mood

• Alliteration: The repetition of an initial consonant sound.
• Assonance: The repetition of internal vowel sounds in words that are near each other.
• Cacophony: The use of nonsense words or certain sounds to create harsh and hard tones.
• Caesura: A noticeable pause within a single line of poetry, designed to amplify an emotion or bring an idea to the audience's attention.
• Consonance: The repetition of the same consonant sound within a group of words.
• Euphony: The use of words and phrases to create a smooth, pleasing, and melodious effect.
• Onomatopoeia: The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.

Devices That Enhance Meaning

• Metaphor: The comparison of two unlike things without using the words "like" or "as."
• Simile: The comparison of two unlike things using the words "like" or "as."
• Imagery: The use of descriptive language that engages the five senses.
• Allusion: A reference to another book or body of literature within a poem.
• Symbol: A reference to a person, place, or thing that represents another person, place, or thing.
• Oxymoron: Two words that seem contradictory but actually aren't.
• Irony: The use of words to say something opposite of what a person actually means.
• Allegory: A work of literature, like a fable, in which characters or animals represent other characters.
• Euphemism: A non-offensive way of expressing something that might otherwise be offensive.

Devices Based on Poetic Form

• Blank verse: Poetry written with meter but without rhyme.
• Fixed verse: Poetry written using a type of template or formula.
• Free verse: Poetry written without rhyme or a regular meter.

What are Poetic Devices?

• A poetic device is a special literary tool that shapes words, sounds, and phrases to convey meaning.
• Poetic devices empower speakers and writers to enhance the literal meaning of words by drawing attention to the sound, form, and function of words.
• The English language contains dozens of poetic devices.

Importance of Poetic Devices

• Poetic devices add to the reader's enjoyment, understanding, and experience of poetry.
• Poetic devices were used in famous works of poetry, such as The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, Beowulf, and The Divine Comedy.
• Poetic devices help to:
  • Add rhythm and sound to a poem
  • Enhance the imagery in a poem
  • Intensify feelings and emotions in a poem
  • Create greater meaning in a poem
  • Add structure to a poem

Types of Poetic Devices

• Allusion: A reference to one work of literature in another work of literature.
• Anaphora: The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses.
• Antithesis: The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.
• Apostrophe: Directly addressing a nonexistent person or an inanimate object as though it were a living being.
• Assonance: The identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words.
• Chiasmus: A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed.
• Climax: Any use of language that is characterized by a feeling of mounting intensity across three or more successive words, phrases, clauses, or sentences.
• Dysphemism: The use of a somewhat negative or derogatory term for another word.
• Euphemism: The use of an inoffensive or more socially acceptable term for a word that may be considered offensive, explicit, or impolite.
• Hyperbole: The use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect.
• Irony: The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning.
• Litotes: An understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite.
• Merism: A pair of contrasting words or phrases used to express totality or completeness.
• Metaphor: An implied comparison between two unlike things that have something in common.
• Metonymy: A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is substituted for another word that is closely related to it or a word that represents it.
• Oxymoron: A figure of speech in which contradictory terms appear side by side.
• Paradox: A statement of two things that appear to be contradictory, but are actually both true.
• Parallelism: A literary device in which parts of the sentence are grammatically similar or identical in construction.
• Personification: A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or quality is given human qualities or abilities.
• Pun: A play on words.
• Simile: A comparison using "like" or "as" between two unlike things that have certain qualities in common.
• Synecdoche: A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole.
• Understatement: A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is.

Devices That Create Rhythm and Meter

• Iamb: Contains one unstressed and one stressed syllable.
• Trochee: Contains one stressed and one unstressed syllable.
• Spondee: Contains two stressed syllables.
• Anapest: Consists of three beats, two unstressed and one stressed.
• Dactyl: Consists of three beats, one stressed and two unstressed.
• Amphibrach: Consists of one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable and ending with another stressed syllable.
• Pyrrhic: Consists of two unstressed syllables.
• Couplet: Two lines of poetic verse that form a unit, usually with the same meter and rhyme.
• Internal Rhyme: The use of a rhyme involving a word in the middle of a line and another either at the end of that line or in the middle of the next line.
• Repetition: The use of a word or phrase more than once in order to emphasize meaning.

Devices That Intensify Mood

• Alliteration: The repetition of an initial consonant sound.
• Assonance: The repetition of internal vowel sounds in words that are near each other.
• Cacophony: The use of nonsense words or certain sounds to create harsh and hard tones.
• Caesura: A noticeable pause within a single line of poetry, designed to amplify an emotion or bring an idea to the audience's attention.
• Consonance: The repetition of the same consonant sound within a group of words.
• Euphony: The use of words and phrases to create a smooth, pleasing, and melodious effect.
• Onomatopoeia: The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.

Devices That Enhance Meaning

• Metaphor: The comparison of two unlike things without using the words "like" or "as."
• Simile: The comparison of two unlike things using the words "like" or "as."
• Imagery: The use of descriptive language that engages the five senses.
• Allusion: A reference to another book or body of literature within a poem.
• Symbol: A reference to a person, place, or thing that represents another person, place, or thing.
• Oxymoron: Two words that seem contradictory but actually aren't.
• Irony: The use of words to say something opposite of what a person actually means.
• Allegory: A work of literature, like a fable, in which characters or animals represent other characters.
• Euphemism: A non-offensive way of expressing something that might otherwise be offensive.

Devices Based on Poetic Form

• Blank verse: Poetry written with meter but without rhyme.
• Fixed verse: Poetry written using a type of template or formula.
• Free verse: Poetry written without rhyme or a regular meter.