Poetry Terms and Definitions

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Cinquain - A cinquain is a poem consisting of five non-rhyming lines with a certain amount of syllables.

 

- Line 1: 2 syllables

- Line 2: 4 syllables

- Line 3: 6 syllables

- Line 4: 8 syllables

- Line 5: 2 syllables

Citation: Your_Dictionary. "Cinquain Examples." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow Corp., 1996. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.

 

Published Example of A Cinquain:

Long Shadows

by Marie Summers

Maples

in the morning

sunlight cast long shadows

upon the snow like a roadmap

of limbs.

Citation: Your_Dictionary. "Cinquain Examples." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow Corp., 1996. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.

 

Original Example of A Cinquain:

Embroidery

by Brynn Siles

The moon

In the deep night

Held fast by thread on

The sky, and embroidered by little star

Stitches

 

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Diamante - A poem written in the shape of a diamond with five lines about the same topic. It has the following form:

- Line 1: Subject

- Line 2: Two words describing the subject

- Line 3: Three “doing” words about the subject.

- Line 4: A short phrase about the subject, a short phrase about the end subject.

- Line 5: Three doing words about the end subject.

- Line 6: Two describing words about the end subject.

- Line 7: End subject

Citation: Young Writers Corp. "Examples and Definitions of Diamnte Poetry."Young Writers. Bonacia Ltd., 1996. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.

 

A Published Example of A Diamante Poem

Kitten

by Marie Summers

Kitten
cute, soft
purring, clawing, pouncing
playful, fur, fun, feline
pawing, licking, loving
bright-eyed, beautiful
Cat

Citation: Young Writers Corp. "Examples and Definitions of Diamnte Poetry."Young Writers. Bonacia Ltd., 1996. Web. 31 Oct. 2014

 

An Original Example of A Diamante Poem

Puppy

by Brynn Siles

Puppy

playful, energjetic

pouncing, yipping, jumping

barking, running, panting

loyal, best-friend

Dog

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Riddle - A riddle is a descriptive poem about a person, place or thing, that uses figurative language to write about something without  revealing the identity of the person, place or thing.

Citation: Young Writers Corp. "Young Writers - What Is a Riddle?" Young Writers - Poetry Terms. Bonacia Ltd., 2008. Web. 1 Nov. 2014.

 

A Published Example of a Riddle Poem:

Who Am I?

by Carl Sandbur

Hy head knocks against the stars.

My feet are on the hilltops.

My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.

Down in the sounding foam of primiral things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.

I have been to hell and back many times.

I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.

I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.

I know the passionate seizure of beaty.

And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”

My name is truth, and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.

Citation: Young Writers Corp. "Young Writers - What Is a Riddle?" Young Writers - Poetry Terms. Bonacia Ltd., 2008. Web. 1 Nov. 2014.

 

An Original Example of A Riddle Poem

Who Am I?

by Brynn Siles

I can be your flashlight on the deepest, darkest nights.

But you'll find when you rely on me

I sputter, sputter, die.

 

I can be the sun on a cloudy day

but sometimes, I'm the rain

When you've got nothing

no umbrella to block you

Block you from the pain.

 

I can point you in a direction

When you don't know where to turn

But sometimes, I lead you astray

You will surely learn.

 

I can be your best friend

I can be your biggest hurdle

No way around, you have to jump

Tumble, tumble to the ground. 

 

I'm a helper

I'm a foe

But sometimes you will find

That the best decision of all

Is not to make on at all. 

 

My name is hope. 

 

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Simile - A simile is the comparison of two words, objects or ideas using the phrases “like” or “as.”

Citation: Your_Dictionary. "Examples of Simile Poems." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow Corp., 1996. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.

 

Published Example of A Simile:

A Red, Red Rose

by Robert Burns

“Oh, my Love is like a red, red rose

That’s newly sprung in June;

Oh, my Love is like the melody

That’s sweetly played in tune.”

Citation: Your_Dictionary. "Examples of Simile Poems." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow Corp., 1996. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.

 

An Original Example of A Similie:

Puzzle

by Brynn Siles

The mind is simple, yet complex

Like a puzzle

The mind is an obstacle, yet a helper

Like the very essence of life

The mind is bright, yet dull

Like a faulty bulb

Yet, we seem to trust this being

Like needy, helpless souls. 

 

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Metaphor - A metaphor is a comparison of two words, objects or ideas without the use of ‘like” or “as.” Similes describe what something is like, but a metaphor describes what something is.

Citation: Your_Dictionary. "Examples of Metaphor Poems." Your Dictionary. LoveToKnow Corp., 1996. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.

 

Published Example of A Metaphor Poem:

Metaphors

by Sylvia Plath

I’m a riddle in nine syllables,

An elephant, a ponderous house,

A melon strolling on two tendrils.

O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!

This loaf’s big with its yeasty rising.

Money’s new-minted in this fat purse.

I’m a means, a stage, a cow in calf.

I’ve eaten a bag of green apples,

Boarded the train there’s no getting off.

Citation: Your_Dictionary. "Examples of Metaphor Poems." Your Dictionary. LoveToKnow Corp., 1996. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.

 

An Original Example of A Metaphor Poem

Itchy

by Brynn Siles

Kindness is an itchy, itchy sweater

An annoying covering

And just a covering.

For not everyone is as kind as they think

But they deceive themselves with lies

They say I am kind

It is not easy to resist the itch

That will unravel the sweater

And uncover the lies

And leave you bare

Until you weave the strings of trust

Once more.

 

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Personification - Personification is the application of human-like traits of qualities to any non-human thing.

Citation: Literary Devices. "Personification - Examples and Definition of Personification." Literary Devices. Personification, 2012. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.

 

A Published Example of Personification:

My Town

by Sharon Hendricks

The leaves on the ground danced in the wind

The brook sang merrily as it went on its way.

The fence posts gossiped and watched cars go by

which winked at each other just to say hi.

The traffic lights yelled, ”Stop, slow, go!”

The tires gripped the road as if clinging to life.

Stars in the sky blinked and winked out

While the hail was as sharp as a knife.

Citation: Literary Devices. "Personification - Examples and Definition of Personification." Literary Devices. Personification, 2012. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.

 

An Original Example of Personification:

Star Dance

by Brynn Siles

The sun waved Hello with his sunshine rays

As he sat lazily upon the clouds.

Served all day by raindrop maids

Who fulfill his every wish. 

Watching, waiting but for nothing

Then with a yawn he cascades

Down into the horizon

A the moon

Reaches out his hands

And dances with the stars of the night. 

 

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Hyperbole - A hyperbole is the exaggeration of an idea, or the exaggeration of an object’s description that is often unbeleivable.

Literary Devices. "Hyperbole - Examples and Definition." Literary Devices. Hyperbole, 2012. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.

 

Published Example of A Hyperbole:

Appetite

by Sharon Hendricks

In a house the size of a postage stamp

lived a man as big as a barge.

His mouth could drink the entire river.

You could say it was rather large.

For dinner he would eat a trillion beans

And a silo full of grain,

Washed it down with a tanker of milk

As if he were a drain.

Literary Devices. "Hyperbole - Examples and Definition." Literary Devices. Hyperbole, 2012. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.

 

An Original Example of A Hyberbole

Leader

by Brynn Siles

He walks with legs so, so long

More length than the Grand Canyon's Depth

His hair, though barely,

Skims the clouds

And the sun is within an arms breadth.

He can grab airplanes right out of the sky.

For to him they are like small gnats, flying by

That being said, it's not hard to see why

Everyone in town

Looks up to him

 

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Symbolism - Symbolism is the use of an idea, person or thing to represent another completely different idea, person or thing.

Citation: My_Dictionary. "Examples of Symbolism in Poetry." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow Corp., 1996. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.

 

Published Example of Symbolism

A Light Exists in Spring

by Emily Dickinson

A light exists in spring

Not present on the year

At any other period.

When March is scarcely here

A color stands abroad

On solitary hills

That science cannot overtake,

But human nature feels.

It waits upon the lawn;

It shows the furthest tree

Upon the furthest slope we know;

It almost speaks to me.

Then, as horizons step,

Or noons report away,

Without the formula of sound,

It passes, and we stay:

A quality of loss

Affecting our content,

As trade had suddenly encroached

Upon a sacrament.

Citation: My_Dictionary. "Examples of Symbolism in Poetry." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow Corp., 1996. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.

 

An Original Example of Symbolism

Motivation

by Brynn Siles

A light at the end of the tunnel

Always leading the way

When motivtation is needed

Just look to the light

Run faster, run faster, now

And soon you will reach it 

You'll get to the light

Only to find that it has been put out. 

So you look righ  ahead, and what do you see?

The closest of lights is ahead

Just follow the tunnel

And soon you'll reach the light

Again, and again

hoping, hoping that

Maybe someday

It won't go out. 

 

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Onomatopoeia - An onomatopoeia is a word that is used to describe a sound made by an object, person, animal or action.

Citation: Young Writers Corp. "What Is Onomatopoeia?" Young Writers. Bonacia Ltd., 1996. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.

 

Published Example of Onomatopoeia:

Mom and Dad Are Home

by Natasha Miemi

Slam! Slam!

Go the car doors.  

Jangle! Jangle!

Go the house keys.

Jiggle! Jiggle!

Go the keys in the door.

Squeak! Squeak!

Goes the front door!

Thump! Thump!

As I run down the stairs.

Guess what?

Mom and Dad are home!

Citation: Young Writers Corp. "What Is Onomatopoeia?" Young Writers. Bonacia Ltd., 1996. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.

 

An Original Example of Onomatopoeia

Oink

by Brynn Siles

Oink, oink

The pigs say.

Let's roll in the mud.

Oink, oink

The pigs say.

This is so much fun!

Oink, oink

The pigs say.

More mud, more mud.

Oink, oink

The pigs say.

What a mess we truly are.

Oh no!

The farmer cries

For he will have a lot of cleaning to do.

 

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Alliteration -  Alliteration is the repetition of sounds, groups of sounds, or letters or a word in a sentence or series of words.

Citation: Young Writers Corp. "What Is Alliteration?" Young Writers. Bonacia Ltd., 2012. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.

 

Published Example of Alliteration:

Leaping Lions

by Natasha Miemi

Leaping Lions leap after lengthy naps.

They sleepily stretch strong appendages

To prepare properly for the precious hunt.

Young, youthful lions

Gallop gallantly on the grassland plains.

Then they too sleep serenely after strenuous stretching.

Citation: Young Writers Corp. "What Is Alliteration?" Young Writers. Bonacia Ltd., 2012. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.

 

School

by Brynn Siles

Tricky teachers

Won't quit quickly giving quadrillions of quizes

The essence of endless essays endures

And unprepared undergraduates are unauthorized

Habitual homework is handed out.

And disrciminatory deadlines and due dates are disposed. 

If only pauses were permanenly prolonged.

 

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