Meter

Definition:

The arrangement of words in regularly rhythmic or patterned lines or verses.

Example:


iambic pentameter (5 iambs, 10 syllables)

• That time | of year | thou mayst | in me | behold

trochaic tetrameter (4 trochees, 8 syllables)

• Tell me | not in | mournful | numbers

anapestic trimeter (3 anapests, 9 syllables)

• And the sound | of a voice | that is still

dactylic hexameter (6 dactyls, 17 syllables; a trochee replaces the last dactyl)

• This is the | forest pri | meval, the | murmuring | pine and the | hemlock

Significance:

Meter provides rhythmic meaning to a poem. Most neglect the actual beat and arrangement of beats in a poem because they are so focused on the meaning. Meter is always something to notice in poetry.

Rhythm

Definition:

Repetitive beat or pattern of beats in speech or sound.

Example:

Well I gotta go now.
Okay, see you later.
Sure, pal. So long.
See you. Take care.
Bye bye.
Bye bye.



This poem has an obvious rhythm by the number of syllables in each line. When you read it aloud, a pattern of the sound is created.

Significance:

Rhythm, like rhyming, is very important in poetry. It creates a feel for how the poem's meaning should be interpreted. Because poetry does not always include images, sound is the next best thing for finding meaning.

Onomatopoeia

Definition:

Using a word to display a type of sound.

Example:

"Boom!" "Bang!" "Honk!" "Ding-dong!"

Significance:

An onomatopoeia is significant to literature, poetry in particular, because you  receive the exact idea of sound that the author was trying to display. This way, it is easier to understand.

Personification

Definition:

Giving human emotions, feelings, qualities, and/or senses of character to an inanimate object or something that doesn't show these attributes naturally.

Example:

The stars danced playfully in the moonlit sky. 


You are able to sense personification since you know that stars are inanimate and do not literally dance across the sky.


Significance:

Personification is important to literature because by giving inanimate objects human-like qualities, deeper more accurate portrayal is possible.

Imagery

Definition:

A figurative description of something; using words to create a vivid example of something. Types of imagery include auditory (ears), gustatory (taste), visual (sight), tactile (touch), olfactory (smell). 

Example: 

I took a walk around the world to
Ease my troubled mind
I left my body laying somewhere
In the sands of time
I watched the world float to the dark
Side of the moon
I feel there is nothing I can do

--"Kryptonite" by Three Doors Down

It is shown that this person is tired and hopeless without actually saying that one is tired and hopeless.

Significance:

Imagery is important because this replaces just simply saying a statement. You can use words to describe settings and emotions that portray the same message that one is trying to get across.

Simile

Definition:

A type of figurative language using "like" or "as" to compare two or more things.

Example:

Becky was as quick as a fox.


Significance:


Similes are important to literature because it uses creativity to compare things. These creates clearer meaning for the things you are trying to compare.

Repetition

Definition:

The act of repeating.

Example:

(excerpt from Rudyard Kipling's "If")


"If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:."


From this excerpt, you can see the repetition of the phrase "If you can..." The repetition creates a mood to the poem, that the phrase has some significance in the poem's message.

Significance:

The significance of repetition is poetry is the certain mood that it creates for the reader. It shows what is important in the poem, for it is repeated, and that shows significance.