Poetic Terms

 

Many people are very intimidated about having to write about poetry.  Well, those same people are usually not all that comfortable about talking about literature more generally, let alone talking about poetry!!  This page will not exactly heal those deep emotional scars left by reading Rudyard Kipling aloud in class when you were 15, but it should provide you with a nice base upon which to talk about various aspects of poetry.  Think of the terminology as a cheat-list—choose one and find it in a poem and VOILA, you have something to say! 

 

Below is a list of some places to start.

 

The Glossary of Poetic Terms from On-line Learning Center (McGraw Hill)

 

Glossary of Poetic Terms from Bob’s By-Way

 

Glossary of Poetic Terms at UToronto (this one is really inclusive)

 

Poetic Terms at UPennsylvania (a rather bare bones version)

 

Poetic Terms from Poets’ Graves (also very inclusive)

 

Literary Terms from Cyber English (has more links)