An Introduction to the Vocabulary of Poetry
April 14, 2008 · Written by Melissa Donovan
A writer’s vocabulary is stocked with words that help us understand and discuss our craft. We can talk about parts of speech, sentence structure, and punctuation the way scientists and doctors discuss organs, skeletons, and cells. These words and phrases help us learn our trade and allow us to navigate the language, which is where we live and breathe.
Within the world of poetry, there is a special subset of the writer’s vocabulary, which is used to define ways to trick out the language, making it more captivating and memorable. Copywriters, fiction writers, and (of course) bloggers can step up their language skills by embracing a few simple concepts from poetry. However, many writers ignore poetry completely. Later this week, I will explain how reading and writing poetry can make you a better writer. Today I want to focus on introducing some basic concepts that poets frequently use to spice up their writing.
Alliteration
Technically, alliteration refers to repeating the beginning sounds of words in a line of verse. However, it can be used loosely to describe the repetition of a sound nestled in the middle or even at the end of words. A word like blueberry has built-in alliteration with the b sound occurring twice. A more strict example of alliteration would be a phrase such as alliteration allows writers to create catchy phrases. In this example, the a sound in alliteration and allows as well as the c sound in create and catchy both demonstrate alliteration.
When alliteration is used beyond the initial sound of the word, as with blueberry, it is also called consonance.
So, how is alliteration used for effect? Well, think about repetition in general. When you repeat something over and over, it becomes embedded in your memory. Alliteration works the same way, but in this case, sounds are being embedded rather than strings of words, phrases, or entire written works, such as a song or poem. If used correctly, it can also enhance the rhythm of a piece. In short, it makes a phrase or even an entire piece more memorable. Alliteration also happens to be the cornerstone of tongue twisters.
Assonance
Assonance is similar to alliteration and they are often discussed in conjunction with each other. However, assonance deals exclusively in vowel sounds. In the example phrase, alliteration allows writers to create catchy phrases, there are several occurrences of assonance. The a sound in alliteration and allows as well as in catchy demonstrate one run of assonance. We can underline the sounds where another run occurs:
alliteration allows writers to create catchy phrases
There’s at least one more run of assonance in this phrase. Can you find it?
Assonance often evokes the sense of rhyme without serving up a direct or technical rhyme. A common phrase, fancy pants is an example of this. One final note about assonance: the vowel sounds can have siblings or cousins (such as the two different a sounds in the word assonance).
Onomatopoeia
Most writers are familiar with the phenomenon that is onomatopoeia, which occurs when a word represents the thing that it defines through sound and sense. Most such words are verbs and many deal with the world of nature. For example, cows moo, bees buzz, and rain pitter patters. These words most often mimic sounds, such as thump or boom. See if you can come up with some words that exemplify onomatopoeia. And if you think onomatopoeia is just for poets, think again. Does the phrase snap, crackle, pop ring a bell?
Fun and Games
Using these effects on language is common in poetry. They are like word vitamins, giving lines and phrases greater resilience. When you immerse yourself in poetry, these effects tend to leak over into your other writings, and pretty soon your fiction, blog posts, and articles, start coming alive with alliteration, assonance, and onomatopoeia. That, by the way, is a good thing.
Email this article to a friend
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
I am REALLY, REALLY enjoying this!
I knew all of this somewhere, some time ago, and I guess it is in there somewhere, but seeing it all written out is a great review and very helpful for being more “on purpose” with my writing.
Thank you so much for doing this poetry workshop. It is really great. I look forward to each installment.
Poetry and I kind of have a like/hate relationship. I appreciate people who can play with words and create beautiful imagery, but I’m linear enough to want things to say what they mean. At least more or less. I don’t mind having to give a little extra thought to appreciate the meaning behind an image in a poem, but if it’s too obscure or weird, I just don’t have the patience for it.
Which, of course, makes it ironic that the only fiction-writing course I was able to squeeze into my schedule in college was poetry writing. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing!
@Wendi, I have to admit, I am enjoying this so much that I am toying with converting this into a poetry blog, heheh.
@Deb (Punctuality), Imagery is really important to poetry. It is a concept I struggled with at first because I was big on “tell” and not familiar with “show.” Once it clicked, I had fun playing with it. Fiction, now there’s where I find my greatest challenge. I think the sheer length of a novel is problematic for me because I have always written short pieces (I even prefer brief poems). Still, I’m determined to write that novel one of these days!
well, I wouldn’t complain about you doing poetry all the time, but you are really good at the rest of the writing too. I like it all.
There are so many blogs out there teaching blogging, I really like the writing help. You make it all seem so easy. It takes me hours to write my posts.
Hi Melissa, I recently started reading and studying poetry and I find your explanations in this article to be much clearer than those in many of the books I’ve read. I was always a bit intimidated by poetry and assumed I could never understand it. I wish I’d had this kind of straightforward description many years ago!
I’ve had more time to go over your website today and I am amazed by how generous you are in sharing your expertise. Thank you very much.
ps- no pressure, but if you took on meter in a future post, you would have one very grateful reader over here ;).
These 5 and 6 syllable words are making my brain hurt on this late Monday night. Interesting post.
@Wendi, One of the reasons I started this site was because I saw so many blogs about blogging and couldn’t find any about writing. Although, it seems like once I got the site up and running I discovered lots of writing blogs!
Most of my posts take at least an hour, sometimes much more than that. Planning topics and headlines in advance can cut down on the time it takes me to write a post.
Thanks for your kind and flattering words - they put a smile and a blush on my face
@Greer, Thanks for hanging out here! I only wish I had more knowledge to share. Believe me, I work hard to keep learning and trying new things. Someday, I will even tackle fiction! Meter is a great topic. I’ll try to address that and some other terms that deal with musicality in poetry before the month is over.
Hi, Melissa,
I’m really glad you’re going over these poetry terms and can’t wait to see more. I think the more we understand about poetry, the easier it is to enjoy it. Most of the time it’s not easily accessible stuff, but once you know something about it, everything changes.
Keep up the great work!
Paula
Hi Paula, Yes, the more we delve into poetry, the more secrets it reveals. That is a big part of its allure, for me anyway. Thank you