P1: Poetry Terminology
Key terms for analysing poetry - the essential vocabulary for discussing poems.
📜 Structure Terms
Stanza
A group of lines forming a section of a poem (also called a "verse").
- Poems are divided into stanzas like prose is divided into paragraphs
- Stanza breaks often signal shifts in idea, tone, or time
- Number of lines per stanza can be significant
Stanza Types
| Name | Lines | Common Use |
|---|---|---|
| Couplet | 2 lines | Emphasis, completion |
| Tercet | 3 lines | Movement, progression |
| Quatrain | 4 lines | Most common, stable |
| Quintain | 5 lines | Extended thought |
| Sestet | 6 lines | Elaboration |
| Octave | 8 lines | First part of sonnet |
Enjambment
When a sentence or phrase runs over the end of a line without punctuation.
Effect of Enjambment
"I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life to the lees"
- Creates forward momentum
- Links ideas across lines
- Reflects ongoing action or thought
- Natural, conversational flow
Caesura
A pause within a line of poetry, usually marked by punctuation.
Effect of Caesura
"To be, or not to be: that is the question."
- Creates pause and emphasis
- Slows the pace
- Adds weight to what follows
- Reflects hesitation or decision
Line Length
| Length | Effect |
|---|---|
| Long lines | Slows pace, allows development, more formal |
| Short lines | Fast pace, emphatic, punchy, intense |
| Varied line length | Creates rhythm variation, reflects emotional shifts |
🎵 Sound Terms
Rhyme
| Type | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| End rhyme | Rhyme at line endings | cat/hat |
| Internal rhyme | Rhyme within lines | "Once upon a midnight dreary" |
| Eye rhyme | Looks like it should rhyme, doesn't | love/move |
| Half/slant rhyme | Partial rhyme, similar sounds | soul/all |
Rhyme Schemes
Pattern of rhymes in a poem (labelled ABAB, AABB, etc.)
Common Rhyme Schemes
- AABB - Couplet rhyme (paired lines)
- ABAB - Alternate rhyme (interlocking)
- ABBA - Enclosed rhyme (bracketing)
- ABABCDCD - Ballad stanza pattern
Alliteration
Repetition of consonant sounds at the start of words.
"The solitary silent single star"
- Creates rhythm and music
- Links words together
- Emphasises key words
- Can create harsh or soft effects
Sibilance
Repetition of 's' sounds - creates hissing effect.
- Soft, seductive effect
- Or sinister, snake-like quality
Assonance
Repetition of vowel sounds within words.
- Creates internal music
- Links words across lines
Assonance Example
"The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain"
Long 'a' sound creates musical quality.
Onomatopoeia
Words that sound like what they describe.
- bang, crash, whisper, buzz, hiss
📐 Meter
What is Meter?
The rhythmic structure of a line - pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
| Meter | Pattern | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Iambic | da-DUM (unstressed-stressed) | Natural speech rhythm |
| Trochaic | DA-dum (stressed-unstressed) | Marching, insistent, supernatural |
| Anapestic | da-da-DUM | Gallop, forward momentum |
| Dactylic | DA-da-dum | Falling rhythm, melancholic |
Number of Feet
| Name | Feet per Line |
|---|---|
| Monometer | 1 |
| Dimeter | 2 |
| Trimeter | 3 |
| Tetrameter | 4 |
| Pentameter | 5 (most common) |
| Hexameter | 6 |
Iambic Pentameter
Five iambs per line (da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM)
Example
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"
shall I com-PARE thee TO a SUM-mer's DAY
Most common meter in English poetry - Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth.
Free Verse
No regular meter or rhyme - more like natural speech.
- Allows flexibility and spontaneity
- Modern form (Whitman, Eliot, contemporary poets)
- Structure comes from line breaks, not meter
📝 Poetic Forms
Sonnet
14-line poem, usually in iambic pentameter.
| Type | Structure | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Shakespearean | 3 quatrains + 1 couplet (ABAB CDCD EFEF GG) | Problem in quatrains, resolution in couplet |
| Petrarchan | Octave + sestet (ABBAABBA CDECDE) | Turn (volta) between octave and sestet |
Why write a sonnet? Traditionally about love. Using sonnet form signals: this is serious, this is about love, this connects to poetic tradition.
Ballad
Narrative poem that tells a story, often tragic.
- Regular rhyme and meter
- Quatrains with ABCB rhyme
- Simple language
- Oral tradition - meant to be sung
Dramatic Monologue
Poem spoken by a character, revealing their personality.
- Single speaker throughout
- Implied listener
- Reveals character through speech
Ode
Long poem celebrating or meditating on a subject.
- Formal, elevated language
- Complex stanza structures
Elegy
Poem of mourning, usually for someone who has died.
- Reflective, melancholic tone
- Often moves from grief to consolation
🎨 Language in Poetry
Imagery
Language that creates pictures in the reader's mind.
| Type | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Visual | Sight images | "Golden daffodils" |
| Auditory | Sound images | "The clash of swords" |
| Olfactory | Smell images | "The scent of roses" |
| Tactile | Touch images | "Rough bark" |
| Gustatory | Taste images | "Sweet as honey" |
Extended Metaphor
A metaphor developed throughout a poem, not just one line.
Example
"I'm a riddle in nine syllables" - entire poem explores pregnancy through extended metaphor of being "fat", "fine", "melon", "red fruit".
Personification
Giving human qualities to non-human things.
- Makes abstract concepts concrete
- Creates emotional connection
Symbolism
An object that represents a larger idea.
- Rose = love
- Dove = peace
- Cross = faith
✍️ Using Terminology
Don't Just Name It
Golden Rule: Naming a technique scores zero marks. You must explain its EFFECT.
Good vs Poor Analysis
Poor: "The poet uses enjambment."
Good: "The enjambment between lines 3 and 4 creates a sense of ongoing movement, reflecting the river's continuous flow."
Useful Effect Words
- Creates, suggests, implies, emphasises, highlights, reinforces
- Echoes, mirrors, reflects, contrasts with
- Builds, develops, intensifies, slows, accelerates
❓ Practice Questions
Q1: What is enjambment and what effect can it create?
Q2: What's the difference between a caesura and an end-stopped line?
Q3: What are the features of a Shakespearean sonnet?
Q4: What is the effect of sibilance?
✅ Answers
- Enjambment is when a sentence runs over the end of a line without punctuation. Effects: creates forward momentum, links ideas, reflects continuous action or thought, sounds natural and conversational.
- Caesura is a pause WITHIN a line (usually with punctuation). End-stopped lines have punctuation AT the end. Caesura slows within the line; end-stopped lines complete the thought before the next.
- Shakespearean sonnet: 14 lines, iambic pentameter, ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme. Three quatrains present problem; final couplet provides resolution or twist.
- Sibilance (repeated 's' sounds) can create: soft, seductive effect; sinister, snake-like quality; whispering or hushing sound; emphasis on certain words through the hissing sound.
📝 Exam Technique
Top Tip: In poetry analysis questions, AO2 (language, form, structure) typically carries 30-36 marks. Name the technique, quote precisely, then explain the effect — this three-step sequence is the minimum for each analytical point. Aim for 3-4 developed technique discussions in a 30-mark response.
Time management: Spend 5 minutes annotating the poem for techniques before writing. For a 30-mark question, allow 30-35 minutes: 5 mins planning, 25 mins writing, 2-3 mins checking.
Mark allocation: AO2 questions reward depth over breadth. Three techniques analysed in detail with effect explored will outscore six techniques merely named.
What examiners look for: Precise terminology (not "the poet uses a thing"), short embedded quotations, effect on the reader, and connections between techniques — e.g., how enjambment combined with caesura creates a specific rhythmic tension.
⚠️ Common Errors
Watch Out!
Students often name a technique without explaining its effect. Wrong: "The poet uses enjambment on line 5." Correct: "The enjambment on line 5 creates a sense of forward momentum, reflecting the speaker's restless energy."
Students often confuse simile and metaphor. Wrong: "This is a metaphor because it compares two things using 'like'." Correct: "A simile uses 'like' or 'as' to compare; a metaphor states the comparison directly without those words."
Students often describe what a technique is instead of what it does. Wrong: "Iambic pentameter is five iambs per line." Correct: "The iambic pentameter mirrors a heartbeat, reinforcing the poem's theme of intimate, living emotion."
✍️ Model Answer
Full-Mark Response
6 marks: How does the poet use language and structure to convey a sense of loss?
The poet conveys loss through a combination of structural fragmentation and semantic decay. The enjambment between stanzas two and three creates a sense of thoughts "spilling" beyond containment, mirroring the speaker's inability to control their grief — the sentence "I reach for / what was once" runs across the stanza break, enacting the futile reaching for something already gone. This is compounded by the caesura in line 7 — "Nothing. Left." — where the full stops carve the line into isolated fragments, reflecting how loss isolates the speaker from the world. The sibilance in "silent, silver, still" creates a hushing, almost suffocating quiet, as though the poem itself is being silenced by absence. The shift from regular quatrains to a final, incomplete couplet structurally enacts the incompleteness the speaker feels — the form itself is "broken" by loss.
Mark scheme: AO2 — terminology used precisely (enjambment, caesura, sibilance, quatrain, couplet); each technique linked to specific quotation; effect explored with subject terminology ("enacting," "compounded"); connections made between structure and meaning.
📊 AO Deep Dive
Assessment Objective Analysis
AO2: Analyse language, form, and structure — This is the core of poetry terminology. At grade 5, students identify techniques and give basic effects ("alliteration makes it stand out"). At grade 7, students link techniques to specific meanings with precise quotations and explore multiple possible effects. At grade 9, students demonstrate synoptic thinking — they show how multiple techniques work together to create a cumulative effect, and how structural choices (form, stanza pattern, meter) interact with language choices to shape meaning. A grade 9 response doesn't just say "the poet uses enjambment" — it explains how enjambment combined with a shift from iambic to trochaic meter enacts a disruption in the speaker's emotional state.
📝 Exam Questions by Topic
🎬 Video Resources
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