Poetry Terms For Beginners

If you are new to writing poetry, and have just started posting your work online, feedback by others can be confusing. Often, they will use terms you might not be familiar with. Don't worry, this happened to just about all of us.

This article covers some common terms. It is by no means a complete guide. It is my hope that it will help you make sense of reviews and critiques, and that it's a first step into your exploration of the world of writing.

Stanza

A stanza is a collection of lines within the poem. You could see it as a group of lines that form a division within the piece. The lines belong together, and tend to be used to get across a certain feeling, emotion or image to the reader. Often, a poem will have at least two stanzas. Each stanza tends to follow a similar pattern of meter and rhyme to the other stanzas.

Imagery

Imagery is used in poetry to help the reader experience the piece. A simple, common way to explain it is that you are painting a picture with your words. It's what can make poetry such a powerful experience for the reader - you're helping them imagine what you had in mind when writing your poem.

Often, a poet will include the five senses in their work. Incorporating sight, smell, taste, sound and touch aids the overall enjoyment and understanding of what you, as a writer, are saying.

Rhyme

Rhyme is often (but not always) used in poetry. It tends to aid the overall reading experience and can help make a piece memorable. Rhyme is the use of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or more words.

Many poetry forms use a certain rhyming scheme, which is often indicated by using different letters for each final sound. A pattern of abab, for example, tells the poet that the final words of lines one and three should rhyme with the other, and that the same goes for the final words for lines two and four.

Meter

The meter indicates the amount of syllables to be used in a line of poetry, as well as the rhythm that should be used. Some poetic forms make use of a certain pattern of stressed syllables.

Syllables

Syllables are often compared to "building blocks" of words. Each word contains at least one syllable. In poetry, syllable counts are used to create the desired rhythm and flow of the poem.

Many forms, such as the Haiku, have rules about how many syllables to use per line. You will find that if one or two lines in your poem have far more syllables than the other lines, the rhythm and flow of the piece is significantly affected. Therefore, it is always helpful to keep a balanced syllable count throughout your poem.