Poetic Devices and Examples

Similes: figures of speech that compares two unlike things, using the words like or as.
"His feet were as big as boats."
Alliteration: the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.
"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."
Metaphor: a figure of speech that compares two unlike things directly, without the use of like or as.
"Her hair is silk."
Personification: assigning human qualities to non-human things.
"The tropical storm slept for two days."
Onomatopoeia: words that imitate sounds.
"Boom. Gurgle. Plink."
Hyperbole: an expression of exaggeration.
"I nearly died laughing."
Symbolism: using an object to represent an idea. A symbol means what it is and also something more.
Lions often symbolize royalty.
Puns: words with a humorous double meaning, a "play on words."
"A dog not only has a fur coat but also pants."
Idioms: expressions that have a meaning apart from the meanings of the individual words.
"It's raining cats and dogs."
Foot: the time period into which the beat of the poetic line is divided. A foot is made up of several syllables, some long and some short. Meter: refers to how the feet are put together to form lines of poetry. The combinations of long and short syllables give poetry a musical feel. Rhythm: the pattern of long and short syllables in a poetic line. In modern poetry, some words receive greater vocal emphasis than others.

Lyrics: what poets write, the actual words used to form the framework of rhythm and meter. Mood: the overall feeling the poem creates. Mood, or tone, for example, can be playful, sad, lonely, angry or joyful.