| Term | Definition |
| onomatopoeia | sound words |
| metaphor | comparison of unlike things without like or as |
| simile | comparison of unlike things using like or as |
| oxymoron | using opposites together for effect |
| hyperbole | extreme exaggeration |
| assonance | echoing a specific vowel sound in words close together |
| consonance | echoing an internal consonant sound in words close together |
| alliteration | the repetition of the beginning consonant in words close together |
| personification | giving human traits to non-human things |
| rhythm | a patterned beat in a poem |
| rhyme | words ending in the same sound unit |
| internal rhyme | two or more words within a line rhyme |
| end rhyme | words at the end of lines of poetry rhyme |
| rhyme scheme | the pattern of end rhyme in a poem |
| extended metaphor | a metaphor that continues for many lines or even the entire poem |