Welcome to Technique Town poetry explorers! Here we will learn all about different poetry techniques you can add to your writing to boost the power of your poetry. I’ll give you an example of the technique in action to help you along. As always I have a quiz for you to test what you’ve learnt at this stop. You can then travel on to Workshop Wilderness and practise all you have learnt, how exciting!
Alliteration
Alliteration uses a repeated constant sound and this effect can be quite striking:
‘Small, sharp scratches scraped at her side’.
Assonance
Assonance repeats a significant vowel or vowel sound to create an impact:
‘The pool looked cool’.
Consonance
Consonance is when there is repetition of consonant sounds (a consonant is any letter that isn’t a vowel) anywhere in the words, for example:
‘Deep puddles meant muddy footprints’.
Enjambment
This means you don’t use punctuation at the end of your line, you simply let the line flow on to the next one.
It is commonly used and is a good word to drop into your homework!
Hyperbole
Hyperbole means a great exaggeration, for example:
‘He ate a mountain of mashed potatoes’
or
‘She cried a river of tears’.
Imagery
To use words to create mental pictures of what you are trying to convey, your poem should awaken the senses and make the reader feel like they are in that poetic scene:
‘The sky was streaked with pink and red as shadows cast across the once-golden sand’.
‘The sea gently lapped the shore as the palm trees rustled softly in the evening breeze’.
Metaphors & Similes
A metaphor is when you describe your subject as something else, for example:
‘Winter is a cruel master leaving the servants in a bleak wilderness’
whereas a simile describes your subject like something else, for example:
‘His blue eyes were like ice-cold puddles’ or ‘The flames flickered like eyelashes’.
Onomatopoeia
This simply means you use words that sound like the noise you are describing, for example:
‘The rain pattered on the window’
or
‘The tin can clattered up the alley’.
Personification
This is to give a personality to something that is not human, for example:
‘Fear spreads his uneasiness around’ or ‘Summer spreads her warm sunrays’.
Repetition
By repeating a significant word, the echo effect can be a very powerful way of enhancing an emotion or point your poem is putting across.
‘The storm raged on, on, on,
Never ceasing,
Never caring
About the destruction,
The destruction it caused’.
Rhyme
Rhyme has two techniques end rhyme and internal rhyme. End rhyme is sound alike endings of words and internal rhyme is where two or more words rhyme on the same line.
Example of end rhyme:
‘Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall’.
Example of internal rhyme:
‘The rain in Spain fell mainly on the plain’.
Rhythm & Metre
The rhythm of a poem means ‘the beat’, the sense of movement you create. The placing of punctuation and the use of syllables affect the rhythm of the poem.
If your intention is to have your poem read slowly, use double, triple or larger syllables and punctuate more often, whereas if you want to have a fast-paced read, use single syllables, less punctuation and shorter sentences.
If you have a regular rhythm throughout your poem, this is known as metre.
Tone & Lyric
The poet’s intention is expressed through their tone. You may feel happy, angry, confused, jealousy or admiration for your poetic subject. Are you criticising or praising?
How you feel about your topic will affect your choice of words and therefore your tone, for example: ‘I loved her’ ‘I cared for her’ ‘I liked her’. If you write the poem from a personal view or experience, this is referred to as a lyrical poem.
A good example of a lyrical poem is Seamus Heaney’s ‘Mid-term Break’ or any sonnet!
Use of powerful Verbs and Adjectives
Using powerful verbs and adjectives will make any work more descriptive.
For example, ‘The man went to the shops’ can be made much more interesting by saying ‘The old, wrinkled man hobbled to the shops’.
Try it, it will certainly bring your poetry to life!
Upload Your Poems
If you would like to submit a poem now, fill in the form below and click on 'upload poem' to attach your work. Please ensure your name, age and postal address is on the copy of the poem before you upload it. (Please note that every Poetry Express station offers the option of uploading, so you can do it further into your journey.)
We will confirm receipt of entries that are uploaded or emailed to us.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
