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Understand Terms Used in Poetry

In this worksheet, students learn to recognise and understand some of the terminology used in poetry.

Worksheet Overview

It is good to read poems simply for enjoyment, but learning some of the terms used in poetry can help us to understand what we read.

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This table gives the meaning of some of the terms you will come across when you are learning about poetry.

rhyme

words or lines ending in with the same sound

alliteration

two or more words beginning with the same sound

rhythm

the way words and syllables are either stressed or unstressed in a poem:

Old King Cole was a merry old soul (stressed syllables in bold)

stanza the technical name for a verse: a set of lines grouped together in a poem
verse the name often given to a set of lines grouped together in a poem, but really the word for writing that is in the form of a poem rather than a story
chorus part of a poem or song that is repeated at the end of each stanza
couplet two consecutive lines of poetry (one line straight after the other) that often rhyme

 

In this activity, you will be asked questions about these terms and their meanings. Remember that you can look back at this introduction as often as you like by clicking the Help button.

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