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Technical terms for writing about poetry

Stanza is the proper word for a verse.

A couplet is a two-line stanza

A triplet is a three-line stanza.

A quatrain is a four-line stanza.

Alliteration is the repetition of consonants.

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds.

Onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like what it means.

Caesura is a pause in mid-line, often with commas.

Enjambment helps emphasize meaning by extending a sentence from one line of poetry into the next one.

Rhythm is the arrangement of words alternating stressed and unstressed elements.

Simile is a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with 'like' or 'as').

Metaphor is a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance by comparison not using like or as.

Syntax is the order of words.

Pace is how quick/slow/clunky/graceful the words actually sound.

Tone is what feeling the words are spoken with (e.g. anger, happiness, fear, etc...).

A dramatic monologue is a poem written in the first person that deals with a specific situation and involves some sort of revelation by the speaker. More types of poems -- Ballads, elegies, free verse and sonnets-- see this post.

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