Elements of Poetry

Alliteration
Alliteration occurs when the initial sounds of a word, beginning either
with a consonant or a vowel, are repeated in close succession.

Examples:
Lucy loves luscious lemon lollypops at lunchtime.
She sell seashells by the seashore.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, if Peter Piper picked a peck
of pickled peppers, where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper
picked?

Note that the words only have to be close to one another: Alliteration
that repeats and attempts to connect a number of words is little more
than a tongue-twister.

Image
Think of an image as a picture or a sculpture. Literal images appeal to our
sense of realistic perception, like a painting that looks "just like a
photograph." There are also figurative images that appeal to our
imagination, like a Picasso painting that looks only vaguely like a person
but that implies a certain mood.

Metaphor
Metaphor is a comparison which does not use the words like or as. Closely
related to similes, metaphors immediately identify one object or idea
with another, in one or more aspects. Like a simile, a metaphor expands
the sense and clarifies the meaning of something. "He's such a pig," you
might say, and the listener wouldn't immediately think, "My friend has an
actual pig for a boyfriend," but rather, "My friend has a human boyfriend
who is (a) a slob, (b) a fast, messy eater, (c) someone with crude
attitudes or tastes, or (d) a chauvinist." In any case, it would be clear
that the speaker wasn't paying her boyfriend a compliment, but unless
she clarifies the metaphor, you might have to ask, "In what sense?"
Onomatopoeia
Words that sound like their meaning. For example, buzz, moo, pow.

Repetitions
The repetition of the same word throughout the poem to emphasize
significance.

Rhyme
The basic definition of rhyme is two words that sound alike. The vowel
sound of two words is the same, but the initial consonant sound is
different. Rhyme is perhaps the most recognizable convention of poetry.
Rhyme helps to unify a poem; it also repeats a sound that links one
concept to another, thus helping to determine the structure of a poem.
When two subsequent lines rhyme, it is likely that they are thematically
linked, or that the next set of rhymed lines signifies a slight departure.
There are varieties of rhyme: internal rhyme functions within a line of
poetry, for example, while the more common end rhyme occurs at the end
of the line and at the end of some other line, usually within the same
stanza if not in subsequent lines. There are true rhymes (bear, care) and
slant rhymes (lying, mine).

Rhythm
The flow of words within each meter and stanza. Rhythm is significant in
poetry because poetry is so emotionally charged and intense. Rhythm can
be measured in terms of heavily stressed to less stressed syllables.

Simile
Have you ever noticed how many times your friends say, "It's like . . ." or
"I'm like . . . "? They aren't always creating similes, but they are
attempting to simulate something (often a conversation). The word like
signifies a direct comparison between two things that are alike in a
certain way. Usually one of the elements of a simile is concrete and the
other abstract. "Love is like a rose" is a simile. Sometimes similes force
us to consider how the two things being compared are dissimilar, but the
relationship between two dissimilar things can break down easily, so
similes must be created delicately and carefully.

Style
The way the poem is written. Free-style, ballad, haiku, etc. Includes
length of meters, number of stanzas along with rhyme techniques and
rhythm.

Symbol
A symbol works two ways: It is something itself, and it also suggests
something deeper. It is crucial to distinguish a symbol from a metaphor:
Metaphors are comparisons between two seemingly dissimilar things ;
symbols associate two things, but their meaning is both literal and
figurative. A metaphor might read, "His life was an oak tree that had just
lost its leaves"; a symbol might be the oak tree itself, which would evoke
the cycle of death and rebirth through the loss and growth of leaves.
Some symbols have widespread, commonly accepted values that most
readers should recognize: a golden arch symbolises fast food; ravens
signify death; doves are associated with peace. Yet none of these
associations is absolute, and all of them are really determined by
individual cultures and time (would an ancient Greek recognize the golden
arch?). No symbols have absolute meanings, and, by their nature, we
cannot read them at face value. One should begin by asking what they
could mean, or what they have meant in the past.

Theme
Theme is the message, point of view, and controlling idea of the poem.
The controlling idea of a poem is the idea continuously developed
throughout the poem by sets of key words that identify the poet's
subject and his attitude or feeling about it.  It may also be suggested by
the title of a poem or by segment of the poem.  It is rarely stated
explicitly by the poet, but it can be stated by the reader. 
Tone
The tone of a poem is roughly equivalent to the mood it creates in the
reader. Think of an actor reading a line such as "I could kill you." He can
read it in a few different ways: If he thinks the proper tone is
murderous anger, he might scream the line and cause the veins to bulge in
his neck. He might assume the tone of cool power and murmur the line in
a low, even voice. Maybe he does not mean the words at all and laughs as
he says them. Much depends on interpretation, of course, but the play
will give the actor clues about the tone just as a poem gives its readers
clues about how to feel about it. The tone may be based on a number of
other conventions that the poem uses. If you find a poem exhilarating,
maybe it's because the meter mimics galloping. If you find a poem
depressing, that may be because it contains shadowy imagery. Tone is not
in any way separated from the other elements of poetry; it is directly
dependent on them.

Word Order
Poetry can be like a recipe. If you were making a cake, you would first
mix the dry ingredients together; then you would cream butter and sugar
together, then add eggs, then stir the dry ingredients in. Why wouldn't
you just drop all of the ingredients into a big bowl at the same time and
mix? You'd end up with a lumpy mess, and no one wants a cake, or a poem,
to be a lumpy mess. Word order matters—sometimes for clarity of
meaning (a solo guitar isn't the same as a guitar solo) and sometimes for
effect ("a dying man" is roughly the same as "a man, dying"). There are
many different ways to order words and communicate approximately the
same meaning, so readers should always question why poets have chosen a
particular order, whether the choice is conventional or just the opposite.