Because poetry tends to be an especially musical form of writing, there are a number of words that poets use to talk about their particular techniques. Here is some vocabulary to help you discuss the music of your poetry. Enjoy!

Alliteration
Repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words.
 
Anapest
Two unaccented syllables followed by an accented one, as in un-der-STAND.

Assonance
Repetition of similar vowel sounds.
 
Caesura
A pause within a line.

Dactyl
A stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones, as in SHUD-der-ing.

Diction
The selection of words in a literary work—for example, if a narrator says blood-red, that selection has different connotations than rose-red, even though the colors may be similar. 
 
Elision
The omission of an unstressed vowel or syllable—such as o’er for over.

Falling meter
Meters that move (or fall) from stressed syllables to unstressed syllables.

Foot
A unit of measure in a metrical line; syllables included in a kind of musical bar or measure.

Iamb (as in Iambic)
An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one, as in at-TEMPT.

Meter
The pattern of accents in poems.

Onomatopoeia
Words that imitate the sounds they describe.

Pyrrhic
A metrical foot composed of two unstressed syllables (as in for the).

Rhyme
Matching sounds in two or more words.
 
Rhythm
The repetition of accents or stresses.

Rising meter
Poetic meters that move (or ascend) from unstressed to stressed.

Spondee
A metrical foot represented by two stressed syllables.
 
Style
The way an author selects and arranges words, and develops ideas using literary techniques.

Syntax
The order of words.
 
Tone
The writer’s attitude implicitly conveyed through diction, syntax, etc.
 
Trochee
Accented syllable followed by an unaccented one, as in MAY-be.

Guest writer Ruth Gilbo writes in Tennessee and is the administrator of Poets Contest Corner (http://poetscontestcorner.blogspot.com), a weblog dedicated to the encouragement of poets and their craft.

Free verse is not poetry without form or rules. It is not written as an essay and then broken into lines. The final form is not what makes it a poem; it is the simultaneous collaboration of vocabulary, punctuation, and line break. Proper use of the tools of poetry helps to mold a piece to its final state. Simply brainstorming, then adding line breaks does not constitute a poem.

Free verse is a challenging form that utilizes the natural cadences of common speech to create rhythm in lieu of the strict usage of meter found in classic forms. Free verse is the breaking of some old rules and the utilization of new tools, not the elimination of any and all rules.

Free verse often uses the natural cadence of speech to determine the length of each line in order to bring each new thought to its natural end or pause. The tools used to do this are the line stop (established by punctuation) or enjambment (inserting a strategic line break). Enjambment must have purpose and is not to be arbitrarily employed. It should be used to pull the reader through a short line to the next, where the thought can end on a weighty word capable of making the reader pause to absorb what has just been said. Or it will cause the line to end on an article (so on the following line be sure to use a word with some weight that is capable of carrying the reader through to the natural stop). When used skillfully, enjambment will not only carry the reader’s attention through the poem, but will create tension in the piece that complements the connotations, imagery, or metaphors intended by the author.

The authors of 20th-century free verse supervened the use of end-of-line rhyming schemes, but employed the internally natural rhyming methods of repetitive sound, such as alliteration, assonance, consonance, and internal rhyme. If used skillfully, these tools not only give the reader the sense of the poem's music, but they have a practical purpose as well. To slow the reader down, try using S-L combinations: Sally slipped through flattened sheets. To make the writer pause and digest, try hard consonant sounds: He became Canadian bound.

One more note: Articles and conjunctions, like it and and, should always be used in proportion to their use in common speech. When read aloud a poem with too many ands sounds like a 1970s Valley Girl spewing “like” as she talks. It’s not natural; it takes away from the meat of the poem; it sounds like a “filler” for use in maintaining cadence; it feels forced; and, well, it’s just plain annoying.

Read more about poetry:

Poetics: Free vs. Formal Verse

How To Publish A Poetry Book, Chapbook, Or Collection Of Poems

Jokes About Poetry

How To Get Your Poetry Published

Spotlight on Poetry

The Seduction of Poetry Contest Scams

Fostering Originality In Poetry

Poetry: Finding Your Inspiration

REMEMBER TO CHECK OUT OUR LIST OF WRITING CONTESTS and ANTHOLOGIES! You won’t find a better list anywhere (AND IT’S FREE!) of upcoming anthologies, special-themed journals, and contests. Find it by visiting:
http://www.writersreliefblog.com/post/Anthologies-Contests.aspx 

If you’ve written so many poems that you’re interested in publishing your poetry as a book of poems, as a chapbook, or as a collection of poems, there are a number of ways you can get a book of poems published. But before we tell you how to publish your poetry book, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

First, poets approach Writer’s Relief every day asking us how we can help them make money on their poetry. The unfortunate truth is that it’s not very likely you’ll make a significant amount of money by publishing your book of poetry. Traditional, big publishing houses typically do not publish the work of unknown or moderately known poets because there simply isn’t a large audience that is willing to plunk down money for poetry. And because there’s no money in poetry, agents tend not to represent poets (with the exception of the very famous). So that’s the bad news.

But the good news is that poetry readers and writers have created a strong alternative market to big New York publishing houses. And if you’ve got time, talent, and luck, you may be able to get your book of poems published and maybe even make some money on your poetry. It's best to have a solid list of publication credits for your individual poems before you start asking people to publish your poems en masse. If your bio is strong and testifies to your skill, here are some ways to publish your poetry chapbook or collection of poems:

Enter chapbook contests. If you’ve amassed a collection of poems that might not be long enough for a full poetry book, you may want to consider entering a chapbook contest. Although the rules vary, chapbook contests generally want between 25 and 60 pages of poetry. Most chapbook contests are sponsored by universities or small presses, so while there may be an entry fee, there is also usually a payout for the winner in the form of publication and a monetary prize. If your poems are very strong, entering chapbook contests might be a good way to get your poetry chapbook or collection published.

Approach small presses. If your collection of poetry is too big for a chapbook, you may consider approaching small presses (independent publishers) with your poems. To do this, you’ll need to have strong publishing credentials. You can learn more about how to get publishing credentials at these links: Building Publication Credits and No Publishing Credits? Get Publishing Credentials: How To Build Up Your Writing Bio Super Fast. Universities and small presses are the heart of contemporary poetry, so do the proper research and send your queries their way.

Self-publish. If you have not had your individual poems published in reputable magazines, and you don’t have the patience that it takes to develop a good submission strategy, you might want to consider self-publishing. Just be aware that self-publishing requires you do all the legwork regarding distribution. Your book will not appear on bookshelves unless you do something to get it there. If you’d like a way to easily share your poetry with your family and friends, self-publishing may be a good option. But if you’re taking the self-publishing route because you think it’s an easier way to reach a large audience, think again. Unless you’re prepared to do lots of legwork and marketing (more than if you’d spent that time developing a strong submission strategy), your book will not reach far and wide. Before you self-publish your collection of poetry, read this: Is Self-Publishing The Easiest Way To Get Published? Decoding The Hype And The Facts.  

Many poets are competing to publish their poems as poetry collections or chapbooks. Even though there isn’t a strong mainstream market for poetry, the “underground” and independent markets are thriving. In order to keep publishing markets open to poets everywhere, consider subscribing to literary magazines and journals, or consider supporting the work of other poets who are publishing in the small-press market. To build more lucrative publishing markets for poetry, read and buy more poetry.

If you’d like help building up your poetry credentials, Writer’s Relief can help you develop a strong submission strategy to publish your individual poems. Our clients publish regularly in the literary magazine and journal markets. Visit our Overview of Services for more information.

What’s the difference between poetry and prose?

First and most obviously, poetry and prose often—though not always—look different on the printed page. A paragraph from a novel is usually distinguishable from a poem made up of couplets or individual, independent lines. Poetry is written or spoken according to a specific pattern (usually a rhythm or meter) and is often embellished with rhyme or other poetic techniques such as alliteration. Prose is written language that does not follow a formal pattern of verse. The line rules in a poem; the sentence rules in prose.

What makes poetry so powerful?

Poetry is like music—it entrances us and makes us sway to its rhythm. Sometimes literally.

Poetry is complex. A good poem can’t be summed up too easily. There are layers of meaning to be discovered and perhaps interpreted differently by different people.

It’s evocative. Poets ache to elicit a response from their readers—they want you to sit up and take notice; to cry; to laugh; to feel disgust or joy. They want you to feel. Oftentimes poems are the product of venting, whether it’s love, grief, or anger. The poet wants to translate these emotions across the page to the reader, if only for a brief moment.

Poetry is freedom. Go ahead and write a carefully metered, rhyming sonnet with the first letter of each line capitalized. Or go free-form and use complicated rhyme schemes and meters. Whatever gets the point across. Punctuation rules fly out the window, and the poet is free to create.

Poetry celebrates our culture and it can be persuasive or educational. It challenges us to think about our world in a new way. Poets can transform a mundane happening into something that makes us say, “I know just what you mean!” or “I never saw it that way before.”

Why is poetry such an attractive form?

Each word of a poem counts. Its placement on the page counts. The interaction of the words and the sounds are purposeful and important. There should be a message, a point, a kernel of truth to be uncovered, prized out like a nut from its shell.

Sometimes an emotion or a message needs to come out, but a short story isn’t the right vehicle. A two-line poem may sum it up perfectly and allow the writer to move on.

Poets also benefit from a huge array of styles, techniques, and forms to work with. There’s a great deal of room for creativity and experimentation involved in poetry, which makes it fun to write and complicated to analyze sometimes.

How do I publish my poetry?

An upcoming issue of our Writers' Newsflash will feature an article on getting your poetry out there to share with others. We’ll cover publishing individual poems, chapbooks, and full-length collections, as well as other publishing issues specific to poetry. A poem may start out as personal and private, but it needs an audience to find its true purpose of expression.