6.1 Poetic Forms & Devices

Verse and meter

Spanish poetry counts syllables: the soneto uses 14 hendecasyllabic (11-syllable) lines; the romance uses eight-syllable lines with assonant rhyme. Rima can be consonante or asonante.

Sound devices

Aliteración (alliteration), encabalgamiento (enjambment, when a line runs on), and metáfora and símil (metaphor and simile) are core tools of the poet.

Imagery and symbol

Poets build meaning through imágenes (imagery) and símbolos (symbols). A single image — a rose, the sea, the moon — can carry a poem's whole theme.

Key terms

soneto

a 14-line poem (hendecasyllabic)

romance

ballad: 8-syllable lines, assonant rhyme

rima consonante / asonante

full rhyme / vowel-only rhyme

encabalgamiento

enjambment — a line running on without pause

metáfora / símil

metaphor / simile (símil uses 'como')

Try an AP-style question

An octosyllabic line has…

1. eleven syllables
2. fourteen syllables
3. seven syllables
4. eight syllables