poetic device: Repetition

Repetition in poetry is when you repeat individual words, phrases, lines, or entire stanzas throughout the poem. Repetition gives extra strength or emphasis to the idea being repeated.

For example, you might start all of many of the lines of a poem with the same words, such as “I’ll never” or “I can’t wait for.” Or you might repeat a single line more than once to emphasize the point, as in the ending of Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” You can even repeat an entire stanza more than once; this is called a chorus or a refrain.

If you would like to write your own repetition poems, read this fun poetry-writing lesson.

All of these poems include repetition. Read a few and see if you like repetition in poems.

I Helped My Mom Make Dinner by Kenn Nesbitt
I Helped My Mom Make Dinner
Thank You, Thanksgiving by Kenn Nesbitt
Thank You, Thanksgiving
Online Christmas by Kenn Nesbitt
Online Christmas
The Principal Is Missing
I'd Like to Be a Movie Star by Kenn Nesbitt
I’d Like to Be a Movie Star
Rules for School by Kenn Nesbitt
Rules for School
My Lunch Gave Me a Tummy Ache
You Can Argue with a Tennis Ball
You Can Argue with a Tennis Ball
My Mother Drives Me Everywhere
I Played a Game
My Parents Both Are Humans by Kenn Nesbitt
My Parents Both Are Humans
November is Upon Us by Kenn Nesbitt
November Is upon Us
My World Is Turning Downside-Up by Kenn Nesbitt
My World Is Turning Downside-Up
I Went to a Wishing Well
I Wrote This Little Poem
The Cough
Busy Jack by Kenn Nesbitt
Busy Jack
My Senses All are Backward
I like It When It's Quiet by Kenn Nesbitt
I Like It When It’s Quiet
Liverwurst Pie
Liverwurst Pie
My Kitten's Unable by Kenn Nesbitt
My Kitten’s Unable
I Got a New Game for My Brother by Kenn Nesbitt
I Got a New Game for My Brother
I Built a Big Building
I Tried to Ride a Skateboard