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