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 Got a New Game for My Brother by Kenn Nesbitt
I Got a New Game for My Brother
I Tried to Ride a Skateboard
My Legs Both Understand Me
Easter Feaster by Kenn Nesbitt
Easter Feaster
How Not to Cook by Kenn Nesbitt
How Not to Cook
Coal in My Stocking
This Poem's Not About a Dog by Kenn Nesbitt
This Poem’s Not About a Dog
What to Remember in School
Today’s My Favorite Holiday
Octopus for Lunch
My Purple Unicorn by Kenn Nesbitt
My Purple Unicorn
Presently Surprised
Thanksgiving Leftovers
Minecraft Mike
Toucan Can-Can by Kenn Nesbitt
Toucan Can-Can
Don't Ever Bite Your Sister by Kenn Nesbitt
Don’t Ever Bite Your Sister
Crazy Over Vegetables by Kenn Nesbitt and Eric Herman
Crazy Over Vegetables
My Smart Family by Kenn Nesbitt
My Smart Family
Something Under My Bed
My Brother's Insistent by Kenn Nesbitt
My Brother’s Insistent
Lefty the Lifter poem by Kenn Nesbitt
Lefty the Lifter
My Kitten's Unable by Kenn Nesbitt
My Kitten’s Unable
Crash Bang Boom by Kenn Nesbitt
Crash! Bang! Boom!
I Went out Exploring by Kenn Nesbitt
I Went out Exploring

Whoa There, Pardner!

Hold your horses! Kenn's the sheriff in these here parts and some of this whistle-stop is off-limits except to his deputies.

Join the posse for just one greenback a month to have the run of the place.

I've got my badge. Let me in! No thanks. I'll vamoose!