My thanks to Desiree Villena for the below guest post.

Have you ever heard someone describe rhetorical devices as the salt and pepper of writing? What they mean is that a dash of alliteration or a sprinkle of repetition can add a whole lot of flavor to your words. However, it’s important to remember that rhetorical devices, like seasonings, are best in moderation. That’s why we’re only going to cover five of the strongest rhetorical devices to use in your poetry, paying particular attention to sound and rhythm — a poet’s bread and butter, if you’ll pardon all the metaphors!

1. Rhyme
Being the device most commonly associated with poetry, rhyme has earned itself a bit of a reputation for being elementary. But in my opinion it ain’t a crime to rhyme!

The strictest definition of rhyme is a repetition of sounds in the final stressed syllables and any…