Allegory is an extended metaphor in which abstract ideas figure as circumstances or persons.

Aen. 4.173-197, where Fama (Rumor) is used in an

allegory.

Alliteration is the repetition of the same letter or consonant sound, usually at the beginning of a series of words.

Aen. 1.124, Interea magno misceri murmure pontum.

Aen.1.55, magno cum murmure montis

English, Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Anaphora is the repetition of the same word (or phrase) at the beginning of several successive clauses for emphasis.

Aen. 10.429, Sternitur Arcadiae proles, sternuntur Etrusci.

Aen. 4.690-691, ter sese attollens cubitoque adnixa leuauit, ter revoluta toro est...

English, Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek, blessed are they who mourn...

Note: In Vergil, Anaphora is often used in combination with Asyndeton.

Anastrophe is the inversion of the normal order of words, such as placing the object of a preposition before the preposition.

Aen. 4.320, te propter.

Catullus: oraculum Jovis inter aestuosi.

Aposiopesis ("a falling silent") is an abrupt failure to complete a sentence, for rhetorical effect; being at a loss for words.

Aen. 1.135, Quos ego-sed motos praestat componere fluctus, (when Neptune decides to suppress his wrath, at least temporarily).

 English: Oh, go to... or or else...

Apostrophe is to address a person or entity not present; generally indicative of strong emotion, especially when accompanied by "O..".

Aen. 10.507, 0 dolor atque decus magnum rediture parenti, (addressed to the dead Pallas).

 Aen 2.240-241, o patria, o duum domus Ilium et incluta bello moenia Dardanidum!

Assonance is the repetition of sounds, usually vowel sounds, within words close to each other.

Aen. 1.217, amissos longo socios sermone...

Catullus 11.3-4, litus ut longe resonante Eoa tunditur unda...

Asyndeton is the lack of connective words or conjunctions (et, que) in a series.

Aen. 1.99-100, saevus ubi Aeacidae telo iacet Hector, ubi ingens / Sarpedon, ubi tot Simois correpta sub undis / scuta virum…

Aen. 12.888, ingens arboreum.

Cicero, petulantibus, impuris, impudicis, aleatoribus....

Caesura is a pause or break in a line of poetry, and is indicated by a double slash (//).

Aen 1.1, Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris

Chiasmus is an arrangement of words in a mirroring, or ABBA, pattern, found most often with pairs of nouns and adjectives.

Aen. 1.184, Navem in conspectu nullam, tres litore cervos;

Aen. 1.209, spem vultu simulat, premit altum corde dolorem.

Ecphrasis is an extended and elaborate description of a work of art, a building, or a natural setting.

Aen. 6.20-33 (describing the scenes on the doors of the temple of Apollo at Cumae).

Aen. 1.159-170, est locus... (describing the harbor of Carthage).

Ellipsis is the omission of one or more words that are necessary to create a grammatically complete expression.

Aen. 1.37, Haec secum (dixit) ...

Aen. 6.122-23, Quid Thesea, magnum / quid memorem Alciden? (where the verb memorem must be employed twice, once in each clause).

Enallage is the transference of an epithet from the word to which it strictly belongs to another word connected with it in thought.

Aen. 10.444, socii cesserunt aequore iusso = socii cesserunt aequore iussi, (where the participle iusso takes the place of the more prosaic iussi.

Note: This definition is sometimes mistakenly given in textbooks and notes for a related but not identical figure of speech, Hypallage. The figure of speech sometimes called Hypallage is identical to Metonymy.

Enjambment is the running over of  a sentence from one verse into another so that closely related words fall in different lines.

Aen. 2.12-13, quamquam animus meminisse horret luctuque refugit / incipiam 

Aen. 4.322-323, exstinctus pudor et, qua sola sidera adibam, / fama prior.

Catullus, gratias tibi maximas / agit pessimus omnium poeta

Epanalepsis is the repetition of a word (often a proper name) in successive clauses or lines of verse for dramatic and/or emotional effect.

Aen. 12.896-97, Nec plura effatus saxum circumspicit ingens, / saxum antiquum ingens, ....

Note: Epanalepsis can sometimes appear in combination with Anaphora and Asyndeton.

Euphemism is the avoidance of a direct, sometimes blunt manner of speaking in favor of a more subtle and sometimes diluted form of expression.

Aen. 1.219, the circumlocution extrema pati instead of the explicit mori.

Hendiadys is the use of two nouns connected by et, ac, atque, or -que, instead of a noun and an adjective.

Aen. 10.422, fortunam atque viam = fortunam viae.

Aen. 1.61, molemque et montes

English, "madness and weapons" instead of "mad weapons".

Hiatus occurs when a final vowel is not elided before a vowel (or h) at the beginning of the next word.

Aen. 4.667, femineo ululatu.  

Aen. 6.507, nomen et arma locum seruant te amice nequiui

Note: Here the vowel in te is not elided, but shortened before the following vowel in imitation of Homer.

Hypallage, also known as (Transferred Epithet) is an epithet which has been transferred from the word to which it strictly belongs to another word connected with it in thought.

Aen. 10.426, tanta caede = tanti viri caede.

Aen. 2.470, exsultat telis et luce coruscus aena:

English, swift-footed Achilles

Hyperbaton is the distanced placement of two words which are logically meant to be understood together.

Aen. 12.941-42, infelix umero cum apparuit alto / balteus,

Note: Here the epithet-noun combination infelix balteus is dislocated, and added emphasis is thus given to each word.

Hyperbole is exaggeration for rhetorical effect.

Aen.1.103, fluctusque ad sidera tollit.

Aen. 1.107, terram inter fluctus aperit.

English, mile-high ice cream cones

Hysteron Proteron is a reversal of the natural or logical order of events, so that the more important idea is given first.

Aen. 2.258-59, inclusos utero Danaos et pinea furtim / laxat claustra Sinon (where the Greeks are said to be released from the horse before it is opened).

Aen. 2.353, moriamur et in media arma ruamus

English, He put on his shoes and socks.

Irony is saying one thing while meaning its opposite, sometimes with the word scilicet (i.e. yeah, right!).

Aen. 4.45, ... Iunone secunda.

Aen. 4.379, scilicet is superis labor est,

English, "Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink ; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink."

Litotes is an understatement used for emphasis, often enhanced by a double negative.

Aen. 6.170, non inferiora secutus.

Aen 1.198, neque enim ignari sumus

Ovid. Amores 9.29, Mars dubinus, nec certa Venus

English, I can't believe it's not butter!

Metaphor is an implied comparison which uses words that suggest a likeness between what is actually being described and something else.

Aen. 1.301, remigio alarum

Aen. 2.265, invadunt urbem somno uinoque sepultam

Aen. 2.529-530, Illum ardens infesto vulnere Pyrrhus insequitur

Metonymy is the substitution of one noun for another which it suggests in order to avoid using commonplace words.

Aen. 10.479, Hic Turnus ferro praefixum robur acuto... iacit ( = hastam)

Aen.1.215, Implentur veteris Bacchi pinguisque ferinae (= vini)

English, Pass me a Kleenex (= tissue)

Onomatopoeia is the use of a single word whose sound suggests its meaning.

Aen. 4.667, Lamentes gemituque et femineo ululatu

Aen. 1.55, magno cum mumure montis

Aen. 12.928-29, totusque remugit mons circum.

English, clicks, cuckoo, meow, quack, bang

Oxymoron is a paradox caused by the use of contradictory words in the same phrase.

Cicero, in Catilinam 1.8, Cum tacent, clamant.

English, definite maybe, pretty ugly, jumbo shrimp, resident alien

Pathetic Fallacy is the attribution of human emotion to inanimate objects.

Aen. 6.53, attonitae magna ora domus, (where the cave itself is awestruck by the presence of the god, when in fact awe is felt by those who observe it).

Note: When used with adjectives, Pathetic Fallacy is a special type of transferred epithet.

Personification is the attribution of human qualities to inanimate objects, animals, or concepts.

Aen. 1.52-54, Aeolus... / luctantes ventos... imperio premit. (The winds are wrestling)

Aen. 1.88-89, Eripiunt subito nubes caelumque diemque / Teucrorum ex oculis; (the clouds snatch away sky and daylight)

Aen. 1.614, sic ore locuta est

English, The flowers danced in the breeze.

Pleonasm is the use of redundant, superfluous, or unnecessary words.

Aen. 2.524, sic ore effata (and thus having spoken with her mouth)

Aen. 4.278, Et... in tenuem ex oculis evanuit auram.

Aen.  4.680-681, Patriosque vocavi / voce deos.

Aen. 6.76, Finem dedit ore loquendi.

English, I saw him do it with my very own eyes.

Polyptoton is the repetition of a noun or pronoun in different cases at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses.

Aen. 6.166, Hectoris hic magni fuerat comes, Hectora circum ...

Aen. 4.83, Illum absens absentem auditque videetque.

Aen. 6.198, Observans quae signa ferant, quo tendere pergant.

Note: Polyptoton is a form of Anaphora, and often is found with Asyndeton.

Polysyndeton is the use of more conjunctions (et, -que, atque, nec) than is needed.

Aen. 1.85-86, una Eurusque Notusque ruunt creberque procellis / Africus ...

Aen. 4.682-683, exstinxti te meque, soror, populumque patresque / Sidonios urbemque tuam.

Praeteritio is saying that one is not going to mention something - thereby mentioning it.

English, Let's not mention my opponent's habit of cheating.

Cicero, Illa nimis antiqua praetereo.

Prolepsis is the use of a word before it is appropriate in the context - "looking forward".

Aen. 6.847-50, Excudent ... ducent ... orabunt ... describent ... dicent, (all used to describe the Romans who will be descended from Aeneas and who are not themselves characters in the Aeneid).

Aen. 1.69, submersasque obrue puppes

English, If my wife finds out, I'm a dead man!

Prosopopoeia is the impersonation of an absent (or imaginary) speaker when speaking for dramatic effect. It is a special type of personification.

Pro Caelio 38, Nihil iam in istam mulierem dico; sed, si esset aliqua dissimilis istius quae se ominibus persolgaret, quae haberet palam decretum semper aliquem, cuius in hortos, domum, Baias iure suo libidines omnium commerent, quae etiam aleret adulescentes et parsimoniam patrum suis sumptibus sustineret; si vidua libere, proterva petulanter; dives effuse, libidinosa meretricio more viveret, adulterum ego putarem si quis hanc paulo liberius salutasset? 

Rhetorical question is a question that anticipates no real answer.

Aen. 10.793: "Quae iam finis edt, coniunx?" (Jupiter to Juno)

Simile is an expressed comparison introduced by words such as "like" or "as" (qualis, similis, ut, velut, veluti, ...).  

Aen. 10.454-56, utque leo, specula cum vidit ab alta ... haud alia est Turni venientis imago.

Aen.1.82, velut agimine facto

Aen. 2.223-224, Quasi mugitus, fugit cum saucius aram / taurus

Note: Also see extended similies at Aen1.430-436 and Aen.1.149-154.

Synchysis is interlocking word order; many variations on the pattern abAB exist (such as adj. a, adj. b, noun A, noun B).

Aen. 4.388, His medium dictis sermonem.

Aen.1.4, Saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram.

Synecdoche is the use of a part for the whole, or the reverse, such as using "roof" instead of "house".

Aen. 10.430, et vos, o Grais imperdita corpora, Teucri, (where corpora is used of persons).

Aen. 2.440, sic Martem indomitum Danaosque ad tecta ruentis

English, You should see my new wheels (instead of car)

Synizesis is a metrical effect whereby two contiguous vowels within the same word and normally pronounced separately are slurred into one syllable.

Aen. 1.120, Ilionei, (where the last two vowels, normally pronounced as a short vowel followed by a long, become one long vowel).

Tmesis ("splitting”) is the separation into two parts of a compound word for a visual effect or metrical convenience.

Aen. 2.218-19, bis collo squamea circum / terga dati, (where circum + dati = circumdati; the word terga is literally "surrounded" by the two parts of circumdati).

Aen. 6.892, et quo quemque modo fugiatque feratque laborem (for quomodo)

Transferred Epithet (also known as Hypallage) is an epithet which has been transferred from the word to which it strictly belongs to another word connected with it in thought.

Aen. 10.426, tanta caede = tanti viri caede.

Aen. 2.470, exsultat telis et luce coruscus aena:

English, swift-footed Achilles

Tricolon crescens is the accumulation of three parallel phrases or clauses, each of which is longer or stronger than that preceding it.

Aen. 4.307-8, Nec te noster amor [6 syllables] nec te data dextera quondam [9 syllables] / nec moritura tenet crudeli funere Dido? [15 syllables].

Aen. 4.381, i, sequere Italiam uentis, pete regna per undas.

Note: Trieolon crescens is often found in combination with Anaphora and Asyndeton.

Zeugma is the joining of two words by a modifying or governing word which strictly applies to only one of them.

Aen. 12.898, limes agro positus litem ut discerneret arvis, (where zeugma occurs in the use of the verb discerneret with both litem and arvis: the boundary stone settles disagreements by dividing the fields).

English, The farmers grew potatoes, peanuts, and bored.

Aen. 1.355-356, crudeles aras traiectaque pectora ferro / nudavit