Poetic Meters, Devices, and Forms Lecture Notes

Flashcards covering poetic meters, devices, tones, and various poetic forms such as sonnets, elegies, and ballads based on the lecture transcript.

Iambic rhythm

A meter characterized by an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (re-spect, ex-tent), associated with the name "Irene."

Trochee

A meter where the first syllable is stressed and the second is unstressed (cryp-tic, ap-ple), associated with the name "Tanya."

Spondee

A meter consisting of two equally stressed syllables, such as in the phrase "high on the shore sat the great god Pan," associated with the name "Sue-ann."

Dactyl

A three-syllable foot with one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones (Red were her/lips as the/berry that/grows), associated with the name "Deborah."

Anapest

A three-syllable foot containing two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed one (Reg-u-late), associated with the name "Antionette."

Caesura

Internal pauses within a poem, usually indicated by a period or semicolon, suggesting the speaker is thinking slowly or wants the reader to reflect.

Enjambment

A device that eliminates pauses to create a run-on effect, used to convey the speaker's abundance of feelings.

Free verse

A style of poetry that ignores conventional meter and rhythm.

Blank verse

Poetry that is controlled with meter but does not use rhyme, exemplified by Shakespeare's plays.

Stanzas

A grouping of lines within a poem.

Diction

A poet’s specific choice of words.

Metonymy

A figure of speech where a word or phrase is substituted for something it is closely associated with, such as using "the crown" to refer to a king.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech where a part of something is used to represent the whole physical entity, such as "hired hands" for workers or "Cleveland" for the baseball team.

Allegory

A story or vignette with both literal and figurative meanings that functions as an extended metaphor, such as Animal Farm.

Oxymoron

A self-contradictory phrase or phrase incompatible with reality that usually consists of two words, such as "jumbo shrimp."

Paradox

A self-contradictory statement that makes sense upon reflection and reveals a deeper truth, such as "less is more."

Understatement

A device where the poet lets the action speak for itself.

Litotes

A form of understatement where a positive fact is expressed by denying its negative opposite, such as "You are not a bad teacher."

Hyperbole

A device used for exaggeration, like calling something "the greatest in the world."

Tone

The poet or speaker’s attitude toward the poem's events, the reader, or himself.

Dour

A tone described as stern or gloomy.

Urbane

A polished and sophisticated tone.

Rhapsodic

A tone characterized by ecstatic and extravagant praise.

Eulogistic

A tone involving high praise.

Intemperate

A tone lacking self-control or restraint.

Fervent

A tone expressing great warmth or intensity.

Elegiac

A mournful tone.

Sardonic

A tone that is grimly mocking or scornful.

Cynical

A tone expressing a negative view of human nature.

Flippant

A dismissive or disrespectful tone.

Patronizing

A condescending tone.

Verbal irony

A contrast between what actually exists and what might be.

Narrative Poem

A type of poem that tells all or part of a story.

Dramatic poem

A poem acted out through character dialogue, monologue, or soliloquy.

Lyric Poem

A short poem that is neither dramatic nor narrative, used to express an individual's thoughts, emotions, or state of mind.

Metaphysical Poem

Lyric poems by certain $17^{th}$ century writers (Donne, Marvell, Herbert) that blend emotion with intellectual ingenuity to explore the nature of thought and feeling.

Romantic Poetry

Poetry focusing on inner experience, dreams, nature, the supernatural, and idolizing the individual hero against society; associated with poets like Wordsworth, Keats, and Shelley.

Ballad

A poem originally meant to be sung, telling stories of life, death, or love, typically composed of quatrains with simple rhyme schemes like $abcb$ or $abab$.

Couplet

Two rhymed lines of poetry.

Dramatic monologue

A poem spoken by one person to a silent listener.

Elegy

A melancholic poem or song of mourning and meditation, usually lamenting the dead or the loss of something like youth or love.

Limerick

A poem of $5$ lines with two rhymes, where the third and fourth lines are shorter.

Ode

A celebratory, lyrical, or philosophical poem that pays homage to something the poet holds dear.

Sonnet

A poem of $14$ lines, typically in iambic pentameter with $10$ syllables per line, focused on a single theme.

Villanelle

A $19$-line poem consisting of five three-line stanzas and a concluding quatrain based on two rhymes.

Haiku

A poem following a $5-7-5$ syllable structure.

Spenserian sonnet

A $14$-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme: $ABAB ext{ }BCBC ext{ }CDCD ext{ }EE$.