Poetry terms

SOLILOQUY

a long speech made by a character in a play while no other characters are on stage.

MOTIF

a recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work, unifying the work by tying the current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to the theme.

SYNECDOCHE

a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole.

ALLEGORY

story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities.

AMBIGUITY

deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work.

ANAPHORA

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row.

APOSTROPHE

calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing, or a personified abstract idea. If the character is asking a god or goddess for inspiration it is called an invocation.

ASSONANCE

the repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds especially in words that are together.

BALLAD

A short poem that tells a simple story and has a repeated refrain. Ballads were originally intended to be sung.

BLANK VERSE

Poetry written without rhymes, but which retains a set metrical pattern, usually iambic pentameter in English verse.

CACOPHONY

Unpleasant sounds in the jarring juxtaposition of harsh letters or syllables which are grating to the ear, usually inadvertent, but sometimes deliberately used in poetry for effect.

CADENCE

The repeated rhythmical pattern in lines of verse; also, the natural tone or modulation of the voice determined by the alternation of accented or unaccented syllables. 

CONSONANCE (Also known as Half Rhyme or Slant Rhyme)

when words appearing at the ends of two or more verses have similar final consonant sounds but have final vowel sounds that differ, as with "stuff" and "off."

COUPLET

two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry.

ELEGY

A poem of sorrow, praise, and consolation, usually formal and sustained, over the death of a particular person; also, a thoughtful poem in mournful or sorrowful mood

ENJAMBMENT

The continuation of a sentence beyond the end of a line of poetry with no punctuation.

EPIC

a long narrative poem, written in heightened language, which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society.

EPIGRAPH

a quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of the theme.

EPISTROPHE

Device of repetition in which the same expression (single word or phrase) is repeated at the end of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences (it is the opposite of anaphora).

EUPHEMISM

The substitution of a comfortable or inoffensive expression to replace one that might offend or suggest something unpleasant

FOOT

A unit of rhythm or meter; the division in poetry of a group of syllables, one of which is long or accented.

INTERNAL RHYME

Rhyme within a line of poetry instead of at the end

LYRIC POEM

a poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of the speaker.

METER

The repetition of sound patterns that creates a rhythm in poetry.

ODE

a formal, often ceremonious lyric poem that addresses and often celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea.

ONOMATOPOEIA

the use of words whose sounds echo their sense. “Pop.” “Zap.”

PARABLE

a relatively short story that teaches a moral, or lesson about how to lead a good life.

PARADOX

A statement which contains seemingly contradictory elements or appears contrary to common sense, yet can be seen as perhaps, or indeed, true when viewed from another angle

PARALLEL STRUCTURE (parallelism)

the repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures.

QUATRAIN

a poem consisting of four lines, or four lines of a poem that can be considered as a unit

RHYTHM

a rise and fall of the voice produced by the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language.

TERCET

 a unit of three lines of poetry. It can be a poem unto itself or it can occur within a larger poem