Poetry Terms Part II

Analogy

A comparison of two unrelated objects that reveals their shared qualities is often used to explain an unfamiliar subject or concept in terms that are more familiar to an audience.

Anaphora

The repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines to create a sonic effect.

Archaic Language

The deliberate use of outdated words, phrases, or grammatical structures

Archetype

A basic model from which copies are made; a prototype. May also be images or characters, such as the hero, the lover, the wanderer, or the matriarch.

Ars Poetica

A poem that explains the “art of poetry,” or a meditation on poetry using the form and techniques of a poem.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds without repeating consonants; sometimes called vowel rhyme.

Atmosphere

A mood or emotional tone evoked by the description of the setting within a literary work.

Cadence

The patterning of rhythm in natural speech, or in poetry without a distinct meter (Example: free verse).

Carpe Diem

In Latin, “Seize the day.” A genre urging readers to maximize the present, as life is short and fleeting.

Consonance

The repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds within nearby words, usually in the middle or at the end of words.

Ekphrastic Poetry

“Description” in Greek. It is a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art.

End-Stopped Line

A line that concludes with a natural pause, typically marked by punctuation like a period, comma, semicolon, or colon.

English Sonnet

(Also called Shakespearean) A 14-line poem written in iambic pentameter, characterized by a specific structure of three quatrains and a concluding couplet.

Epigraph

A quotation from another literary work that is placed beneath the title at the beginning of a poem or section of a poem.

Eulogy

A speech, or short piece of writing, created in honor of someone who has recently died.

Extended Metaphor

A comparison of two unrelated things that focus on traits, qualities, or characteristics throughout a text.

Ghazal

Originally an Arabic verse form dealing with loss and romantic love, medieval Persian poets embraced it, eventually making it their own.

Iambic Pentameter

A poetic meter that has a line of five beats, where there’s a beat that lands on every other syllable, and in which a beat can be either pulled back one syllable or pushed forward one syllable under certain conditions.

Internal Rhyme

(Also called Middle) A poetic device where a word within a line rhymes with another word in the same line or in the nearby lines.

Italian Sonnet

(Also called Petrarchan) A poetic form that consists of 14 lines and follows an initial rhyme scheme of ABBAABBA. It’s divided into an octave and a sestet & they use iambic pentameter as well.

Metaphysical Conceit

An extended metaphor that connects two vastly dissimilar things—such as lovers' souls to a drafting compass—to explore complex, abstract emotions.

Minimalism

A style focused on extreme brevity, clarity, and the reduction of language to its essential elements, often leaving ample white space and relying on the reader's interpretation.

Overstatement

(Also called Hyperbole) A literary device that deliberately exaggerates, magnifies, or embellishes a statement beyond its literal truth to emphasize a point, evoke strong emotions, or create comedic, dramatic, or ironic effects.

Pastoral

A genre that idealizes rural life, contrasting simple, tranquil nature with the complexity and corruption of urban existence.

Prose Poem

A hybrid literary form that appears as prose—written in sentences and paragraphs rather than verse lines—but utilizes intense poetic techniques like imagery, metaphor, compression, and rhythm.

Refrain

Recurring or repeating words, sounds, phrases, clauses, or lines in texts to create emphasis or to suggest associations.

Eye Rhyme

(Also called Sight) An imperfect rhyme in which two words are spelled similarly but pronounced differently.

Near Rhyme

A rhyme that describes words with similar (but not identical) sounds. (Also called half or slant)

Slant Rhyme

(Also called Near or Half) A rhyming scheme with words that sound similar but not exactly the same. This can mean that the consonants match, but the vowels do not, or the other way around.

End Rhyme

A rhyme where the final words of two or more lines in a poem have similar sounds.

Petrarchan Sonnet

(Also called Italian) A poetic form that consists of 14 lines and follows an initial rhyme scheme of ABBAABBA. It’s divided into an octave and a sestet & they use iambic pentameter as well.

Run-On Line

(Also called Enjambment) When a sentence, phrase, or clause continues across a line break, stanza, or couplet without terminal punctuation (like a period, comma, or semicolon).

Shift

A change in a character’s thinking, insight, or another literary choice that creates an emphasis or reveals an insight.

Sight Rhyme

(Also known as Eye) A rhyme that appears to rhyme due to visual similarity, but ultimately doesn't sound the same when pronounced.

Sound

The aural quality of words, phrases, and pauses allows readers to hear a text. 

Speaker

The voice that narrates a poem and builds connections between the reader and the text.

Sprung Rhythm

A poetic meter that mimics natural speech by focusing on the number of stressed syllables per line, rather than the total syllable count.

Syntax

The arrangement of words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence.

Verse

Writing arranged in rhythmic lines (often with meter or rhyme)