Poetry Terms: Structure Flashcards

Anapest

A metrical foot consisting of two unaccented syllables followed by one accented syllable (for example, understand).

Approximate Rhyme (also known as imperfect rhyme, near rhyme, slant rhyme, or oblique rhyme)

A term used for words in a rhyming pattern that have some kind of sound correspondence but are not perfect rhymes (for example, arrayed-said).

Blank Verse

Poetry with a meter, but not rhymed, usually in iambic pentameter.

Caesura

A rhythmical pause in a poetic line or a sentence, often occurring in the middle of a line.

Canto

A sub-division of an epic or narrative poem comparable to a chapter in a novel.

Couplet

Two successive lines, usually in the same meter, linked by rhyme.

Dactyl

A metrical foot consisting of one accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables (i.e. merrily).

End Rhyme

Rhymes that occur at the ends of lines.

End-Stopped Line

A line that ends with a natural speech pause, usually marked by punctuation — the opposite of enjambment.

Enjambment

Moving over from one line to another without a terminating punctuation mark. A line which has no natural speech pause at its end, allowing the sense to flow uninterruptedly into the succeeding line — the opposite of an end-stopped line.

Feminine Rhyme

A rhyme in which the stress is on the penultimate (second from last) syllable of the words (picky, tricky).

Foot

The basic unit used in the scansion or measurement of verse. A foot usually contains one accented syllable and one or two unaccented syllables.

Free Verse

Non-metrical verse. Poetry written in free verse is arranged in lines, may be more or less rhythmical, but has no fixed metrical pattern or expectation.

Half Rhyme (Sometimes called slant rhyme or imperfect rhyme)

Consonance on the final consonants of the words involved.

Heroic Couplet

Poems constructed by a sequence of two lines of (usually rhyming) verse in iambic pentameter.

Iamb

A metrical foot consisting of one unaccented syllable followed by one accented syllable (i.e., rehearse).

Internal Rhyme

A rhyme in which one or both of the rhyme-words occur within the line (usually in the middle).