Poetry Terms

line

a fundamental unit, carrying meaning both horizontally and vertically

stanza

a grouping of lines that forms the main unit of a poem

quatrain

a four line stanza/unit of four lines of verse

octave

eight line stanza (petrarchan sonnet), usually in iambic pentameter

sestet

six line stanza/final six lines of a petrarchan sonnet

refrain

a phrase, line, or set of lines (usually at the end of stanza) repeated at intervals throughout poem

couplet

two line stanza

closed form

fixed structure/pattern

free verse

open form of poetry not dictated by an established form/meter

meter

measured patterns of rhythmic accents in a line of verse

rhyme

correspondence of sounds in words/lines of verse

syntax

arrangement of language/order of words to convey poem’s content

sonnet

14 line poem written in iambic pentameter

enjambment

continuation of sentence/clause across one poetic line break

iambic pentameter

a rising meter form consisting of five pairs of unstressed and stressed accented syllables (five sets of 2 syllables)

connotation

implied/suggested meaning associated w word/phrase

denotation

dictionary meaning of word

diction

choice and use of words and phrases in speech/writing

symbol

object/action that stands for something beyond itself

imagery

language in poem representing one of the five senses

simile

such as, like, as

metaphor

states one object is another object

personification

giving inanimate objects human-like qualities

allusion

a reference to a person, event, literary work outside of the poem

hyperbole

exaggeration for emphasis

tone

conveys author’s attitude toward the subject, speaker, or audience of poem

alliteration

repetition of consonant sounds

assonance

repetition of similar vowels/sounds

irony

contradictions of expectations/knowledge + divided into three types (verbal, situational, dynamic)

paradox

situation/phrase that appears to be contradictory but also contains some measure of truth

juxtaposition

fact of two things being seen/placed close together w contrasting effect

antithesis

literary device that positions opposite ideas parallel to each other

elision

omission, usually by an apostrophe of an unstressed vowel to preserve the meter of a verse - ever + e’er

allegory

narrative/visual representation w an underlying meaning, moral message, political significance

caesura

pause for a beat in the rhythm of a verse, indicated by a line beak/punctuation using by a hyphen

anaphora

technique in which successive phrases/lines begin w the same words, resembling a litany

chiasmus

identical words/phrases that repeat in reversed order

pun

play on words/humorous use of a single sound/word w two or more implied meanings

repetition

repeating same word/phrase

ambiguity

quality of being open to more than one interpretation

synecdoche

part represents a whole

metonymy

substitute name of thing