Poetry Terms

alliteration

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words

allusion

an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.

analogy

a comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification

apostrophe

a punctuation mark ( ’ ) used to indicate either possession (e.g., Harry's book ; boys' coats ) or the omission of letters or numbers (e.g., can't ; he's ; class of ’99 ).: "a brief lecture on the correct use of apostrophes" "misplaced commas and apostrophes may be acceptable in text messages"

assonance

the repetition of the sound of a vowel or diphthong in non rhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible (e.g., penitence, reticence )

caesura

a break between words within a metrical foot

conceit

a fanciful expression in writing or speech; an elaborate metaphor.

connotation

an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.: "the word “discipline” has unhappy connotations of punishment and repression" "the work functions both by analogy and by connotation"

denotation

the literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests.: "beyond their immediate denotation, the words have a connotative power"

consonance

agreement or compatibility between opinions or actions

couplet

two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit

diction

the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing.: "Wordsworth campaigned against exaggerated poetic diction"

ellipis

the omission from speech or writing of a word or words that are superfluous or able to be understood from contextual clues

end stopped line

A metrical line ending at a grammatical boundary or break—such as a dash or closing parenthesis—or with punctuation such as a colon, a semicolon, or a period. A line is considered end-stopped, too, if it contains a complete phrase

figurative language

A form of language use in which writers and speakers convey something other than the literal meaning of their words.

figure of speech

a word or phrase used in a non-literal sense for rhetorical or vivid effect

foot

Marking the rhythm of a poem, dividing poetry into smaller chunks based on rhythm.

iamb

a metrical foot consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable

u/ Away

truchee

a foot consisting of one long or stressed syllable followed by one short or unstressed syllable

/u Only

anapest

a metrical foot consisting of two short or unstressed syllables followed by one long or stressed syllable

uu/ Intervene

dactyl

a metrical foot consisting of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables or (in Greek and Latin) one long syllable followed by two short syllables

 /uu Happily

hyperbole

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.: "he vowed revenge with oaths and hyperboles" "you can't accuse us of hyperbole

iambic pentameter

a line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable, for example Two households, both alike in dignity

imagery

visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work

inversion

changing the usual word order of speech, is often linked to the need to maintain a rhythm or to find a rhyme

lyric

a poem of a type that expresses the writer's emotions, typically briefly and in stanzas or recognized forms; a lyric poem.: "an edition of Horace's Lyrics"

metaphor

a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable

meter

the rhythm of a piece of poetry, determined by the number and length of feet in a line.: "the Horatian ode has an intricate governing meter" "unexpected changes of stress and meter"

metonymy

the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant, for example suit for business executive, or the track for horse racing

motif

a decorative design or pattern

octave

a poem or stanza of eight lines; an octet

ode

a lyric poem in the form of an address to a particular subject, often elevated in style or manner and written in varied or irregular meter

onomatopoeia

the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g. cuckoo, sizzle ).:

oxymoron

a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction (e.g. faith unfaithful kept him falsely true ).: "that fashionable rhetorical novelty, the humblebrag, is itself an oxymoron" "the oxymoron forces together two terms which are seemingly incompatible

paradox

a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.: "in a paradox, he has discovered that stepping back from his job has increased the rewards he gleans from it"

parallelism

the state of being parallel or of corresponding in some way.: "Greek thinkers who believed in the parallelism of microcosm and macrocosm"

personification

the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form

quatrain

a stanza of four lines, especially one having alternate rhymes

refrain

a repeated line or number of lines in a poem or song, typically at the end of each verse

rhyme

correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words, especially when these are used at the ends of lines of poetry.: "poetic features such as rhythm, rhyme, and alliteration"

slant rhyme

a type of rhyme with words that have similar, but not identical sounds. \\formed by words with identical consonants and different vowels, or vice versa. “Worm” and “swarm”

rhythm

a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.: "Ruth listened to the rhythm of his breathing"

run on line

enjambment (/ɛnˈdʒæmbmənt/ or /ɪnˈdʒæmmənt/; from the French enjamber) is incomplete syntax at the end of a line; the meaning 'runs over' or 'steps over' from one poetic line to the next, without punctuation. Lines without enjambment are end-stopped

sestet

the last six lines of a sonnet

simile

a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid

sonnet

a poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line

stanza

a group of lines forming the basic recurring metrical unit in a poem; a verse

symbol

a thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.

synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, as in Cleveland won by six runs

triplet

rather rare stanza form in poetry and is basically three lines that rhyme. It is a type of tercet, or three-lined stanza or poem

understatement

deliberately downplays a situation's importance and that writers often use it to achieve an ironic or humorous effect.

verse

has rhythm and rhyme

blank verse

has rhythm, but no rhyme

free verse

doesn’t have rhythm or rhyme