AP Lit Common Poetry Terms

Caesura

a purposeful, midline pause in a poem; usually uses punctuation

Catalexis

incompleteness of the last foot of a line or stanza of poetry

End-stoppage

a line of poetry in which the reader is meant to pause at the end of the line

Enjambment

a line of poetry which is not end-stopped, in which the thought continues into the next line without any pause

Feminine Ending

when a line ends on an unstressed syllable

Foot

a basic repeated sequence of meter comprised of two or more accented ( ´ ) or unaccented ( ˘ ) syllables.

iamb

2-syllable foot: ˘ ´ (ex: destroy)

Masculine Ending

when a line ends on a stressed syllable

Meter

arrangement of accented and unaccented syllables (ex: iambic pentameter)

Prosody

a term that refers to the technical aspects of verse (meter, rhythm, stress)

Alliteration

repetition of initial consonant sounds

Assonance

repetition of internal vowel sounds

Cosonance

repetition of final consonant sounds (as opposed to alliteration’s repetition of Initial sounds)

End Rhyme

rhyme that occurs at the end of lines of poetry; denoted with letters of the alphabet to signify which lines rhyme (ex: abba abba)

Eye Rhyme

rhyme in which words are spelled similarly but pronounced differently. (ex: through and rough)

Half-Rhyme

“almost” rhyming; AKA Imperfect, slant, approximate or off rhyme

Internal Rhyme

rhyme that occurs within the middle of lines of poetry

Onomatopoeia

words that sound like the idea or thing they represent

Perfect Rhyme

when the end sounds of nearby words match perfectly (ex. Cat and sat; chunky and monkey)

Repetition

the reiterating of a word or phrase within a poem

Rhyme

The repetition of the end sounds of nearby words

Rhyme Scheme

the controlling pattern or sequence in which rhyme occurs in a poem

Blank Verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter (meant to mimic actual speech patterns)

Quatrain

four lines

Couplet

two lines with end rhyme

Free Verse

poetry that does not use consistent meter or regular rhyme scheme

Heroic Couplet

two lines of rhyming iambic pentameter

Lyric Poetry

a poem in which a speaker expresses what they feel, perceive or think; can be very diverse in topic, style, or form; usually short; usually first-person speakers

Refrain

a repeating stanza or line

Sestet

six lines

Stanza

a grouping of lines of poetry, indicated by an empty space before the next one begins

Octave

eight lines