Poetry Terms

These flashcards cover essential poetry terms to aid in studying for the upcoming test.

Alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in adjacent or closely connected words.

Allusion

An indirect reference to a person, place, event, or literary work.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech in which the speaker addresses an absent person or a personified object.

Ambiguity

The quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexactness.

Analogy

A comparison between two things for the purpose of explanation or clarification.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words.

Ballad

A form of verse, often a narrative set to music.

Ballad Stanza

A stanza typically consisting of four lines with a rhyme scheme of abcb.

Blank Verse

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Cacophony

A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.

Caesura

A pause in a line of poetry, often occurring in the middle.

Concrete Poem

A poem where the arrangement of the words creates a visual image related to the poem.

Connotation

An idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

Consonance

The repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase.

Couplet

A pair of lines in a poem that usually rhyme and have the same meter.

Didactic

Intended to teach or convey information, often with a moral lesson.

Dissonance

A lack of harmony among musical notes or discordant sounds.

Dramatic Monologue

A poem in which a character speaks to one or more listeners.

Elegy

A poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead.

Epic Poem

A lengthy narrative poem, often detailing heroic deeds and events.

Epigram

A brief, witty poem or saying often with a satirical twist.

Epitaph

A phrase or statement written in memory of a person on a tombstone.

Euphemism

A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh.

Euphony

The quality of being pleasant to the ear, harmonious.

Figure of Speech / Figurative Language

A word or phrase used in a non-literal sense to add emphasis or meaning.

Free Verse

Poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter.

Hyperbole

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Iambic Pentameter

A type of metric line used in traditional English poetry, consisting of five feet.

Imagery

Visually descriptive or figurative language that appeals to the senses.

Internal Rhyme

A rhyme that occurs within a single line of verse.

Irony

A literary technique in which opposite meanings are conveyed.

Limerick

A five-line humorous poem with a distinct rhythm and rhyme scheme.

Lyric

A type of poetry that expresses personal emotions or thoughts.

Metaphor

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things.

Extended Metaphor

A metaphor that is developed over several lines or throughout an entire work.

Mixed Metaphor

A combination of two or more incompatible metaphors.

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which one thing is represented by another that is commonly and often physically associated.

Mock Epic

A satirical poem that mimics the style and conventions of epic poetry.

Motif

A recurring element that has symbolic significance in a literary work.

Mood

The emotional atmosphere created by a piece of literature.

Narrative Poem

A poem that tells a story and has a plot.

Ode

A lyric poem that expresses praise for a person, place, thing, or event.

Octave

A stanza or poem of eight lines.

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the natural sound of a thing.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines contradictory terms.

Paradox

A statement that seems self-contradictory but reveals a truth.

Parody

A humorous imitation of a particular writer, artist, or genre.

Pastoral

A poetic work that idealizes rural life and nature.

Personification

Attributing human characteristics to non-human entities.

Poetic Justice

A literary device where virtue is ultimately rewarded.

Poetic License

The freedom that authors have to break conventions in order to create desired effects.

Prose

Written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure.

Pun

A form of wordplay that exploits multiple meanings of a term.

Quatrain

A stanza consisting of four lines.

Rhyme

The correspondence of sounds between different words.

Rhyme Scheme

The pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem.

Rhythm

A strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.

Satire

A genre of literature that uses humor, irony, or exaggeration to criticize.

Sestet

A stanza consisting of six lines.

Simile

A figure of speech comparing two unlike things using 'like' or 'as'.

Sonnet

A poem of 14 lines using any of several rhyme schemes.

Stanza

A grouped set of lines in a poem.

Stress

Emphasis placed on a particular syllable or word.

Surrealism

A 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind.

Symbol

An object, character, figure, or color used to represent abstract ideas.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole.

Tone

The attitude of a writer towards a subject or an audience.

Understatement

A figure of speech in which a writer makes a situation seem less important than it really is.

Verse

A single line of poetry or a specific form of poetry.

Wit

Mental sharpness and inventiveness; amusing language.