Poetry Core Terminology

Vocabulary flashcards covering core literary and poetic analysis terminology based on the provided lecture transcript.

Allegory

A long narrative poem or prose story in which most or all of the elements are symbols and metaphors, designed to teach the reader a religious or morality lesson.

Antithesis

The juxtaposition of opposite ideas to show contrast, found in both prose and poetry.

Blank Verse Poetry

Poetry that has a specific meter and follows poetic conventions, but does not rhyme.

Caesura

A strong pause—almost a complete stop—within a line of verse, creating an uneven rhythm resulting in emphasis on each part.

Connotation

The underlying meaning of a word that results from cultural usage and history, often evoking strong emotions.

Couplet

Consists of two lines of poetry that rhyme at the end.

Denotation

The dictionary or formal meaning of a word.

Didacticism

Writing a story, poem, or play for the purpose of teaching the reader a lesson about life.

Elision

The omission of a vowel or syllable in order to limit the meter in a line of poetry.

End-rhyme Poems

Poems that have words rhyming at the end of the lines.

Enjambment

When a sentence in a line of poetry does not stop at the end of the line but continues into the next line.

Eye-rhyme

Occurs when words almost—but not quite—rhyme, but look as if they should.

Free-verse Poetry

Open form poetry that does not use traditional devices such as rhyme schemes or regular meters, requiring poets to develop a new organizational pattern for each poem.

Internal Rhyme

Occurs when poems have rhyming words inside the lines instead of at the end.

Kennings

Hyphenated descriptive words typically used in older poetry to describe a person or a thing.

Literary Allusion

An indirect reference to something that the writer feels the reader will understand.

Literary Apostrophe

When the narrator addresses the reader directly or addresses an absent (real or imagined) person.

Metaphysical Conceit

An elaborate metaphor or simile that links two apparently unrelated fields or subjects.

Ode

A poem that is more complex than a lyric poem, featuring lines of varying length, intricate rhyme schemes, and typically philosophical topics.

Onomatopoeia

Occurs when words make their own sounds.

Stanza

A group of lines whose metrical pattern is repeated throughout a poem.

Symbolism

Using an object to represent an abstract idea.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech where all individual parts stand for the whole.

Tone

The author's attitude toward his subject.

Tropes

Figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, and personification.