Poetry Definitions

Vocabulary flashcards based on poetry lecture notes.

Repetition

The repetition of initial consonant sounds.

Allusion

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

Analogy

A literary device often used in literature and poetry to make connections between familiar and unfamiliar things, suggest a deeper significance, or create imagery in the reader's mind.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds without the repetition of consonants.

Blank Verse

Verse without rhyme, especially that which uses iambic pentameter.

Free Verse

Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme.

Concrete Poetry

An arrangement of linguistic elements in which the typographical effect is more important in conveying meaning than verbal significance.

Consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds (It is similar to alliteration, but it is not limited to the first letters of words).

Couplet

Two lines of verse the same length that rhyme.

Epic

A lengthy, narrative work of poetry, usually focusing on the adventures of a hero.

Extended Metaphor

A metaphor that is developed in great detail, sometimes encompassing an entire work.

Hyperbole

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Imagery

Visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work.

Inversion

The inverting of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase, to maintain a particular meter or rhyme scheme or to emphasize a specific word.

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.

Lyric Poetry

A short verse that is intended to express the emotions of the author; often set to music and does not tell a full story.

Meter

The pattern of repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Mood

The feeling created by the poet for the reader.

Onomatopoeia

The use of a word whose sound suggests its meaning.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction.

Personification

The attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman.

Simile

The subject of the poem is described by comparing it to another object or subject, using 'as' or 'like'.

Symbol

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

Stanza

A division of lines having a fixed length, meter, or rhyming scheme.

Tone

The poet's attitude toward the poem's speaker, reader, and subject matter, as interpreted by the reader.

Refrain

The repetition of a line or phrase of a poem at regular intervals, especially at the end of each stanza.

Rhyme Scheme

The ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines of a poem or verse.

Speaker

The voice of the poem, similar to a narrator in fiction; can be the poet or a persona.

Octave

A verse form consisting of eight lines (8 line stanza).

Sestet

A verse form consisting of six lines (6 line stanza).

Petrarchan Sonnet

A fourteen-line poem divided into an octave and a sestet, with a rhyme scheme of ABBA ABBA in the octave.

Shakespearean Sonnet

A fourteen-line lyric poem with three quatrains and a rhyming couplet, following the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

Dramatic Poetry

Verse that tells a story and is meant to be spoken or acted.

Dramatic Monologue

A poem in which an imagined speaker addresses a silent listener.

Narrative Poetry

Poetry that tells stories through verse, with plot, characters, conflict, resolution, action, and setting.

Rhythm

The beat or the flow of a poem, created by stressed and unstressed syllables.

Haiku

A traditional Japanese three-line poem with seventeen syllables, written in a 5/7/5 syllable count.

Ballad

A popular narrative song passed down orally, often following a form of rhymed quatrains.

Connotation

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

Denotation

The literary or primary meaning of a word.