Studied by 7 people
Accent
A syllable given more prominence in pronunciation than its neighbors.
Allegory
A narrative or description having a second meaning beneath the surface one.
Alliteration
The repetition at close intervals of the initial consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words.
Allusion
A reference, explicit or implicit, to something in literature or history.
Anapest
A metrical foot consisting of two unaccented syllables followed by one accented syllable.
Anaphora
Repetition of an opening word or phrase in a series of lines.
Apostrophe
A figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present.
Approximate rhyme
Words that have some kind of sound correspondence but are not perfect rhymes.
Assonance
The repetition at close intervals of the vowel sounds of accented syllables or important words.
Aubade
A poem about dawn; a morning love song.
Ballad
A fairly short narrative poem written in a songlike stanza form.
Blank verse
Unrhymed iambic pentameter.
Cacophony
A harsh, discordant, unpleasant-sounding choice and arrangement of sounds.
Caesura
A speech pause occurring within a line.
Connotation
What a word suggests beyond its basic dictionary definition; a word's overtones of meaning.
Consonance
The repetition at close intervals of the final consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words.
Continuous form
That form of a poem in which the lines follow each other without formal grouping.
Couplet
Two successive lines, usually in the same meter, linked by rhyme.
Dactyl
A metrical foot consisting of one accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables.
Dactylic meter
A meter in which a majority of the feet are dactyls.
Denotation
The basic definition or dictionary meaning of a word.
Didactic poetry
Poetry having as a primary purpose to teach or preach.
Dimeter
A metrical line containing two feet.
Double rhyme
A rhyme in which the repeated vowel is in the second-to-last syllable of the words involved.
Dramatic framework
The situation in which an author places characters to express the theme.
Dramatic irony
A device by which the author implies a different meaning than intended by the speaker.
Duple meter
A meter in which a majority of the feet contain two syllables.
End rhyme
Rhymes that occur at the ends of the lines.
End-stopped line
A line that ends with a natural speech pause, usually marked by punctuation.
English sonnet
A sonnet rhyming ababcdcdefefgg with content ideally paralleling the rhyme scheme.
Euphony
A smooth, pleasant-sounding choice and arrangement of sounds.
Extended figure
A figure of speech sustained through a considerable number of lines.
Extrametrical syllables
Extra unaccented syllables added at the beginnings or endings of lines.
Feminine rhyme
A rhyme in which the repeated accented vowel is in the second- or third-last syllable of the words.
Figurative language
Language employing figures of speech; language that cannot be taken literally.
Figure of speech
Any way of saying something other than the ordinary way.
Fixed form
Any form of a poem in which the length and pattern are prescribed by previous usage.
Folk ballad
A narrative poem designed to be sung, composed by an anonymous author, and transmitted orally.
Face
The basic unit used in the scansion or measurement of metrical verse.
Form
The external pattern or shape of a poem.
Free verse
Nonmetrical poetry where pauses and line breaks develop organically.
Grammatical pause
A pause introduced into the reading of a line by a mark of punctuation.
Heard rhythm
The actual rhythm of a metrical poem as heard naturally.
Hexameter
A metrical line containing six feet.
Hyperbole
A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used in the service of truth.
Iamb
A metrical foot consisting of one unaccented syllable followed by one accented syllable.
Iambic meter
A meter in which the majority of feet are iambs.
Imagery
The representation through language of sense experience.
Internal rhyme
A rhyme in which one or both of the rhyme words occur within the line.
Irony
A situation involving some kind of incongruity or discrepancy.
Masculine rhyme
A rhyme in which the repeated accented vowel sound is in the final syllable of the words.
Metaphor
A figure of speech in which an implicit comparison is made between two things.
Meter
The regular patterns of accent that underlie metrical verse.
Metonymy
A figure of speech where a significant aspect or detail represents the whole experience.
Metrical variations
Departures from the basic metrical pattern.
Monometer
A metrical line containing one foot.
Octave
An eight-line stanza or the first eight lines of a sonnet.
Onomatopoeia
The use of words that mimic their meaning in their sound.
Overstatement
A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used in the service of truth.
Oxymoron
A compact paradox in which two successive words seemingly contradict each other.
Paradox
A statement or situation containing apparently contradictory or incompatible elements.
Paradoxical statement
A figure of speech in which an apparently self-contradictory statement is nevertheless found to be true.
Pentameter
A metrical line containing five feet.
Personification
A figure of speech in which human attributes are given to an animal, an object, or a concept.
Quatrain
A four-line stanza or division of a sonnet.
Refrain
A repeated word, phrase, line, or group of lines in a poem.
Rhetorical pause
A natural pause, unmarked by punctuation, introduced into the reading of a line.
Rhythm
Any wavelike recurrence of motion or sound.
Rhyme
The repetition of the accented vowel sound and all succeeding sounds in important words.
Rhyme scheme
Any fixed pattern of rhymes characterizing a whole poem or its stanzas.
Run-on line
A line which has no natural speech pause at its end.
Sarcasm
Bitter or cutting speech; speech intended to give pain.
Satire
A kind of literature that ridicules human folly or vice.
Scansion
The process of measuring metrical verse and identifying its pattern.
Sentimental poetry
Poetry that attempts to manipulate the reader's emotions.
Sestet
A six-line stanza or the last six lines of a sonnet structured on the Italian model.
Simile
A figure of speech in which an explicit comparison is made between two things.
Situational irony
A situation with incongruity between actual circumstances and those that would seem appropriate.
Sonnet
A fixed form of fourteen lines with a rhyme scheme conforming to or approximating the Italian or English type.
Spondee
A metrical foot consisting of two syllables equally or almost equally accented.
Stanza
A group of lines whose metrical pattern is repeated throughout a poem.
Syllabic verse
Verse measured by the number of syllables rather than the number of feet.
Symbol
A figure of speech where something means more than what it is.
Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole.
Synesthesia
Presentation of one sense experience in terms usually associated with another sensation.
Tercet
A three-line stanza.
Theme
The central idea of a literary work.
Tone
The writer's or speaker's attitude toward the subject.
Total meaning
The total experience communicated by a poem.
Trimeter
A metrical line containing three feet.
Triple meter
A meter in which a majority of the feet contain three syllables.
Trochee
A metrical foot consisting of one accented syllable followed by one unaccented syllable.
Understatement
A figure of speech that consists of saying less than what is meant.
Villanelle
A nineteen-line fixed form consisting of five tercets rhymed aba and a concluding quatrain.
Verbal irony
A figure of speech in which what is said is opposite to what is meant.
Dramatic irony
A situation where the audience knows more about the circumstances than the characters.
Situational irony
An outcome that is contrary to what was expected.
Italian sonnet
A sonnet consisting of an octave followed by a sestet, typically following an ababababacdcdee rhyme scheme.
Paradoxical situation
A situation that contradicts itself but may reveal a deeper meaning.
Phonetic intensive
A word whose sound, by an intuitive process, to some degree suggests its meaning.
