Fundamentals of Poetry Terms Swanson

meter

the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables established in a line of poetry. The stressed (4) syllable is also called the accented syllable. The unstressed (~ ) syllable is also called the unaccented syllable. In determining the meter, the importance of the word, the position in the metrical pattern, and other linguistic factors should be considered.

foot

A unit of meter. A metrical foot can have two or three syllables. A foot consists generally of one stressed and one or more unstressed syllables. A line may have one foot, two feet, etc. Poetic lines are classified according to the number of feet in a line.

iamb

a two-syllable foot with the stress on the second syllable. The iambic foot is the most common foot in English.

trochee

This type of foot consists of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.

anapest

This type of foot consists of three syllables with the stress on the last syllable.

spondee

This type of foot consists of two stressed syllables. Compound words are examples of spondees. They are used for variation.

dactyl

This type of foot contains three syllables with the stress on the first syllable.

pyrrhic

This type of foot consists of two unstressed syllables. This type of foot is rare and is found interspersed with other feet.

rhyme verse

This type of verse consists of verse with end rhyme and usually with a regular meter

blank verse

This type of verse consists of lines of iambic pentameter without end rhyme.

free verse

This type of verse consists of lines that do not have a regular meter and do not contain rhyme.

rhyme

is the similarity of likeness of sound existing between two words. A true rhyme should consist of identical sounding syllables that are stressed and the letters preceding the vowels sounds should be different.

Near, off, or slant rhyme

A rhyme based on an imperfect or incomplete correspondence of end syllable sounds.

end rhyme

consists of the similarity occurring at the end of two or more lines of verse:

internal rhyme

consists of the similarity occurring between two or more words in the same line of verse.

masculine rhyme

occurs when one syllable of a word rhymes with another word:

bend and send; bright and light

feminine rhyme

occurs when the last two syllables of a word rhyme with another word:

lawful and awful; lighting and fighting

triple rhyme

occurs when the last three syllables of a word or line rhyme:

viclorious and glorious; ascendency and descendency; guivering and shivering; battering and shatlering

rhyme scheme

is the pattern or sequence in which the rhyme occurs. The first sound is represented or designated as A, the second is designated as B, and so on. When the first sound is repeated, it is designated as A also.

alliteration

is the repetition of the initial letter or sound in two or more words in a line of verse.

onomatopoeia

is the use of a word to represent or imitate natural sounds (buzz, crunch, tingle, gurgle, sizzle, hiss)

assonance

-is the similarity or repetition of a vowel sound in two or more words.

consonance

is the repetition of consonant sounds within a line of verse. Similar to alliteration except that it doesn't limit the repeated sound to the initial letter or a word.

refrain

is the repetition of one or more phrases or lines at intervals in a poem, usually at the end of a stanza.

synecdoche

the technique of mentioning a part of something to represent the whole. "All hands on deck!"

metonymy

the substitution of a word naming an object for another word closely associated with it.

antithesis

is a balancing or contrasting of one term against another.

apostrophe

the addressing of someone or something usually not present, as though present.

dramatic irony

a device by which the author implies a different meaning from that intended by the speaker (or by a speaker) in a literary work. An incongruity or discrepancy between what a character says or thinks and what the reader knows to be true (or between what a character perceives and what the author intends the reader to perceive.)

irony of a situation

a situation in which there is an incongruity between actual circumstances and those that would seem appropriate or between what is anticipated and what actually comes to pass.

verbal irony

a figure of speech in which what is meant is the opposite of what is said.

paradox

a statement or situation containing apparently contradictory or incompatible elements.

oxymoron

a compact paradox--a figure of speech that combines two contradictory words, placed side by side: bitter sweet, wise fool, living death.

sonnet

is a fourteen-line stanza form consisting of iambic pentameter lines.

heroic couplet

(sometimes called a closed couplet) consists of iwo successive rhyming verses that contain a complete thought within the two lines. It usually consists of iambic pentameter lines.

terza rima

a three-line stanza form with an interlaced or interwoven rhyme scheme: a-b-a, b-c-b, c-d-c, d-e-d, etc. Usually iambic pentameter.

limerick

a five-line nonsense poem with an anapestic meter. The rhyme scheme is usually a-a-b-b-a. The first, second, and fifth lines have three stresses; and the third and fourth have two stresses.

ballad stanza

consists of four lines with a rhyme scheme of a-b-c-b. The first and third lines are tetrameter and the second and fourth are trimeter.

rime royal

a stanza consisting of seven lines in iambic pentameter rhyming a-b-a-b-b-c-c. It called so because King James I used it.

ottava rima

consists of eight iambic pentameter lines with a rhyme scheme of a-b-a-b-a-b-c-c. It is a form that was borrowed from the Italians.

spenserian stanza

a nine-line stanza consisting of eight iambic pentameter lines followed by an alexandrine, a line of iambic hexameter. The rhyme scheme is a-b-a-b-b-c-b-c-c. The form derives its name from Edmund Spenser, who initiated the form for his Faerie Queene.

Petrarchan or Italian Sonnet

is divided usually between eight lines called the octave, using two rimes arranged a-b-b-a-a-b-b-a, and six lines called the sestet, using any arrangement of either two or three rimes: c-d-c-d-c-d and c-d-e- c-d-e are common patterns. The division between octave and sestet in the Italian sonnet (indicated by the rhyme scheme and sometimes marked off in printing by a space) usually corresponds to a division of thought. The octave may, for instance, present a situation and the sestet a comment, or the octave an idea and the sestet an example, or the octave a question and the sestet an answer. Thus the structure reflects the meaning.

English or Shakespearean Sonnet

is composed of three quatrains and a concluding couplet, riming a-b-a-b c-d-c-d e-f-e-f g-g. Again the units marked off by the rimes and the development of the thought often correspond. The three quatrains, for instance, may present three examples and the couplet a conclusion or the quatrains three metaphorical statements of one idea and the couplet an application.

villianelle

consists of five tercets and a quatrain in which the first and third lines of the opening tercet recur alternately at the end of the other tercets and together as the last two lines of the quatrain.

elegy

usually a poem that mourns the death of an individual, the absence of something deeply loved, or the transience of mankind.

lyric

is the most widely used type of poem, so diverse in its format that a rigid definition is impossible. However, several factors run common in all lyrics:

1. expression of thoughts and feelings of one speaker

2. limited length

3. highly imaginative

4. intensely subjective

5. personal expression of personal emotion

6. regular rhyme scheme

ode

an exalted, complex rapturous lyric poem written about a dignified, lofty subject