English 2 Honors Poetry Terms

quiz 1/12/26

Foot

The smallest repeated pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poetic line.

Iamb

An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (i.e. repeat)

Trochee

A stressed syllable followed by and unstressed syllable (i.e. older)

Spondee

Two stressed syllables (i.e. heartbreak)

Dactyl

A stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables (i.e. bicycle)

Meter

The pattern of repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.

Pentameter

lines composed of five feet

Hexameter

lines composed of six feet

Iambic Pentameter

meter in which each line of poetry contains five iambs. A line of iambic pentameter has 5 feet, each of which are 2 syllables long and contain one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable, for a total of 10 syllables per line.

Stanza

A division of poetry named for the number of lines it contains.

Couplet

two line stanza

Tercet

three line stanza

Quatrain

four line stanza

Sestet

six line stanza

Octave

eight line stanza

Rhyme Scheme

In poetry, the pattern of rhyming words at the ends of lines

Alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in words such as “rough and ready.”

Consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds. Although similar to alliteration, consonance is not limited to the first letters of words. (i.e. “Increa s ing s tore with lo ss and lo ss with s tore”)

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds without the repetition of consonants. (i.e. “M y words l i ke s i lent raindrops fell.”)

Caesura

A pause or sudden break in a line of poetry.

Anaphora

Repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of a line throughout a work or the section of a work.

Speaker

the narrative voice of a poem (distinct from the poet)

Blank Verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter

Enjambment

The running over of a sentence or thought from one line of poetry to another.

Internal Rhyme

When the rhyming words occur in the same line of poetry. (i.e. “You break my eyes with a look that buys sweet cake.”)

Sonnet

A poem consisting of fourteen lines of rhymed iambic pentameter.

Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet

Has two parts; an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines) usually rhyming abba abba for the two quatrains, and cdecde, cdccdc, or cdedce for the sestet. Often a question is raised in the octave that is answered in the sestet.

English (or Shakespearean) Sonnet

Consists of three quatrains (four lines each) and a final rhyming couplet (two lines). The rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg . Usually the question or theme is set forth in the quatrains while the answer or resolution appears in the final couplet.

Spenserian Sonnets

Employs the stanza structure of the Shakespearean sonnet (three quatrains and a couplet), but also has linking rhymes between quatrains, with a rhyme scheme of abab bcbc cdcd ee .

Villanelle

a strict 19-line French poetic form with five three-line stanzas (tercets) and a final four-line stanza (quatrain), using only two rhymes (A and B) and featuring two repeating refrain lines (A1 and A2) from the first stanza, alternating as the last line of each tercet and together as the final couplet. It's known for its musical, insistent quality, seen in famous examples like Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle into Good Night" and Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art".

Volta

The "turning" point of an Italian sonnet, usually occurring between the octave and the sestet.