Poetry: Types and Structure

Flashcards covering the definitions of various types of poetry and the components of poetic structure based on the lecture notes.

Poetry

A form of literary art that uses carefully selected language, rhythm, and sound to evoke deep emotions, paint vivid imagery, and express complex ideas about the human experience.

Lyric Poetry

Short, highly personal verses that express the poet's emotions, thoughts, or state of mind rather than telling a full story.

Narrative Poetry

Poetry that tells a story, featuring characters, a plot, and a setting, structured to move from beginning to end.

Dramatic Poetry

Poetry written for the stage or characters in an interactive setting, incorporating theatrical elements like plot development and conflict.

Sonnet

A strict $14$-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme and meter, often written in iambic pentameter.

Shakespearean Sonnet

A variation of the sonnet with the rhyme scheme $ABAB\,CDCD\,EFEF\,GG$.

Petrarchan Sonnet

A variation of the sonnet consisting of an octave and a sestet.

Ode

A formal, ceremonious poem that praises or pays tribute to a specific person, event, or inanimate object.

Elegy

A mournful and reflective poem written to lament the dead.

Haiku

A traditional Japanese poetic form consisting of three unrhymed lines with a $5-7-5$ syllable structure, usually capturing a moment in nature.

Epic

A long, grand narrative poem that chronicles heroic journeys, legendary figures, and mythical events, such as Homer’s The Odyssey.

Ballad

A rhythmic, musical poem that tells a story, traditionally organized into four-line stanzas ($\text{quatrains}$) meant to be sung or recited.

Dramatic Monologue

A poem in which a single character speaks to an imagined audience, revealing their innermost thoughts and the plotline.

Structure

The techniques and elements used to arrange words on a page, including line length, stanza size, and meter.

Rhyme

The repetition of similar-sounding words or the same syllables used within or at the end of a line.

Meter

The basic rhythmic structure of a poem, determined by the number and pattern of syllables used in a line.

Line Breaks

Where a poet chooses to end a line to control rhythm, pacing, shift emphasis, or create tension.

Stanza

A group of lines in a poem, often referred to as a "verse," that typically follows a similar pattern.

Iambic Pentameter

A meter consisting of five iambs per line, totaling $10$ syllables; it is the standard structure for William Shakespeare's sonnets.

Trochee

A metrical foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable ($\text{DUM-da}$).

Anapest

A metrical foot consisting of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable ($\text{da-da-DUM}$).

Dactyl

A metrical foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables ($\text{DUM-da-da}$).

Spondee

A metrical foot consisting of two stressed syllables in a row ($--$), such as in the word "Heart-break."

Iambic

A metrical foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable ($\cup -$), sounding like $\text{da-DUM}$, such as in the word "be-long."

Enjambment

The effect created by splitting sentences or phrases across line breaks to create dramatic tension or shift emphasis.

Free Verse

A contemporary, unconstrained style of poetry that relies on natural speech patterns and has no set rules for meter, rhyme, or line length.

Invictus

A poem by William Ernest Henley that explores themes of an unconquerable soul and being the master of one's fate despite the "bludgeonings of chance."