terms of poetic analysis

verse

a poem, or piece of poetry; Poetry, esp. as involving metrical form; a particular type of metrical line

meter

the measured and rhythmic pattern of stresses and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry ( the type and number of feet in a line)

feet

the groups of stressed (long) and unstressed (short) syllables in a line of poetry

prosody

the science or study of poetic meters and versification

scansion

the art/act of scanning a line to determine metrical feet

normative meter

the standard, dominant, or guiding meter of a work

catalexis

common exception to normative meter; the omission of a syllable in a metrical foot (almost always the omission of an unstressed syllable in the final foot of a line)

trochee/trochiac

a pair of syllables with the stress on the first

iamb/iambic

a pair of syllables with the stress on the second

spondee/spondaic

a pair of stressed syllables

pyrrhic/pyrrhic

a pair of unstressed syllables

dactyl/dactylic

a foot of three syllables with the stress on the first

amphibrach/amphibrachic

a foot of three syllables with the stress on the middle

anapest/anapestic

a foot of three syllables with the stress on the last

monometer

line of one foot

dimeter

line of two feet

trimeter

line of three feet

tetrameter

line of four feet

pentameter

line of five feet

hexameter

line of six feet

heptameter

line of seven feet

octameter

line of eight feet

masculine rhyme

accented, one syllable rhyme

double rhyme

two syllable rhyme

feminine rhyme

double rhyme in which the first syllable is stressed

triple rhyme

three syllable rhyme

end rhyme

rhyme positioned at the end of lines

internal rhyme

rhyme positioned within lines

rime riche ( rich rhyme)

consonants proceeding the rhyming elements are also identical

eye rhyme

spellings of the rhyming elements match, but sounds do not

half-rhyme (slant rhyme)

vowel sounds of the rhyming elements do not match

rhyme scheme

correspondence of rhyming sounds; identified by the first end rhyme represented by an “a”, the next by a “b”, so on

couplet

two lines of verse coupled by rhyme

heroic couplet

two lines of rhyming iambic pentameter

tercet

three lines of verse linked by a single rhyme

quatrain

a stanza of four lines, rhymed or unrhymed

ballad stanza

only one set of rhymes in a quatrain; most abcb

quintet

fine line stanza

sestet

six line stanza

septet

seven line stanza

octave/octet

eight line stanza

sonnet

14 lines of iambic pentameter with intricate rhyme scheme

Italian (Petrarchan) sonnet

consists of an octave and a sestet, typically abba abba cde cde

English (Shakespearian) sonnet

consists of 3 quatrains and a couplet, typically abab cdcd efef gg

rhyme royal

seven lines of iambic pentameter rhyming ababbcc; also known as the chaucerian stanza,

ottava rima

eight line stanza rhyming abababcc

Spenserian stanza

nine lines, the first eight of iambic pentameter and the last of iambic hexameter (alexandrine), rhyming ababbcbcc

blank verse

line of unrhymed iambic pentameter

free verse

no regular meter and no end rhyme, although containing possible repetitive patterns

limerick

English verse form consisting of five anapestic lines first found in the 1820s; uses rhyme schema abba ( the third and fourth Ines containing two stresses and the others three); usually self contained, humorous (often bawdy), and involving the names of people or places

visual poetry, concrete poetry, or technopaegnia

communicates using the visual appearance of a poem on the page

descriptive

evocative descriptive language is used

discursive

organized like an argument or essay

dramatic

consisting of a series of scenes, vivid with detail

narrative

straight forward chronological framework

imitative

mirroring the structure of something that already exists

reflective or meditative

pondering a subject of theme, turning it over in the mind