Poetry Test

alliteration

The repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds at the beginnings of words.

allusion

A reference in literature to a well-known historical or literary event, person, or work.

antithesis

A figure of speech characterized by strongly contrasting words, clauses, sentences, or ideas.

apostrophe

A figure of speech in which someone or something is directly addressed as though present.

assonance

The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds.

ballad meter

A four-line stanza rhymed abcd with four feet in lines one and three and three feet in lines two and four.

blank verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

cacophony

A harsh, unpleasant combination of sounds.

caesura

A pause, usually near the middle of a line of verse.

conceit

An ingenious and fanciful notion or conception expressed through an elaborate analogy.

consonance

The repetition of similar consonant sounds in a group of words.

couplet

A two-line stanza, usually with end-rhymes the same.

devices of sound

Techniques of deploying the sound of words in poetry, including rhyme, alliteration, and assonance.

diction

The use of words in a literary work, which may be described as formal, informal, colloquial, or slang.

didactic poem

A poem intended primarily to teach a lesson.

dramatic poem

A poem that employs a dramatic form or elements to achieve poetic ends.

elegy

A formal poem meditating upon death or another solemn theme.

end-stopped

A line with a pause at the end.

enjambment

The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line of poetry.

extended metaphor

An implied analogy carried throughout a poem.

euphony

A style in which combinations of words pleasant to the ear predominate.

eye rhyme

Rhyme that appears correct from spelling but is a half-rhyme or slant rhyme.

feminine rhyme

A rhyme of two syllables, one stressed and one unstressed.

figurative language

Writing that uses figures of speech to convey meanings beyond the literal.

free verse

Poetry that is not written in traditional meter but is still rhythmical.

heroic couplet

Two end-stopped iambic pentameter lines rhymed aa, bb, cc.

hyperbole

A deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration.

imagery

The sensory details of a literary work evoked by its words.

irony

The contrast between actual meaning and the suggestion of another meaning.

internal rhyme

Rhyme that occurs within a line, rather than at the end.

lyric poem

Any short poem presenting a single speaker expressing thoughts and feelings.

masculine rhyme

Rhyme that falls on the stressed and concluding syllables of the rhyme-words.

metaphor

A figurative use of language in which a comparison is expressed without using comparative terms.

meter

The repetition of a regular rhythmic unit in a line of poetry.

metonymy

A figure of speech characterized by the substitution of a term closely associated with the word in mind.

mixed metaphors

The mingling of one metaphor with another that is incongruous with the first.

narrative poem

A non-dramatic poem that tells a story.

octave

An eight-line stanza.

onomatopoeia

The use of words whose sound suggests their meaning.

oxymoron

A form of paradox that combines contrary terms into a single expression.

paradox

A situation or feeling that appears contradictory but may make sense upon inspection.

parallelism

A similar grammatical structure within lines of poetry.

paraphrase

A restatement of an idea while retaining the meaning but changing the diction.

personification

A kind of metaphor that gives human characteristics to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.

poetic foot

A group of syllables in verse consisting of one accented syllable and one or two unaccented syllables.

pun

A play on words that are identical or similar in sound but have different meanings.

quatrain

A four-line stanza with any combination of rhymes.

refrain

A group of words forming a phrase or sentence that is repeated at intervals in a poem.

rhyme

Close similarity or identity of sound between accented syllables in two or more lines of verse.

rhyme royal

A seven-line stanza of iambic pentameter rhymed ababbcc.

rhythm

The recurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables.

sarcasm

A type of verbal irony where praise is used to insult.

satire

Writing that exposes errors with the aim of correcting vice and folly.

scansion

A system for describing the meter of a poem by identifying the number and type of feet per line.

sestet

A six-line stanza.

simile

A directly expressed comparison between two objects using 'like' or 'as'.

sonnet

A fourteen-line iambic pentameter poem.

stanza

A repeated grouping of three or more lines with the same meter and rhyme scheme.

strategy

The management of language for a specific effect in a poem.

structure

The arrangement of materials within a work; the logical divisions of the work.

style

The characteristic manner of expression of an author.

symbol

Something that is both itself and a sign of something else.

synecdoche

A form of metaphor that signifies the whole by mentioning a part.

syntax

The ordering of words into patterns or sentences.

tercet

A stanza of three lines, each line ending with the same rhyme.

terza rima

A three-line stanza rhymed aba, bcb, cdc, etc.

theme

The main thought expressed by a work.

tone

The manner in which an author expresses his or her attitude.

understatement

A kind of irony that represents something as being less than it is.

villanelle

A nineteen-line poem divided into five tercets and a final quatrain in a specific rhyme scheme.