Poetry Terms English 1

Poetry terms for English 1; doesn't include the terms that won't be on the test

alliteration

repetition of initial sounds of words

• ex. bugs bunny, mickey mouse

apostrophe

a poem addressed to an audience that is unable to respond

(absent, dead, thing personified)

assonance

repetition of vowel sounds

• ex. the fat cat sat on a mat

blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter

(normally metrical written poem but without the rhyme)

connotation

‘meaning’ attached to a word

ex. family can have negative or positive connotation based on someone’s situation

consonance

repetition of consonant sounds

couplet

two consecutive rhymed lines

denotation

what something actually means (factually)

diction

word choice

• ex. iconoclastic vs rebellious ; both come from same situation but give off different meaning

enjambment

the smooth transition from one line of poetry to another, without pausing, when there is no punctuation indicating a pause is needed

• ex.

  And sorry I could not travel both

  And be one traveler, long I stood

free verse

unrhymed unmetered poem

What’s the difference between a free verse and blank verse?

Although both are unrhymed, blank verse has meter while free verse doesn’t.

hyperbole

exaggerated intensely beyond possibility

• ex. i gambled and now i’m 100 billion in debt!! 😢😢

iamb

a metric foot of 2 syllables where the first syllable is unstressed and the second is stressed

ex. a-BOVE, at-TEMPT, be-LOW

imagery

appeal to any of the 5 senses to create an ‘image’

irony

when reality is the exact opposite of expectations

• ex. fire stations burning down

metaphor

comparison without using like or as

(w/o language of comparison)

mood

how the audience feels

octave

a grouping of 8 lines in a poem created by rhyme, stanza form, or subject matter

pentameter

a line in poetry with 5 metric feet

iambic pentameter

10 syllables in a line with the pattern:

unstressed - stressed x 5 times

personification

giving human qualities to a non-human

quatrain

a collection of four lines in a poem created by rhyme, subject matter, or stanza formation

rhyme

when last accented vowel sound + all following vowel sounds are the same

ex. slant, rant, can’t

sestet

a grouping of 6 lines in a poem created by rhyme, stanza form, or subject matter

simile

comparison using like or as (using language of comparison)

slant rhyme

created by assonance, consonance, or both, rhyme that is a little bit off

sonnet - English / Shakespearean

a 14 line poem with the rhyme scheme ababcdcdefefgg, three quatrains and a couplet, and iambic pentameter

sonnet - Italian / Petrarchan

a 14 line poem made of an octave and sestet and iambic pentameter; the ninth line will contain a “turn” - a shift in subject matter. the rhyme scheme of the octave will be abbaabba, but the sestet may vary in pattern.

tercet

a group of 3 lines in a poem

tone

attitude & emotion of the speaker

villanelle

a 19-line poem made up of 5 tercets and a quatrain with the rhyme scheme aba aba aba aba abaa; the first line is repeated as lines 6, 12, and 18 and the third as lines 9, 15, and 19