Literary Terms Quiz #3 Definitions and Examples: Poetry

Literary terms Quiz Review

Sonnet

A 14-line poem with a variable rhyme scheme originating in Italy and brought to England in the 16th century.

Stanza

A grouping of lines separated from others in a poem. In modern free verse, the stanza, like a prose paragraph, can be used to mark a shift in mood, time, or thought.

Couplet

A pair of successive rhyming lines, usually of the same length.

Quatrain

A four-line stanza, often with various rhyme schemes.

Enjambment

The running-over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation;

Volta

the volta is the turn of thought or argument

Free verse

Nonmetrical, nonrhyming lines that closely follow the natural rhythms of speech.