Poetry terms

Alliteration

Repetition of identical vowel sounds in order to achieve a particular effect. Long vowel sounds can slow down a line, making it sound sad and weary

Ballad

A simple song written as a narrative poem which tells a story through dialogue. Most commonly written in four-line verse with a regular rhythm

Couplet

A two line stanza

Diction

The choice of words or language used

Elegy

A slow, thoughtful poem for someone who has died

End stopped lines

A line of poetry with a pause or a stop at the end

Enjambment

A running over of the sense and grammatical structure from one line to another, or between stanzas. The enjambed line has no punctuation at the end

Free verse

Poetry written with lines of irregular verse and often without rhyme

Refrain

A recurring line or phrase, especially at the end of a verse

Sonnet

A fourteen line poem, written in iambic pentameter. Traditionally about the theme of love