AP Lit Poetry Terms

Assonance

Repetition of a vowel sound at the beginning, middle or end of a word

Blank Verse

Verse without rhyme, especially that which uses iambic pentameter

Free Verse

Poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter

Cadence

The natural rhythm and flow of speech, the rise and fall of sound, or the strategic pauses to create musicality or emotion

Alliteration

The repetition of initial stressed, consonant sounds in a series of words within a phrase or verse line.

Consonance

Repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning, middle or end of a word.

Ellipses

The omission of words whose absence does not impede the readers ability to understand the expression.

Caesura

A pause or stop inside a line of poetry

End-Stop

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

Conceit

A complex, highly elaborated extended metaphor in which an unlikely or strained comparison is made between two things

Controlling image

A repeated image or symbol throughout the poem that shapes its theme and meaning. Typically sensory based.

Couplet

Two successive lines of verse, usually written in the same meter

Quatrain

Stanza or complete poem made of four lines with the rhyme scheme: alternating (ABAB), couplets(AABB), or enclosed(ABBA).

Inverted Line

Reversing, the correct order of subjects, verbs, and objects in a sentence

Enjambment

Incomplete punctuation at the end of a line, causing the sentence to continue on into the next line

Octave

In eight line stanza of iambic, pentameter, alternating stressed and unstressed syllables

Sestet

A six line stanza

Trochee

A repeating rhythmic unit with a stressed syllable, followed by an unstressed syllable

Denotation

The literal or dictionary definition of a word

Connotation

The implied meaning of a word that carries beyond the dictionary definition, typically emotional or cultural.

Iamb

A repeating rhythmic unit with an unstressed syllable, followed by a stress symbol

Dirge

A brief hymn or song of lamentation or grief

Elegy

A melancholy poem that laments its subject death but in consolation. More about remembering.

English Sonnet

a sonnet consisting three quatrains and a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter with the rhyme pattern abab cdcd efef gg

Italian Sonnet

a sonnet consisting of an octave with the rhyme pattern abbaabba, followed by a sestet with the rhyme pattern cdddcee or cdcdcd

Epic

A long narrative poem, which chronicles the grand Journey or deeds of heroic protagonist

Ode

A lyrical poem that addresses and celebrates a person place or thing

Euphony

The use of words/sounds in a pleasant/harmonious manner

Cacophony

The combination of words/sounds that sound harsh/unpleasant together

External Rhyme

Rhyme that occurs because of similar sounding syllables at the end of a line of a poem

Internal Rhyme

Rhyme that occurs within a line or between words in the middle of different lines

Lyric

Originally composition meant for music the term refers to a short poem in which the poet, the poets persona, or another speaker expresses personal feelings

Narrative

A longer form of poetry that tells an entire story, with the beginning, middle, and end

Meter

A pattern that involves the stress and unstressed syllables of a verse or line to create a sense of rhythm

Pentameter

A line/verse that contains 5 feet and commonly made up of 10 total syllables

Foot

A small unit consisting of a specific combination of stressed and unstressed syllables

Scansion

The act of analyzing and marking a poem to show its meter. It involves breaking lines into feet and marking which syllables are stressed in which are unstressed.

Stanza

A group of lines forming the basic recurring metrical unit in a poem; the paragraph of poetry

Refrain

A line or a group of lines that repeats at regular intervals in a poem, often at the end of each stanza.

Villanelle

A 19 line poem of 5 3-line stanzas and a final quatrain, with the first and third lines of the first stanza, repeating alternately in the following stanzas

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