Poetry Terms

Speaker

The person who is expressing a point of view in a poem, usually a persona created by the poet.

couplet

two lines

tercet

three lines

quatrain

four lines

cinquain

five lines

sestet

six lines

septet

seven lines

octave

eight lines

Meter

The intentional repetition of accented and unaccented syllables in an intentional pattern

Foot

The basic measurement of a meter. it is made up of two or three sylables

Scansion

The process of making a poems foot and stress

One foot

Monometer

Two feet

Dimeter

Three Feet

Trimeter

Four Feet

Tetraeter

Five Feet

pentameter

Six Feet

hexameter

Seven Feet

Heptameter

Eight Feet

Octometer

Fixed Form

A poem that may be contemporized by the pattern of its lines, meter, rhyme, or stanzas. (must be able to label it)

Why use a sonnet

Utilized to examine two contrasting ideas, emotions, states of mind, beliefs, ations, images, ect.

English Sonnet Features

(Shakespearean)

• 14 lines

• Iambic Pentameter

• Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

• 3 Quatrains (3×4) and a couplet

Italian sonnet features

Petrarchan

• 14 lines

• Iambic Pentameter

• Rhyme Scheme: ABBAABBA CDCDCD (or CDECDE)

• Octave and a sestet

volta

In a sonnet, this is the shift in ideas or tone. In Italian sonnets this occurs between the octave and sestet, in English sonnets it occurs near the final couplet.

Villanelle

• Rhyme scheme: ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA

• Last line of each stanza alternates until the end when they are both there

• Iambic pentameter

• 19 lines

• 5 tercets and one quatrain

Why the villanelle?

It relies heavily on emphasis and repetition to make a point. Must work not to be monotonous and create a satisfying close.

Blank Verse

poems with meter but no rhyme

Free verse OR open form

poetry that does not have meter or rhyme

lyric poetry

short poem expressing the personal thoughts or feelings of a first person speaker

ode

used to mediate on or address a single object or condition (I.e. pumpkins, death, or a starry sky)

ballad

originally transmitted orally from generation to generation. They are narratives and typically written in four line stanzas alternating 8/6 syllables per line. lines 2 and 4 usually rhyme.

elegy

A mournful lyric poem written to commemorate someone who is dead It often ends with a consolation.

Epic

long narrative poems told in formal, elevated style. They focus on a serious subject and chronicle heroic deeds and important events to a culture or nation.

Prose Poem

This looks like prose but will read like poetry.

What do musical devices do?

Reinforce meaning

• please the ear

• emphasize words where the rhyming occurs

• structure the poem

rhyme

the repetition of the accented vowel sound and any succeeding consonant sounds

Exact rhyme

words that fit the rhyming pattern perfectly

Internal Rhyme

One or more words within the line rhyme

Masculine Rhyme

Rhymes made of one syllable

Slant Rhyme

Words with a sound similarity, iut not an exact rhyme.

also called: near rhyme, approximate rhyme, and half rhyme

Feminine Rhyme

Rhymes made of two or more sylables

Alliteration

Words that start with the same constonant letter

• initial consonant sounds

• words or syllables

Consonance

Intentical final consonant sounds in nearby words allow different vowel sounds.

• not rhyming

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds in a sequence of words

Onomatopoeia

Words associated with a sound, often for dramatic effect

End-Stopped Line

Concludes with punctuation that marks a pause, OR the line can be understood on its own (like when poets who do not use punctuation)

Run on line OR enjambment

One line ends without a pause and must continue to the next line to complete its meaning (commas are a grey area)

Iamb or Iambus (iambic)

unstressed, stressed

trochee (trochaic)

Stressed, unstressed

Spondee (spondaic)

STRESSED STRESSED

Pyrrhus (pyrrhic)

unstressed, unstressed

Dactyl (dactylic)

Stressed, unstressed, unstressed

Anapest (anapestic)

unstressed, unstressed, stressed