English Poetry Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, characters, poems, themes, and literary techniques from the M.A. English Core Course I: English Poetry syllabus.

Madame Eglantine

The real name of the Nun in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales who pretends to know French and whose hypocrisy is revealed through crying over a dead mouse.

Hubert

The name of the Friar in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales who expects monetary gifts in return for forgiveness.

The Host

The character who welcomes the travellers to the inn and determines whose story is best in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales.

Pardoner

A pilgrim in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales who rides in the very back, is guilty of avarice, preaches that money is the root of all evil, and tells a cautionary tale.

Epithalamion

A poem celebrating the marriage of Edmund Spenser and Elizabeth Boyle, containing 24 stanzas that represent each hour of the wedding day from dawn to dusk.

Metaphysical conceit

An elaborate metaphor used in poems such as John Donne's 'A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning', which compares two lovers' souls to the two legs of a compass.

The Canonization

A poem by John Donne centered on love and devotion, referring to the process of declaring someone a saint and pleading with critics to stop criticizing the lovers' pure and elevated love.

Paradise Lost Book IX

The book in John Milton's epic where Satan disguises himself as a friendly serpent to tempt Eve with the knowledge of good and evil, leading to the fall of Adam and Eve.

Hyperbole

A figure of speech using exaggeration, frequently employed in the first stanza of Andrew Marvell's 'To His Coy Mistress' to describe how the speaker would love his mistress if they had enough time.

Vegetable love

A phrase in Andrew Marvell's 'To His Coy Mistress' that represents love that grows slowly and steadily.

Absalom and Achitophel

A 1681 poem by John Dryden acknowledged as the finest political satire in the English language, written as an allegory based on the Old Testament story of Absalom's rebellion against King David.

Transferred epithet

The figure of speech used in the line 'The Plowman homeward plods his weary way' from Thomas Gray's 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard'.

Selima

The name of the cat in Thomas Gray's poem 'Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes'.

The Bard

A poem by Thomas Gray set during the conquest of Wales by Edward I, featuring a Welsh bard as the central voice.

Holy Willie's Prayer

A dramatic monologue satire by Robert Burns that refers to William Fisher.

Auld Lang Syne

A poem in the Scottish language written by Robert Burns about valuing old acquaintances and memories.

The Soldier

A World War I sonnet written by Rupert Brooke in which the poet considers himself connected to England both physically and mentally.

Anthem for Doomed Youth

A war poem by Wilfred Owen that compares the deaths of soldiers to cattle being slaughtered and war sounds to the monstrous anger of guns.

Musee des Beaux Arts

A poem by W.H. Auden where famous painters are referred to as 'Great Masters' and human suffering is depicted occurring while others engage in ordinary activities.

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

A poem by Dylan Thomas inspired by the illness and impending death of his father, in which the speaker compares the eyes of grave men to meteors.

Hawk Roosting

A poem by Ted Hughes featuring a resting hawk that believes itself to be almighty and all-powerful.

Life After Death

A poem by Ted Hughes reflecting on deep guilt, mourning, and the grief and emotional aftermath of Sylvia Plath's death.

Standing Female Nude

A poem written in an angry and critical tone that primarily explores the theme of art and exploitation.