CLEP Poetry

Tone

The attitude and feeling conveyed within a poem through words, syntax, & punctuation

Verse

A line in a poem

Stanza

A grouped set of verses (lines) within a poem (similar to a paragraph), often with a repeated pattern of meter or rhyme

Rhyme

Repetition of similar sounds, typically at the end of words and lines

Rhyme scheme

A pattern that rhymes in a poem (e.g., ABAB, ABBA)

What rhyme scheme is demonstrates in the following excerpt?

The people along the sand

All turn and look one way.

They turn their back on the land.

They look at the sea all day.

ABAB rhyme scheme

What rhyme scheme is demonstrates in the following excerpt?

Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth,

That I to manhood am arrived so near,

And inward ripeness doth much less appear,

That some more timely-happy spirits indu’th.

ABBA rhyme scheme

Internal rhyme

A rhyme that occurs inside the verse, for instance…

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

End rhyme

A rhyme that occurs at the ends of the verse, for instance…

I dreamt a dream! What can it mean?

And that I was a maiden Queen

Guarded by an Angel mild:

Witless woe was ne'er beguiled!

Slant rhyme

Rhyme scheme in which the stressed syllables of the consonants match, but the proceeding vowels do not, for instance…

"Hope" is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words

And never stops at all,

Feminine (double) rhyme

A rhyme that matches two or more syllables; the final syllable(s) is/are unstressed, and it is usually at the end of the line, for instance…

Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour:

England hath need of thee: she is a fen

Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen,

Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower,

Have forfeited their ancient English dower

Masculine rhyme

A rhyme that matches only one syllable; usually, the final syllable is stressed and at the end of the line, for instance…

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Free verse

A poem does not follow a regular meter or rhythm; it is the closest form for imitating conversation, for instance…

A noiseless, patient spider,

I mark’d, where, on a little promontory, it stood, isolated;

Mark’d how, to explore the vacant, vast surrounding, It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself;

Ever unreeling them—ever tirelessly speeding them.

Blank verse

A verse that does not rhyme, written in iambic pentameter (10 syllables); used in poems/dramas and often in character monologues, for instance…

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

Meter

The pattern of stressed words in a verse (refers to the rhythmic structure of lines in poetry based on stressed/unstressed syllables); natural speech usually falls on the stress points, for instance…

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Iambic rhythm

Meter in which the pattern is unstressed then stressed in sequence

Iambic meter

Meter in which a whole verse follows iambic rhythm (unstressed then stressed in sequence)

Iambic pentameter

The most common iambic meter with five stresses & ten syllables total, for instance…

Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song,

That with no middle flight intends to soar.

Anapest

Type of meter — unstressed, unstressed, stressed, for example…

Twas the night before Christmas

when all through the house.

Trochee

Type of meter — stressed, unstressed, for example

Form

The design of a poem

Closed form

Form (design) that follows a set design in meter and verse; poets must follow the pattern & structures with this form (e.g., sonnet)

Open form

Form (design) that does not follow rules of established poetic structres of meter & verse

Concrete (shape) poetry

When the poem itself takes on a physical form

Sonnet

Form of poem consisting of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter

Petrarchan sonnet

Type of sonnet with 2 majors sections: a major group of 8 lines (the octave) and a minor group of 6 lines (the sestet)

• Rhyme scheme is usually abba abba cde cde

Shakespearean sonnet

Type of sonnet with three quatrains (verse of four lines) and a couplet (verse of two lines)

• Rhyme scheme is usually abab cdcd efef gg

Octave

8 lines of iambic pentameters

• Most common rhyme scheme is abba abba

• First part of a Petrarchan sonnet

Sestet

6 lines, generally the second part of a Petrarchan sonnet

Quatrain

Stanza or type of poem consisting of 4 lines

Couplet

2 lines usually with the same rhyme and meter

Heroic couplet

2 lines — a traditional form of English poetry used in narrative & epic poetry

Epic poem

A long narrative poem, usually about the heroic deeds of a person or nation and in the form of a couplet with the same rhyme structure

• Told orally, historically used for entertainment

Mock epid

Written in heroic couplets; a modern work using the style of classical epic poetry

Ballad

Narrative poems utilizing a straightforward style and regular rhythm & rhyme; tells a story in simple language and repeating structure

• Often intended to be sung

Ballad stanza

Acbc rhyme of 4 lines; 1 & 3 have 8 syllables, and 2 & 4 have 6 syllables

Lyrical poetry

Characterized by focus on personal feelings, moods, emotions, or reflections; often uses musical rhythm & language to create emotional effect

• Often in 1st person

Elegy

Type of lyrical poem; a sad poem usually written to praise or weep for someone who has passed and can also be about a lost love/lost time

Ode

Type of lyrical poem; usually to praise something, can have complex form

Villanelle

Type of lyrical poem; 19 lines of 5 tercets, followed by a quatrain; there are two refrains and two repeating lines

• Fixed verse form

Tercet

A stanza of 3 lines

Refrain

A line repeated in verse

Sestina

Closed form of 6 stanza of 6 lines each; the end words of each verse of the first stanza are then used to end subsequent stanzas, rotated in pattern

• Concludes with a 3 line stanza (envoi) that includes all 6 words again

Epigram

A short, witty saying in verse with a satirical twist at the end

Doggerel

Poem that has irregular rhythm and rhyme; sometimes on purpose and sometimes not

Limerick

A doggerel written on purpose; a stanza of 5 lines with the 1st, 2nd, and 5th lines rhyming

Aubade

A morning love song/poem (or one about lovers in separation at that hour)

Serenade

An evening love song/poem

Denotation

The direct meaning of a word or expression; the explicit & literal meaning of that word

Connotation

The indirect meaning of the word (what is implied)

Symbol

When the words represent a concept, relationship, or object

• Some stock symbols are easily recognizable (rose, flag, skull, white, etc.)

Diction

Refers to word choice

Syntax

Refers to grammar

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds so that there is internal rhyming in verses

• Ex: On a proud round cloud in white high night

Consonance

The repetition of identical or similar consonants

• Ex: So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep

Metaphor

A figure of speech that refers to one thing by mentioning another

• Ex: “All the world’s a stage”

Simile

A comparison using “like” or “as”

• Ex: “Your teeth are like pearls”

Allusion

A figure of speech that makes a reference to an event, a place, or a person

• Ex: “That is her Achille’s heel.”

Personification

Giving human characteristics to a thing or an abstraction

• Ex: “The wind carried me home”

Alliteration

The repetition of similar sounds (like in consonance & assonance)

• Ex: “She sells sea shells by the seashore”

Apostrophe

When a writer detaches themself from reality and talks to an imaginary character

Hyperbole

An exaggeration (overstatement)

• Ex: “I’m starving”

Irony

When intended meaning is different from actual meaning

Metonymy

When a thing or concept is not called by its name by rather by a metonym (a closely associated word or concept)

• Ex: “The Crown” for the British Monarchy

Onomatopoeia

The formation of words that sound like the object to which they refer

• Ex: “Buzz” or “Cuckoo”

Oxymoron

When a seemingly self-contradictory effect is produced

• Ex: “Pretty ugly”

Paradox

A self-contradictory statement, but one that might express a truth

• Ex: “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”

Sarcasm

The use of words that mean the opposite of what you want to say, usually to show irritation or to be funny

• Ex: “I work around the clock so I can be poor”

Synecdoche

When the part is taken for the whole, or vice versa

• Ex: “Ask for her hand in marriage”