AP Literature - Poetry Terms

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds

Allusion

A reference to another work of literature, person, or event

Analogy

A comparison of two different things that are similar in some way

Apostrophe

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds

Cacophony

A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds

Conceit

a fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor

Connotation

all the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds

Dissonance

Unpleasant or unharmonious sound

End rhyme

Rhyme that occurs at the end of two or more lines of poetry

Enjambment

the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.

Euphony

pleasant, harmonious sound

Exact rhyme

the repetition of the same stressed vowel sound as well as any consonant sounds that follow the vowel

Feminine rhyme

occurs when accented syllables in two words are followed by two unaccented syllables; also called double rhyme

Free verse

Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme

Internal rhyme

a rhyme involving a word in the middle of a line and another at the end of the line or in the middle of the next.

Juxtaposition

placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast

Masculine rhyme

a rhyme that matches up single syllables

Metaphor

A comparison without using like or as

Motif

A recurring theme, subject or idea

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it represents.

Parallelism

similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses

Paradox

a statement that seems contradictory but is actually true

Pathos

emotional appeal

Personification

the giving of human qualities to an animal, object, or idea

Rhythm

Pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables

Simile

A comparison using "like" or "as"

Slant rhyme

an approximate rhyme derived by substituting assonance or consonance for true rhyme

Stop rhyme

In poetry, a line ending in a full pause, often indicated by appropriate punctuation such as a period or semicolon

Ballad

a narrative poem with a refrain, usually about a single event and usually written in two or four-line stanzas

Couplet

Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme

Elegy

a sad or mournful poem

Epic

A long narrative poem, written in heightened language, which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society

Epigram

a witty saying expressing a single thought or observation

Epithet

an adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of the person or thing mentioned.

Heroic couplet

a pair of lines rhyming lines written in iambic pentameter

Ode

a long and elaborate lyric poem, usually dignified or exalted in tone, and often written to praise someone or something or to mark a special occasion

Quatrain

a four-line stanza

Sestina

a fixed verse form consisting of six stanzas of six lines each, normally followed by a three-line envoi

Sonnet

a fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter

Stanza

a section or a division of a poem; specifically, a grouping of lines of poetry

Villanelle

a nineteen-line poem consisting of five tercets and a quatrain, with a strict structure of repetition and rhyme scheme

Blank verse

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

Foot

the basic unit of rhythmic measurement in a line of poetry

Free verse

has no regular beat or meter, but rather depends on the individual poet's sensitivity to the rhythm of natural speech

Iamb

an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

Iambic pentameter

occurs in a ten-syllable line starting with alternating unstressed and stressed syllables throughout the line

Meter

the basic rhythmic structure of a line within a poem

Pentameter

a line of verse consisting of five metrical feet

Scansion

the action of examining a line of verse to determine its rhythm