All Poetry Terms/Vocab

Poetry

artistically rendering words in such a way as to evoke intense emotion or an ah-ha experience from the reader

Prose

a form of language that applies ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure.

Stanza

an arrangement of a certain number of lines, sometimes having a fixed length and forming a division of poem.

Figure of Speech

a general term that identifies a word or phrase used in a non literal sense to add rhetorical force to a spoken or written passage.

Metaphor

a comparison between 2 things not using "like" or "as"

Direct Metaphor

A comparison between 2 things which one becomes the other

Indirect Metaphor

doesn't say both, just suggest similarity

Simile

Comparison of two things using like or as

Personification

A figure of speech in which human qualities are given to something non-human

Alliteration

Repetition of the leading consonant sound in each word throughout a sentence or phrase

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates or suggests the source of a sound that it describes

Anaphora

The deliberate repetition of the first part of a sentence

Hyperbole

A figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion

Allusion

an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.

Imagery

The use of figurative language and sound to evoke a sensory experience in the reader, plays to the readers senses.

Tone

Indicates the writers attitude toward the subject; not expressed directly; reader must read between the lines to feel the attitude

Mood

The emotional response that the writer wishes to evoke in the reader through a story

Inversion

Inverting of the normal word order of a sentence or phrase

Rhyme

The repetition of similar sounds in words

End Rhyme

Rhyme that occurs at the end of each line

Internal Rhyme

Rhyme created by 2 or more words in the same line of verse

Approximate Rhyme

Rhyme created by 2 or more words in the same line of verse

Exact Rhyme

A rhyme in which the latter part of a word or phrase is identical sounding to that of another

Rhyme Scheme

The pattern of end rhyme in a poem

Free Verse

An open form of poetry that does not use consistent meter, rhyming patter, etc.

Quatrain

A group of 4 lines that work together or a 4 line stanza

Couplet

Paired lines of verse, often rhyming

Refrain

A line or stanza that is repeated throughout a work, often at the beginning or end of a stanza

Sonnet

a verse form consisting of 14 lines with a fixed rhyme scheme

Rhythm

The pattern of sounds made by varying stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem

Meter

The type of foot used to measure a line of poetry

Foot

A metrical unit composed of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Azure

The blue color of a cloudless sky

Innumerable

too many to be counted

Jocund

tending to inspire cheerfulness

Pensive

dreamily or wistfully thoughtful

Host

in a great number of people or things

vacant

not occupied

Bliss

supreme happiness

Fester

become worse

Countenance

a person's face or facial expression

Defer

To put aside until later

Demure

shy or modest

Indulge

to yield inclination or desire

Diverge

to move in a different direction from a common point

Trod

to walk on, over or along

Rage

angry fury

Lament

A poem expressing sorrow or grief, often in memory of someone or something lost.

Temperate

moderate or self restrained

Gilded

covered in gold

Opalescent

having a milky iridescent like an opal

Furrow

To make a narrow groove-like depression in any surface