Poetry Definitions Quiz 1

accent

in this book, the same as stress. A syllable given more prominence in pronunciation than its neighbors is said to be accented.

Allegory

a narrative or description having a second meaning beneath the surface one

Alliteration

The repetition at close intervals of the initial consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words (EX, map-moon, kill-code, preach-approve). Important words and accented syllables beginning with vowels may also be said to allitercented with each other inasmuch as they all have the same lack of initial consonant sound.

Allusion

A reference, explicit or implicit, to something in previous literature or history(The term is reserved by some writers for implicit references only, such as those in "in just-, and in "on his blindness"; but the distinction between the two kinds of reference is not always clear cut.)

Anacrusis

In metrical verse, the omission of an unaccented syllable at the beginning of a line

anapest

A metrical foot consisting of two unaccented syllables followed by one accented syllable.

anapestic meter

A meter in which a majority of the feet are anapests

Apostrophe

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and could apply

approximate rime (imperfect rime, near rime, slant rime, or oblique rime)

A term used for words in a riming pattern that have some kind of sound correspondence but are not perfect rimes. See Rime Approximate rimes occur occasionally in patterns where most of the rimes are perfect.

Assonance

The repetition at close intervals of the vowel sounds of accented syllables or important words.

Aubade

A poem about dawn; a morning love song; or a poem about the parting of lovers at dawn.

Ballad

A fairly short narrative poem written in a songlike stanza form.

blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter

cacophony

A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds

Caesura

A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line.

Connotation

what a word suggests beyond its basic definition; a word's overtones of meaning

Consonance

the repetition at close intervals of the final consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words.

continous form

the form of a poem in which the lines follow each other without formal grouping, the only breaks being dictated by units of meaning.

Couplet

two successive lines, usually in the same meter, linked by rhyme

Dactyl

A metrical foot consisting of one accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables.

Dactylic meter

A meter in which a majority of the feet are dactyls

Denotation

the basic definition or dictionary meaning of a word

didactic poetry

poetry having as a primary purpose to teach or preach

Dimeter

a metrical line containing two feet

Double rime

A rime in which the repeated vowel is in the second last syllable of the words involved; one form of feminine rime