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allegory
a work that functions on a symbolic level
alliteration
the repetition of initial consonant sounds, such as “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”
allusion
a reference contained in a work
apostrophe
direct address in poetry. Yeat’s line “Be with me Beauty, for the fire is dying” is a good example
aubade
a love poem set at dawn which bids farewell to the beloved
ballad
a simple narrative poem, often incorporating dialogue that is written in quatrains, generally with a rhyme scheme of a b c d
blank verse
unrhymed iambic pentameter. Most of Shakespeare’s plays are in this form
caesura
a break or pause within a line of poetry indicated by punctuation and used to emphasize meaning
catharsis
according to Aristotle, the release of emotion that the audience of a tragedy experiences
comic relief
the inclusion of a humorous character or scene to contrast with the tragic elements of a work, thereby intensifying the next tragic event
couplet
two lines of rhyming poetry; often used by Shakespeare to conclude a scene or an important passage
elegy
a poem that laments the dead or a loss. “Elegy for Jane” by Roethke is a specific example. Gray’s “Elegy in a Country Church Yard” is a general example
enjambment
a technique in poetry that involves the running on of a line or stanza. It enables the poem to move and to develop coherence as well as directing the reader with regard to form and meaning. Walt Whitman uses this continually
epigram
a brief witty poem. Pope often utilizes this form for satiric commentary
euphony
the pleasant, mellifluous presentation of sounds in a literary work
free verse
poetry without a defined form, meter, or rhyme scheme
hyperbole
extreme exaggeration. In “My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose,” Burns speaks of loving “until all the seas run dry”
iamb
a metrical foot consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one; the most common poetic foot in the English language
lyric poetry
a type of poetry characterized by emotion, personal feelings, and brevity; a large and inclusive category of poetry that exhibits rhyme, meter, and reflective thought
metaphysical poetry
refers to the work of poets like John Donne who explore highly complex, philosophical ideas through extended metaphors and paradox
metonymy
a figure of speech in which a representative term is used for a larger idea (“the pen is mightier than the sword”)
narrative poem
a poem that tells a story
octave
an eight-line stanza, usually combined with a sestet in a Petrarchan sonnet
ode
a formal, lengthy poem that celebrates a particular subject
oxymoron
an image of contradictory terms (bittersweet, pretty ugly, giant economy size)
paradox
a set of seemingly contradictory elements which nevertheless reflects an underlying truth. For example, in Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, the Friar says to Hero, “Come, Lady, die to live”
parallel plot
a secondary story line that mimics and reinforces the main plot (Hamlet loses his father, as does Ophelia)
parody
a comic imitation of a work that ridicules the original
personification
the assigning of human qualities to inanimate objects or concepts. (Wordsworth personifies “the sea that bares her bosom to the moon” in the poem “London, 1802”)
quatrain
a four-line stanza
satire
a mode of writing based on ridicule, which criticizes the foibles and follies of society without necessarily offering a solution
scansion
analysis of a poem’s rhyme and meter
sestet
a six-line stanza, usually paired with an octave to form a Petrarchan sonnet
sestina
a highly structured poetic form of 39 lines, written in iambic pentameter. It depends upon the repetition of six words from the first stanza in each of six stanzas
soliloquy
a speech in a play which is used to reveal the character’s inner thoughts to the audience
spondee
a poetic foot consisting of two accented syllables
tercet
a three-line stanza
trochee
a single metrical foot consisting of one accented (stressed/long) syllable followed by one unaccented (unstressed/short) syllable
villainelle
a highly structures poetic form that comprises six stanzas: five tercets and a quartrain. The poem repeats the first and third lines throughout
terza rima
an interlocking rhyme scheme with the pattern aba bcb, cdc, etc
assonance
the repetition at close intervals of the vowel sounds of accented syllables or important words (hat-ran-amber-vein-made)
feminine rhyme
a rhyme in which the repeated accented vowel is in either the second or third last syllable of the words involved (ceiling-appealing, hurrying-scurrying)
end rhyme
rhymes that occur at the ends of the lines
Elizabethan/Shakespearean sonnet
a sonnet rhyming ababcdcdefefgg. It’s content or structure ideally parallels the rhyme scheme, falling into three coordinate quartrain and a concluding couplet; but it is often structured, like the Italian sonnet, into octave and sestet, the principal break in though coming at the end of the eigth line
anaphora
repetition of an opening word or phrase in a series of lines
consonance
the repetition at close intervals of the final consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words (book-plague-thicker)
dimeter
a metrical line containing two feet
tetrameter
a metrical line containing four feet
refrain
a repeated word, phrase, line, or group of lines, normally at some fixed position in a poem written in stanzaic form
internal rhyme
a rhyme in which one or both of the rhyme words occurs within the line
didactic poetry
poetry having as a primary purpose to teach or preach
trimeter
a metrical line containing three feet
Italian/Pertrarchan sonnet
a sonnet consisting of an octave rhyming abbaabba and of a sestet using any arrangement of two or three additional rhymes, such as cdcdcd or cdecde
masculine rhyme
a rhyme in which the repeated accented vowel sound is in the final syllable of the words involved (dance-pants, scald-recalled)
synecdoche
a figure of speech that utilizes a part as representative of the whole (“all hands on deck” is an example)
Note 
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