Poetry Quiz 4

Form

The structure and style of a poem.

Fixed form

A poem that follows a set pattern.

Free verse

A poem without a fixed pattern of rhyme scheme.

Stanza

A group of lines in a poem, like a paragraph in prose.

Rhyme scheme

The pattern of rhymes at the end of lines in a poem.

Couplet

Two consecutive rhyming lines.

Heroic couplet

A rhyming pair of lines in iambic pentameter.

Tercet

A three-line stanza.

Triplet

A tercet where all three lines rhyme.

Terza rima

A rhyme scheme where the middle line of one tercet rhymes with the first and third lines of the next (ABA BCB CDC).

Quatrain

A four-line stanza.

Ballad stanza

A four-line stanza with alternating iambic tetrameter and trimeter (ABCB or ABAB).

Sonnet

A 14-line poem with a set rhyme scheme and meter.

Italian/Petrarchan

A sonnet divided into an 8-line octave and 6-line sestet.

Octave

An 8-line stanza, often in a Petrarchan sonnet.

Sestet

A 6-line stanza, often the second part of a Petrarchan sonnet.

English/Elizabethan/Shakespearean

A 14-line poem with an ABAB-BCBC-CDCD-EE rhyme scheme.

Spenserian

A 14-line poem with an ABAB-CDCD-EFEF-GG rhyme scheme.

Villanelle

A 19-line poem with repeating lines and an ABA rhyme scheme.

Sestina

A 39-line poem with 6, 6-line stanzas and a final 3-line envoy, repeating the exact six words in a pattern.

Envoy

A short closing stanza in some poems.

Epigram

A short, witty, and often humorous poem.

Limerick

A 5-line humorous poem with an AABBA rhyme scheme.

Haiku

A 3-line Japanese poem with a 5-7-5 syllable pattern.

Elegy

A poem mourning a person’s death.

Ode

A poem of praise or deep reflection.

Picture poem

A poem arranged in a shape that reflects its subject.

Parody

A humorous or satirical imitation of another poem or style.

Prose poem

A poem written in prose (without line breaks) but with poetic language.

Found poem

A poem created from existing text, rearranged.