Poetry Terms, Forms, Meter, and Figurative Language

Comprehensive fill-in-the-blank practice flashcards covering poetic forms, meter, scansion, rhyme schemes, and figurative language from the lecture notes.

A short poem in which a single, first-person speaker expresses their thoughts and feelings is called a __________.

lyric

A lyric comprising 14 lines in iambic pentameter usually about love is known as a __________.

sonnet

The English sonnet consists of 3 quatrains and a couplet with the rhyme scheme __________.

abab cdcd efef gg

The Italian sonnet consists of an octave and a sestet with the rhyme scheme __________.

abbaabba cdecde

A poem, originally sung rather than written, recounting a story, often sensational and violent, featuring simple vocabulary, refrains, and quatrains is a __________.

ballad

A ballad stanza features quatrains of alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and __________.

iambic trimeter

A reflective poem lamenting the loss of something or someone, or loss or death more generally, is an __________.

elegy

A __________ is defined as a type of text within a specific medium that provides a set of conventions setting expectations for characteristics.

genre

The "big three" genres within literature are poetry, fiction, and __________.

drama

Rhymes occurring within a single line of poetry are known as __________ rhymes.

internal

Rhymes occurring at the end of a line of poetry are designated as __________ rhymes.

end

A rhyme consisting of only one syllable, such as "prick-tick," is a __________ rhyme.

masculine

A rhyme consisting of two syllables (double rhyme), such as "never-sever," is a __________ rhyme.

feminine

A rhyme exhibiting an exact correspondence between the rhyming syllables, such as "car-bar," is a __________ rhyme.

perfect

A rhyme that is spelled alike but pronounced differently, such as "love-prove," is called an __________.

eye-rhyme

A rhyme exhibiting a non-exact correspondence between rhyming syllables, such as "load-lid-lad," is an __________ rhyme.

imperfect

The pattern in the beat of the stresses in the stream of sound is defined as __________.

rhythm

The regular pattern of rhythm in poetry is called __________.

meter

To scan a passage of poetry line by line, analyzing the component feet, is called __________.

scansion

A unit of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetic meter is called a __________.

foot

A metrical foot comprising an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable is __________.

iambic

A metrical foot comprising a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable is __________.

trochaic

A metrical foot consisting of two light (unstressed) syllables followed by a stressed syllable is __________.

anapestic

A metrical foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables is __________.

dactylic

A poetic line consisting of one foot is monometer, two feet is dimeter, and three feet is __________.

trimeter

A poetic line consisting of four feet is tetrameter, five feet is pentameter, and six feet is __________.

hexameter

A noticeable pause between metrical feet within a line of poetry is called a __________.

caesura

A line in which the end of a sentence or clause coincides with the end of the line is an __________ line.

end-stopped

The non-coincidence between the end of a line and the end of a sentence or clause is called __________ (or run-on lines).

enjambment

The first-person character who speaks a poem, as distinct from the author who wrote it, is the __________.

persona

The primary significance of a word, such as the dictionary primarily defines it, is its __________.

denotation

A range of secondary or associated significances and feelings which a word commonly suggests is its __________.

connotation

A comparison between two different kinds of things using the words like, as, or (sometimes) than is a __________.

simile

An application of the literal meaning of one word to a distinctly different kind of thing or action, without the assertion of a comparison, is a __________.

metaphor

The application of the literal meaning of one word to a different thing with which it has become closely associated is __________.

metonymy

The use of a part of something to signify the whole entity, such as saying "All hands on deck!", is called __________.

synecdoche

The donation of life, consciousness, or human qualities to an object that is inanimate, nonhuman, or fictional is __________.

personification

The direct address to a deceased, inanimate, nonhuman, fictional, or absent entity is called __________.

apostrophe

An assertion of an impossibility, such as "No words can describe…", is termed __________.

adynaton

A bold overstatement or extravagant exaggeration of fact is called __________.

hyperbole

A group of lines in a poem demarcated by an extra line spacing is a __________.

stanza

A stanza of three lines is known as a __________.

tercet

A pair of rhyming lines is a couplet, while a four-line stanza is a __________.

quatrain

In an Italian sonnet, the first eight lines are the octave, and the last six lines are the __________.

sestet