Poetry Terms

Alliteration

a figure of speech in which consonants, at the beginning of words, are repeated across a line of poetry

example- "Five miles meandering with a mazy motion" > repetition of "m" sound

Anapest (anapestic)

a metrical foot with a pattern of unstressed-followed by unstressed-followed by stress

example- Bernadette

Anaphora

a rhetorical device involving the repetition of a word or group of words in successive clauses

example- "Cannon to right of them/Cannon to left of them/Cannon in front of them/Volleyed and thundered." >repetition of "cannon"

Anastrophe

inversion of the normal order of words for a particular effect

example- "His hand dropt he" >He dropt (dropped) his hand (Yoda from star wars used anastrophe)

Antanaclasis

a figurative device in which a word is used twice of more in two of more of its possible senses

example- "Put out the light (candle), and then put out the light (life)."

Assonance

a technique used for sound whereby the poet has two or more words across a line that contain the same vowel sound to achieve a particular effect

example- "The Lotos bloom below the barren peak" >repetition of "o" sound

Auditory/Aural Imagery

specific words used by a poet to help us HEAR what is being described

Ballad

a type of poem that tells a story; it is often meant to be sung. it often contains simple language, dialogue, and a tragic theme. traditionally a ballad is a four line stanza or quatrain with rhyme scheme or abcb or abab

example- Rise up, rise up, my seven brave sons,

And dress in your armour so bright

Earl Douglas will hae Lady Margaret awa

Before that it be light

Blank Verse

poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. it is written in meter but it does not rhyme.

Caesura

a pause in the midst of a verse line; usually, the pause is indicated by a mark of punctuation, such as a comma, a question mark, a period, or a dash. when scanning a poem, caesura (plural-caesurae) are marked with a double slash ( // )

example- St. Agnes' Eve - Ah, bitter chill it was! > St. Agnes' Eve - //Ah, // bitter chill it was!

Chiasmus

a figure of speech in which two successive phrases or clauses are parallel in syntax, but reverse the order of the analogous words

example- "By the day frolic, and the dance by night," > in this example, if the same order as the part preceding the comma was followed for the part after the comma, we would have "and by the night the dance"

Climax

when words, ideas, metaphors, etc. are arranged in order of importance within a poem to heighten emotion

Consonance

a repetition of consonant sounds within two or more successive words that contain different vowel sounds

example- slip/slop had/hid wonder/wander black/block

Couplet

two successive rhyming lines

example- Then if he thrive and I be cast away

The worst was this, my love was my decay.

Dactyl (Dactylic)

a metrical foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by two that are unstressed

example- Cannon in / front of them

Dimeter

two feet in a line of poetry

example- Wild nights -- / Wild nights!

With I / with thee

Dramatic Poetry (dramatic monologue)

a type of poem where a character is speaking to another character who may or may not answer

Elegy

a poem of mourning for an individual , or a lament for some tragic event

Ellipsis

a mark [usually a series of points (...)] used to indicate omitted words, pauses, or interruptions.

Enjambment

also called run-on lines, are those in which the sentence or clause continues for two or more lines of verse; no punctuation appears at the end of enjambed lines

End Stop

lines that contain a complete sentence or independent clause and so have distinct pause at the end, usually indicated by a mark of punctuation

Epic

a long narrative poem on a serious and exalted subject

Epistrophe

a figure of speech in which each sentence of clause ends with the same word

example- "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child."

Foot (metrical foot)

a group of syllables forming a metrical unit; a unit of rhythm

Free Verse

poems that do not use regular meter of consistent rhyme. very prevalent since the 19th century

Gustatory Imagery

specific words used by the poet to help us TASTE what is being described

Heptameter

seven feet in a line of poetry

Hexameter

six feel in a line of poetry

Hyperbole

a type of figurative language that uses extreme exaggeration

example- I haven't seen you in ages. I have a million things to do today.

Iamb (Iambic)

a metrical foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stresses syllable. most frequently used in meter poetry.

example- He thought / he kept / the u / niverse / alone

Internal Rhyme

rhymes that occur WITHIN a line of poetry

example- I distinctly remember it was in bleak December

Kinesthetic Imagery

specific words used by a poet to help us feel the MOVEMENT of that which is being described

Lyric Poetry

a fairly short poem that expresses the speaker's feelings, emotions, and thoughts.

Metaphor

a comparison where the poet says something IS something

example- "Mark's room is a pig sty"

Meter (accentual-syllabic)

a measurement based on the number of syllables in a line and on the pattern of stresses in each metrical unit (foot)

Metonymy

a figure of speech in which the name of an attribute or a thing is substituted for the thing itself

example- 'The Crown' used in place of the monarchy

Monometer

one foot in a line of poetry

Narrative Verse

a narrative poem that tells a story. this form includes epics and ballads

Octameter

eight feet in a line of poetry

Ode

a lyric poem, usually of some length. it is usually characterized by elaborate stanza structures, a formal and stately tone, and lofty sentiments

Olfactory Imagery

specific words used by the poet to help us SMELL what is being described

Onomatopoeia

the technique of using words that sound the way they are pronounced

example- buzz, pop

Oxymoron

a figure or speech which combines incongruous and contradictory words and meanings for a special effect

example- My own BETRAYAL in their CONSTANCY,

In FAITH to him their FICKLENESS to me

Parallelism

phrases of sentences of similar construction and meaning placed side by side

example- I came, I saw, I conquered

Paradox

an apparently self-contradictory statement which, on closer inspection, is found to contain a truth. exact opposites = truth

example- paradoxical nature of man

Born but to die, and reasoning but to err.../Created half to rise and half to fall

Pentameter

five feet in a line of poetry

Personification

a comparison whereby the poet gives human qualities to a non-human thing

example- the flowers danced in the wind

Polypototon

the repetition of a word but in a different form

example- the LIVE give LIFE to the LIVING

Pun

play on words

example- I've changed my mind. Well, I sure hope this one is better

Prosody

a collective term that describes the technical aspects of verse relating to rhythm, stress, and meter

Pyrrhic

a metrical foot consisting of two unstressed syllables

Quatrain

a stanza of four lines, rhymed or unrhymed

Repetition

repeated use of a word in poetry for a particular effect

Rhyme Scheme

the pattern of recurrences of end rhymes in poetry. rhymes are marked with letters of the alphabet

example- abab, cdcd, efef, gg

Rhythm

the movement or sense of movement communicated by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables. in verse, rhythm depends on the metrical pattern

Scansion

the process of analyzing and marking the type the type and number of feet in each line of verse

Simile

a comparison where the poet uses LIKE or AS

example- I slept like a dog last night

Shakespearean Sonnet

a 14 line poem containing 3 quatrains and a couplet that is written in iambic pentameter with a rhyme scheme of abab, cdcd, efef, gg

Spondee (Spondaic)

a metrical foot consisting of two stressed or long syllables. it is used sparingly for effect, possibly to make it 'heavier'. it is most often used as a substitute food

example-

Stanza

a group of lines of verse. it may be any number but more than 12 is uncommon; 4 is the most common

Synaesthesia

the mixing of sensations; the concurrent appeal to more than one sense

example- 'hearing' a 'color', or 'seeing' a 'smell'

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which the part stands for the whole, and thus something else is understood within the thing mentioned

example- "Give us this day our daily bread (meals)"

Tactile Imagery

specific words used by the poet to help us FEEL/TOUCH what is being described

Thermal Imagery

specific words used by the poet to describe HEAT/COLD

Trochee (Trochaic)

a metrical foot containing a stressed, followed by an unstressed syllable

example- Double, / double, / toil and / trouble

Trimeter

three feet in a line of poetry

Tetrameter

four feet in a line of poetry

Visual Imagery

specific words used by the poet to help us SEE what is being described

Accent

the rhythmical alternation of light and heavy (soft and loud) sounds in verse

Apostrophe

is the addressing of someone or something, usually not present, as though present

example- O Captain! My Captain! our fearful trip is done.

Antihesis

balancing or contrasting of one term against another

example- Fair is foul, and foul is fair

Catalectic Foot

a missing unstressed syllable at the end of a trochaic or dactylic like

example- Go and / catch a / falling / star

Conceit

an elaborately developed and sometimes far-fetched metaphor

End Rhyme

consists of the similarity occurring at the end of two or more lines of verse

Eye Rhyme

words look like perfect rhymes but are pronounced differently

example- cover/over - bough/tough

Feminine Ending

ends with a single unstressed syllable

example- tasty/hasty

Feminine Rhyme

occurs when the last two syllables of a word rhyme with another word

example- lawful/awful - lightning/fighting

Half Rhyme / Imperfect Rhyme / Slant Rhyme

a partial rhyme created by varying the corresponding vowel sounds and/or consonant sounds

example- seam/swim - red/rid

Limerick

five line nonsense poem with an anapestic meter. the rhyme scheme is usually a a b b a

Litotes

understatement and is achieved by saying the opposite of what one means or by making an affirmation by stating the fact in the negative

example- calling a slow runner 'speedy'

Male / Masculine Ending

ends with stressed syllable

Petrarchan Sonnet / Italian Sonnet

a type of sonnet that is divided into an octave (8 lines) and a sestet (6 lines) with the octave having a rhyming scheme of abba abba and the sestet having the rhyme scheme of cde cde or cdc cdc

Refrain

a word, phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated at intervals

Stress

emphasis given to pronouncing some syllables

Substitute Foot

a change in the pervading meter in a line of verse for the purpose of creating subtle modulations or to reinforce a meaning

Symbol

a word or image that signifies something other than what is literally represented

example- donkey for the Democratic party

Tercet

three line stanza or three lines of verse within a larger unit that usually rhymes a a a

Turn / Volta

the change in thought in a sonnet indicated by initial words such as yet, but, and yet. in a petrarchan sonnet it occurs between the octave ans the sestet. in the shakespearean sonnet it usually occurs between lines 12 and 13