ap lit poetry terms

ballad

a narrative poem that usually includes a repeated refrain

blank verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter, a line of five feet

cacophony

the use of words in poetry that combine sharp, harsh, hissing, or unmeldous sounds

conceit

elaborate figure of speech combinig possible metaphor, simile, hyperbole, or oxymoron

couplet

a pair of rhyming lines with identical meter

elegy

a mourning poem of lament for an individual or tragic event

free verse

a type of poetry that differs from conventional verse forms in being “free” from a fixed pattern of meter and rhyme.

iambic pentameter

a line of verse having five metrical feet (Shakespeare’s most frequent writing pattern)

meter rhythm

the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.

rhyme

exact repetition of sounds in at least the final accented syllables of two or more words.

rhyme scheme

The pattern of rhyme. The traditional way to mark these patterns of rhyme is to assign a letter of the alphabet to each rhyming sound at the end of each line.

sonnet

a fourteen-line poem, usually in iambic pentameter, with a varied rhyme scheme.

iamb

2 syllables, unstressed-stressed, de DUMM

trochee

2 syllables, stressed-unstressed, DUMM de

anapest

3 syllables, unstressed-unstressed-stressed, de de DUMM

dactylic

3 syllables, stressed-unstressed-unstressed, DUMM de de

1 foot

monometer

2 feet

dimeter

3 feet

trimeter

4 feet

tetrameter

5 feet

pentameter

6 feet

hexameter

7 feet

heptameter

8 feet

octameter

end-stopped

a pause at the end of a line

caesura

a pause that occurs within a line

enjambement or run on

a line that “runs over” to the next line without a pause

single (masculine) rhyme

1 syllable, ex: dame, same - love, dove

double (feminine) rhyme

2 syllables, ex: napping, tapping - weather, heather

sight (eye) rhyme

in which two words look alike but don’t sound alike, such as “love” and “jove” or “daughter and “laughter”

slant (imperfect) rhyme

in which two words are nearly rhymed but have a slight variation in vowel sound, such as “lake” and “fate”

end rhyme

in which the rhyming words occur at the ends of lines in poetry

internal rhyme

in which the rhyming words occur inside a line, such as “let’s beat the heat”

assonance

the repetition of identical vowel sounds in syllables that have different consonant sounds such as “lake” and “fake”

consonance

the repetition of identical consonant sounds in syllables that have different vowel sounds sunch as “bill” and “ball” or “born” and “burn”

rhymed couplet

2 lines with identical rhymes

tercet, triplet

3 lines - any rhyme scheme, any meter

sestet

6 lines (often 3 sets of couplets), any rhyme scheme, any meter

octave

8 lines - any rhyme scheme, any memter

Spenserian stanza

9 lines rhyming a b a b a ba cc, lines 1-8 iambic pentameter, line 9 iambic pentameter

sonnet

14 lines iambic pentameter, 3 quatrains + 1 couplet

villanelle

19 lines - 5 tercets + 1 quatrain, 2 repeating refrains - 9 of 19 lines are refrain

narrative poetry

a nondramatic poem which tells a story or presents a narrative, whether simple of complex, long or short

ex: ballad, epic

lyric poetry

a brief subjective poem marked by imagination, melody, and emotion, but strict definition is impossible

ex: dirge, elegy, sonnet, ode

analogy

A comparison of two things, alike in certain aspects – a simile is an expressed one; a metaphor is an implied one.

Apostrophe

Addressing some abstract object as if it were animate, such as “O world! Tell me thy pain!” Thus, it is a kind of personification.

allusion

Referring metaphorically to persons, places or things from history or previous literature, with which the reader is expected to have enough familiarity to make extended associations, such as “The new kid is as mean as Grendel and twice as ugly” or “He must think he’s some kind of Superman.”

allegory

A form of extended metaphor in which objects, persons, and actions in a narrative are equated with meanings that lie outside the narrative itself, such as Everyman. Special kinds of them include the fable and the parable.

symbolism

The use of one object to represent or suggest another object or an idea. Thus, a rose might be used to symbolize the loved one or love in general, depending on the context.

Metonymy

Substitution of one word for another closely related word, such as “The pot’s boiling” or “The White House announced.”

Synechdoche

Substitution of part for the whole, such as “All hands on deck.”

Meiosis

Saying less than is true, an under-exaggeration, such as “The reports of my death have been exaggerated.”

Antithesis

Using contrasts for an accumulative effect, such as “Man proposes; God disposes.”

oxymoron

An antithesis which brings together two sharply contradictory terms, such as “wise fool,” “little big man,” “eloquent silence,” and “loving hate.”

Litotes

A form of understatement in which a thing is affirmed by stating the negative of its opposite, such as “He was not unmindful” which actually means he was mindful.

paradox

A statement which while seemingly contradictory or absurd may actually be well-founded or true; a “logic twist,” such as “Everything I say is a lie.”

POETIC LICENSE

a poet is allowed to break rules in order to improve his poem in some way.

irony

saying the opposite to what is true. ex: “war is kind”