Acrostic
Poetry in which certain letters, usually the first in each line, form a word or message when read in a sequence.
Anapest
unstressed, unstressed, stressed
Apostrophe
is a direct address to someone who is not actually present in the text
Ballad
Poetry which has three stanzas of seven, eight, or ten lines and a shorter final stanza of four or five. All stanzas end with the same one line refrain
Ballad stanza
consists of four lines with a rhyme scheme of a-b-c-b. The first and third lines are tetrameter and the second and fourth are trimeter.
Blank verse
a poem written in unrhymed iambic pentameter
Burlesque
Poetry that treats a serious subject as humor.
Cacophony; Dissonance
harsh, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose; the opposite of euphony.
Cadence
Rhythm
Caesura
a strong pause within a line of verse
Canzone
Medieval Italian lyric style poetry with five or six stanzas and a shorter ending stanza
Cinquain
Poetry with five lines. Line 1 has one word (the title). Line 2 has two words that describe the title. Line 3 has three words that tell the action. Line 4 has four words that express the feeling, and line 5 has one word which recalls the title.
Classicism
Poetry which holds the principles and ideals of beauty that are characteristic of Greek and Roman art, architecture, and literature.
Closed form poetry
has an established pattern, whether with length, meter, rhyme, imagery, syntax, or stanzas
Closed forms
Allow the reader more access to the organization of ideas expressed in the poem AND can be purposefully changed by the author, adding complexity to the meaning
Couplet
a rhymed pair of lines
Dactyl
contains three syllables with the stress on the first syllable
dramatic monologue
A type of poem which is spoken to the listener. The speaker addresses a specific topic while the listener unwittingly reveals details about themselves.
Elegy
A sad and thoughtful poem about the death of an individual
English/Shakespearean sonnet
consists of 3 quatrains and a couplet, usually rhyming abab cdcd efef gg
Enjambment
the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
Epic
An extensive, serious poem that tells the story about a heroic figure
Epigram
A very short, ironic and witty poem usually written as a brief couplet or quatrain
Epitaph
a commemorative inscription on a tomb or mortuary monument about the person buried at that site.
Epithalamium (Epithalamion)
A poem written in honor of the bride and groom.
Examples of closed-form poetry
Ballad, haiku, epigram, sestina, sonnets, villanille
Explication
The interpretation or analysis of a text.
feminine rhyme (double rhyme)
occurs when the last two syllables of a word rhyme with another word
Foot
A metrical unit composed of stressed and unstressed syllables.
Free verse
Poetry written in either rhyme or unrhymed lines that have no set fixed metrical pattern
Haiku
a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world.
Heptameter
7 feet
heroic couplet
Two consecutive lines of rhyming poetry that are written in iambic pentameter and that contain a complete thought.
Hexameter
6 feet
Horatian Ode
Short lyric poem written in two or four-line stanzas, each with its the same metrical pattern, often addressed to a friend and deal with friendship, love and the practice of poetry. It is named after its creator, Horace.
Iambic pentameter
One short syllable followed by one long one, repeated five times in a row. Example: la-LAH la-LAH la-LAH la-LAH la-LAH
Idyll
Poetry that either depicts a peaceful, idealized country scene or a long poem telling a story about heroes of a bye gone age.
If the AP exam asks for poetic forms, what does it mean?
Types of stanzas: regular stanza, Terza rima, heroic couplet, ballad stanza, limerick, rhyme (rime) royal, ottava rima, Spencerian, ballad, haiku, epigram, sestina, sonnets (both), villanille, etc
Irregular (Pseudo-Pindaric or Cowleyan) ode
Neither the three part form of the pindaric ode nor the two or four-line stanza of the Horatian ode. It is characterized by irregularity of verse and structure and lack of coorespondence between the parts.
Italian/Petrarchan Sonnet
Fourteen-line poem divided into two parts: the first is eight lines (abbaabba) and the second is six (cdcdcd or cdecde)
Italian sonnet
a sonnet consisting of an octave with the rhyme pattern abbaabba, followed by a sestet with the rhyme pattern cdecde or cdcdcd
Lay
A long narrative poem, especially one that was sung by medieval minstrels called trouveres.
Limerick
A short sometimes vulgar, humorous poem consisting of five anapestic lines. Lines 1, 2, and 5 have seven to ten syllables, rhyme and have the same verbal rhythm. The 3rd and 4th lines have five to seven syllables, rhyme and have the same rhythm
Litotes (understatement)
A form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite
Lyric
A poem that expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet
Masculine rhyme (single rhyme)
A rhyme in which the stress is on the final syllable of the words (rhyme, sublime)
Memoriam stanza
A quatrain in iambic tetrameter with a rhyme scheme of abba -- named after the pattern used by Lord Tennyson.
Meter
A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry
Metonymy
A figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it.
Narrative
a poem that tells a story
Octave
8 line stanza
octometer
8 feet
Ode
A lengthy lyric poem typically of a serious or meditative nature and having an elevated style and formal stanza structure.
Open form
A type of structure or form in poetry characterized by freedom from regularity and consistency in such elements as rhyme, line length, metrical pattern, and overall poetic structure.
Open form poetry
Characterized by lack of pattern; content creates the form
ottava rima
an eight-line rhyming stanza of a poem
Pastoral
A poem that depicts rural life in a peaceful, idealized way.
Pentameter
five feet
Petrarchan
A 14-line sonnet consisting of an octave rhyming abbaabba followed by a sestet of cddcee or cdecde
Pindaric Ode
A ceremonious poem consisting of a strophe (two or more lines repeated as a unit) followed by an antistrophe with the same metrical pattern and concluding with a summary line (an epode) in a different meter. Named after Pindar, a Greek professional lyrist of the 5th century B.C.
Quatrain
A stanza or poem consisting of 4 lines. Lines 2 and 4 must rhyme wile having a similar number of syllables
quintet
a five line stanza
Refrain
A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem.
Rhime Royal
A type of poetry consisting of stanzas having seven lines in a lambic pentameter
Rhyme
A rhythmic poem has the repetition of the same or similar sounds of 2 or more words, often at the end of a line
Rime Royal stanza
A stanza consisting of seven lines in lambic pentameter rhyming a-b-a-b-b-c-c. It is called so because king James used it
Rondeau
A lyrical poem of French origin having 10 or 13 lines with two rhymes and with the opening phrase repeated twice as the refrain.
Septet
7 line stanza
Sestet
6 line stanza
Sestina
A poem consisting of six six-line stanzas and a three-line envoy. The end words of the first stanza are repeated in varied order as end words in the other stanzas and also recur in the envoy.
Shakespearean
A 14-line sonnet consisting of three quatrains of abab cdcd efef followed by a couplet, gg. Shakespearean sonnets generally use iambic pentameter.
Shifts typically contain certain words such as:
For,but,yet,ect
Sonnet
A lyric poem of 14 lines, commonly written with unconventional rhyme schemes
Spencerian Sonnet
a sonnet in which the lines are grouped into three interlocked quatrains and a couplet and the rhyme scheme is abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee.
Sponsee/Spondaic
Consists of 2 stressed syllables. Compound words are examples. Ex: heartbreak, Childhood, Football
Tercets
3 line stanzas
Terza rima
A type of poetry consisting of 10 or 11 syllable lines arranged in three-line tercets.
Tetrameter
4 feet
Trochee (trochaic)
stressed, unstressed
Verse
A single metrical line of poetry
Villanelle
A 19-line poem consisting of five tercets and a final quatrain on two rhymes. The first and third lines of the first tercet repeat alternately as a refrain closing the succeeding stanzas and joined as the final couplet of the quatrain.
Volta
the shift or point of dramatic change in a poem