IB English Poetry Terms

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Meter

Meter

Poetry’s rhythm, or its pattern of stresses and unstressed syllables

Scansion

the process of marking these patterns within a poem to determine meter.

Iamb

Unstressed, Stressed Metric Foot

Trochee

Stressed, Unstressed Metric Foot

Spondee

Stressed, Stressed Metric Foot

Anapest

Unstressed, Unstressed, Stressed Metric Foot

Dactyl

Stressed, Unstressed, Unstressed Metric Foot

Caesura

A pause or break in a line of poetry, often occurring in the middle of a verse.

Enjambment

a run-on line, one continuing into the next without a grammatical break. The opposite is referred to as an end-stopped line.

Assonance

Repition of two or more vowel sounds within a line of poetry

Consonance

The repetition of consent sounds within a line

Alliteration

Repitition of two or more initial sounds in words within a line

Onomatopoeia

the technique of using a word whose sound suggests its meaning

Euphony

the use of compatible, harmonious sounds in close proximity to produce a pleasing, melodious effect

Cacophony

the use of harsh, inharmonious sounds in close proximity to create an unpleasant effect.

End Rhyme

rhyme occurring at the end of verse line; most common rhyme form.

Internal Rhyme

Rhyme contained within a line of verse

Rhyme Scheme

pattern of rhymes within a unit of verse; in analysis, each end-rhyme sound is represented by a letter.

Masculine Rhyme

rhyme in which only the last accented syllable of the rhyming words correspond exactly in sound; most common kind of end rhyme.

Feminine Rhyme

rhyme in which 2 consecutive syllables of the rhyme-words correspond, the first syllable carrying the accent; double rhyme.

Half Rhyme or Slant Rhyme

imperfect, approximate rhyme

Free verse

poetry without a specific rhythm or rhyme scheme

Blank Verse

unrhymed Iambic Pentameter.

Lyric poetry

Subjective, reflective poetry with regular rhyme scheme and meter which reveals the poet’s inner thoughts and feelings

Ode

Elaborate lyric verse which deals seriously with a dignified theme. Often in tribute or praise.

Elegy

a poem of lament, a meditation on someone’s death

Epigram

A short satirical; or witty statement in verse

Redonilla

A spanish verse form containing quatrains, trochaic tetrameter, and an ABBA or ABAB rhyme scheme

Decima

A Spanish verse form with 10 line stanzas, regular rhyme, and is octosyllabic.

Ballad

A simple, narrative verse usually written in Ballad stanzas

Sonnet

14 lines of Iambic pentameter with a regular rhyme scheme.

Structure

The arrangement of ideas, images, sentences, etc. That make up a poem’s internal ordering.

Form

External Ordering of a poem such as length, length of line, rhyme scheme.

Narrative poetry

verse which relates a story or narrative

Epic Poetry

a long narrative poem which gives the account of a hero important to their nation or race.

Shakespearean sonnet

3 quatrains and a concluding couplet

Italian Sonnet

An Octave and Sestet, between which a transition in thought occurs, commonly called a “Volta” or turning point (Big BUT).