Poetic Terminology

Allegory

an extended metaphor in which the characters, places, and objects in a narrative carry figurative meaning

Allusion

a brief, intentional reference to a historical, mythic, or literary person, place, event, literary work, or movement

Anaphora

the repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines to create a sonic effect

Antithesis

contrasting or combining two terms, phrases, or clauses with opposite meanings

Apostrophe

an address to a dead or absent person, or personification as if he or she were present

Assonance

the repetition of vowel sounds without repeating consonants

Caesura

a stop or pause in a metrical line

Chiasmus

repetition of any group of verse elements (including rhyme and grammatical structure) in reverse order

Conceit

an elaborate, extended metaphor that makes a surprising, complex comparison between two vastly different things

Consonance

a resemblance in sound between two worlds, or an initial rhyme

Ekphrasis

a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art

Enjambment

the running over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation

Epistle

a letter in verse, usually addresses to a person close to the writer

Litotes

a deliberate understatement for effect\; opposite of hyperbole

Meiosis

a deliberate understatement to make a situation or person seem less important

Metonymy

a figure of speech where a poet replaces a word with another word closely associated with it

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part of something stands for the whole

Synesthesia

a blending or intermingling of different senses

Zeugma

a literacy device where one word conveys two different meanings at the same time

English sonnet

a sonnet consisting of three quatrains and a couplet with a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

Italian sonnet

a sonnet consisting of an octave rhyming ABBA ABBA and a sestet rhyming in any various pattern

Sestina

a complex French verse form consisting of six lines each and a three-line envoi

Villanelle

a French verse form consisting of five three-line stanzas and a final quatrain

Iamb

a metrical foot consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable

Anapest

a metrical foot consisting of two unaccented syllables followed by an accented syllable

Trochee

a metrical foot consisting of an accented syllable followed by an unaccented syllable

Spondee

a metrical foot consisting of two accented syllables

Dactyl

a metrical foot consisting of an accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables

Monometer

a line of verse with only one metrical foot

Dimeter

a line of verse with two metrical feet

Trimeter

a line of verse with three metrical feet

Tetrameter

a line of verse with four metrical feet

Pentameter

a line of verse with five metrical feet

Hexameter

a line of verse with six metrical feet