Poetry Terms 7

Simile

Appearing between the tenor and the vehicle will be either the connective term like (for phrases) or as (for clauses).

Sonnet

A historical fixed form. The eight line octave followed by the six-line sestet held

numerical significance

Stanza

A group of three or more lines, usually with a fixed rhyme scheme, which is repeated more than once

Surrealism

A movement to free thought from reason through automatic writing, attention to

dream states and free-associational play.

Syllabic Verse

Line length in syllabic poems is fixed by syllable count--say, ten per line--or in a

shaped pattern

Synecdoche

One part standing for the whole: sunbeams, for example, standing for the heat and

force of the sun, or an individual standing for a group

Syntax

The way the basic components of a sentence are arranged, connected according to phrases and clauses., and extended to other sentences.

Tanka

A traditional Japanese poem that is rendered in English in five

lines of 5, 7, 5, 7, 7 syllables

Tenor

The meaning of metaphor; what is represented or “held” by the vehicle or physical image

in comparison.

Tension

Pull, or tugging, which occurs either when syntax works against and diverges from

line, or when other elements of style work against each other.