poetry terms

alliteration

The repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds, normally at the beginnings of words.

allusion

A reference in a work of literature to something outside the work, especially to a well-known historical or literary event, person, or work.

antithesis

A figure of speech characterized by strongly contrasting words, clauses, sentences, or ideas.

apostrophe

A figure of speech in which someone, some abstract quality, or a nonexistent personage is directly addressed as though present.

assonance

The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds.

ballad meter

A four-line stanza rhymed abcd with four feet in lines one and three and three feet in lines two and four.

blank verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

cacophony

A harsh, unpleasant combination of sounds or tones.

caesura

A pause, usually near the middle of a line of verse, usually indicated by the sense of the line.

conceit

An ingenious and fanciful notion or conception, usually expressed through an elaborate analogy.

consonance

The repetition of similar consonant sounds in a group of words.

couplet

A two-line stanza, usually with end-rhymes the same.

devices of sound

The techniques of deploying the sound of words, especially in poetry.

diction

The use of words in a literary work.

didactic poem

A poem which is intended primarily to teach a lesson.

dramatic poem

A poem which employs a dramatic form or techniques as a means of achieving poetic ends.

elegy

A sustained and formal poem setting forth the poet’s meditations upon death or another solemn theme.

end-stopped

A line with a pause at the end.

enjambment

The continuation of the sense and grammatical construction from one line of poetry to the next.

extended metaphor

An implied analogy, or comparison, which is carried throughout a stanza or an entire poem.

euphony

A style in which combinations of words pleasant to the ear predominate.

eye rhyme

Rhyme that appears correct from spelling, but is half-rhyme or slant rhyme from pronunciation.

feminine rhyme

A rhyme of two syllables, one stressed and one unstressed.

figurative language

Writing that uses figures of speech, contrasting with literal language.

free verse

Poetry which is not written in a traditional meter but is still rhythmical.

heroic couplet

Two end-stopped iambic pentameter lines rhymed aa, bb, cc.

hyperbole

A deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration.

imagery

The images of a literary work; the sensory details of a work.

irony

The contrast between actual meaning and the suggestion of another meaning.

internal rhyme

Rhyme that occurs within a line, rather than at the end.

lyric poem

A short poem that presents a single speaker who expresses thoughts and feelings.

masculine rhyme

Rhyme that falls on the stressed and concluding syllables of the rhyme-words.

metaphor

A figurative use of language in which a comparison is expressed without comparative terms.

meter

The repetition of a regular rhythmic unit in a line of poetry.

metonymy

A figure of speech characterized by the substitution of a term naming an object closely associated with the word in mind.

mixed metaphors

The mingling of one metaphor with another immediately following with which the first is incongruous.

narrative poem

A non-dramatic poem which tells a story or presents a narrative.

octave

An eight-line stanza.

onomatopoeia

The use of words whose sound suggests their meaning.

oxymoron

A form of paradox that combines a pair of contrary terms into a single expression.

paradox

A situation or action that appears contradictory but turns out to be true.

parallelism

A similar grammatical structure within a line or lines of poetry.

paraphrase

A restatement of an idea in order to retain the meaning while changing the diction and form.

personification

A kind of metaphor that gives inanimate objects or abstract ideas human characteristics.

poetic foot

A group of syllables in verse usually consisting of one accented syllable and one or two unaccented syllables.

pun

A play on words that are identical or similar in sound but have sharply diverse meanings.

quatrain

A four-line stanza with any combination of rhymes.

refrain

A group of words forming a phrase or sentence and consisting of one or more lines repeated at intervals in a poem.

rhyme

Close similarity or identity of sound between accented syllables occupying corresponding positions.

rhyme royal

A seven-line stanza of iambic pentameter rhymed ababbcc.

rhythm

The recurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables.

sarcasm

A type of irony in which a person appears to be praising something but is actually insulting it.

satire

Writing that seeks to arouse a reader’s disapproval of an object by ridicule.

scansion

A system for describing the meter of a poem by identifying the number and the type(s) of feet per line.

sestet

A six-line stanza.

simile

A directly expressed comparison; a figure of speech comparing two objects with 'like,' 'as,' or 'than.'

sonnet

Normally a fourteen-line iambic pentameter poem.  The conventional Italian, or Petrarchan sonnet is rhymed abba, abba, cde, cde; the English, or Shakespearean, sonnet is rhymed abab, cdcd, efef, gg. 

stanza

Usually a repeated grouping of three or more lines with the same meter and rhyme scheme.

strategy (or rhetorical strategy)

The management of language for a specific effect. The strategy or rhetorical strategy of a poem is the planned placing of elements to achieve an effect.

structure

The arrangement of materials within a work. the relationship of the parts of a work to the whole; the logical divisions of a work. The most common units of structure in a poem are the line and stanza. 

style

The mode of expression in language; the characteristic manner of expression of an author. Many elements contribute to style, and if a question calls for a discussion of style or of “stylistic techniques,” you can discuss diction, syntax, figurative language, imagery, selection of detail, sound effects, and tone, using the ones that are appropriate. 

symbol

Something that is simultaneously itself and a sign of something else. For example, winter, darkness, and cold are real things, but in literature they are also likely to be used as symbols of death. 

synecdoche

A form of metaphor which in mentioning a part signifies the whole.For example, we refer to “foot soldiers” for infantry and “field hands” for manual laborers who work in agriculture. 

syntax

The ordering of words into patterns or sentences.

tercet

A stanza of three lines in which each line ends with the same rhyme.

terza rima

A three-line stanza rhymed aba, bcb, cdc.

theme

The main thought expressed by a work. In poetry, it is the abstract concept which is made concrete through its representation in person, action, and image in the work. 

tone

The manner in which an author expresses his or her attitude. Tone is the result of allusion, diction, figurative language, imagery, irony, symbol, syntax, and style.

understatement

The opposite of hyperbole; a kind of irony that represents something as less than it is.

villanelle

A nineteen-line poem divided into five tercets and a final quatrain with a specific rhyme scheme. The villanelle uses only two rhymes which are repeated as follows: aba, aba, aba, aba, aba, abaa.