Poetry Terms

Allusion

A brief, intentional reference to a piece of literature.

Anapest

A metrical foot containing two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable. An example is and the SHEEN of their SPEARS was like STARS on a SEA

Anaphora

repetition of a word or words at the beginning of succesive phrases. Some feel… Some feel… Some feel

Lyric Poem

A type of poem characterized by brevity and the compression of feeling. Short and Sweet

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which a closely related term is substituted for an object or idea. An example: “We have always remained loyal to the crown.”

End-stopped

Ending each line with punctuation forming a complete thought as to emphasize the significance of each line making the reader stop and think

character

an imaginary person that inhabits a literary work. Can be major minor static or dynamic

conflct

a struggle between opposing forces in a story or play

consonance

A resemblance in sound between two words. Can be anywhere in the word unlike alliteration which is only in the front

Enjambment

A run-on stanza with no puncuation at where would normally be grammatically correct

Pastoral

Pastoral poetry is a literary genre that idealizes rural life, shepherds, and nature as pure and peaceful alternative to corruption and chaos of the city.

Terset

A three line stanze