poetry terms
1. Alliteration: The repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words (e.g., “She sells sea shells”).
2. Allusion: A reference to a well-known person, place, event, or work of art.
3. Anaphora: The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.
4. Antithesis: A contrast or opposition between two things, often expressed in parallel structure (e.g., “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”).
5. Apostrophe: Directly addressing an absent or imaginary person, or an abstract concept (e.g., “O Death, where is thy sting?”).
6. Archetype: A typical character, theme, or symbol that represents universal patterns in human nature.
7. Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds within nearby words (e.g., “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain”).
8. Blank Verse: Unrhymed iambic pentameter.
9. Cacophony: A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds in language.
10. Cadence: The natural rhythm of language, often found in poetry.
11. Caesura: A pause in a line of poetry, typically marked by punctuation.
12. Catachresis: An exaggerated or strained metaphor.
13. Chiasmus: A rhetorical figure in which words or phrases are reversed (e.g., “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”).
14. Concrete: Tangible imagery that describes specific, physical details.
15. Connotation: The emotional or cultural associations of a word beyond its literal meaning.
16. Consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds within or at the end of words.
17. Controlling Image: A recurring metaphor or image throughout a work.
18. Couplet: Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme.
19. Dactyl: A metrical foot with one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.
20. Dimeter: A line of poetry consisting of two metrical feet.
21. Dirge: A somber song expressing mourning or grief.
22. Dissonance: A clash of harsh or inharmonious sounds.
23. Double Entendre: A phrase that has two meanings, one often risqué or ironic.
24. Dramatic Monologue: A poem in which a single speaker addresses a silent listener, revealing personal thoughts.
25. Elegy: A poem of mourning, usually for someone who has died.
26. End Rhyme: Rhyme at the end of a line.
27. End-Stopped Line: A line of poetry that ends with punctuation, signaling a pause.
28. Enjambment: The continuation of a sentence or clause across a line break without a pause.
29. Epic: A long narrative poem detailing heroic deeds.
30. Epigram: A brief, witty, and often satirical statement or poem.
31. Euphemism: A mild or indirect term substituted for a harsh or blunt one.
32. Euphony: Pleasant, harmonious sound in language.
33. Exact Rhyme: Words that perfectly rhyme (e.g., “cat” and “hat”).
34. Explication: A detailed analysis of a text to interpret its meaning.
35. External Rhyme: Rhyme occurring at the end of separate lines.
36. Eye Rhyme: Words that look like they should rhyme but don’t (e.g., “love” and “move”).
37. Feminine Rhyme: A rhyme involving two syllables, the first stressed and the second unstressed (e.g., “falling” and “calling”).
38. Figurative Language: Language that uses figures of speech like metaphors or similes to create meaning.
39. Foot: The basic unit of measurement in poetry’s meter.
40. Free Verse: Poetry without a regular rhyme or meter.
41. Haiku: A three-line Japanese poem with a 5-7-5 syllable structure.
42. Heroic Couplet: Two rhyming lines of iambic pentameter.
43. Hyperbole: Exaggeration for emphasis or effect.
44. Iamb: A metrical foot with one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
45. Image: A vivid description that appeals to the senses.
46. Imagery: The use of descriptive language to create mental images.
47. In Media Res: Beginning a narrative in the middle of the action.
48. Internal Rhyme: Rhyme within a single line of poetry.
49. Limerick: A five-line humorous poem with a specific rhyme scheme (AABBA).
50. Litotes: A figure of speech using understatement (e.g., “Not bad” meaning “good”).
51. Lyric: A short poem expressing personal emotions.
52. Masculine Rhyme: A rhyme of single-syllable words or stressed final syllables.
53. Measure: Another term for meter in poetry.
54. Meiosis: An intentional understatement for effect.
55. Metaphor: A comparison without using “like” or “as” (e.g., “Time is a thief”).
56. Metaphysical: Poetry characterized by intellectual wit and complex imagery.
57. Meter: The rhythmic pattern of a line of poetry.
58. Metonymy: Substituting the name of one thing with something closely associated with it (e.g., “The crown” for “royalty”).
59. Narrative Ballad: A story told in poetic form, often with a refrain.
60. Near Rhyme: Words with similar but not exact rhymes (e.g., “rain” and “again”).
61. Octave: An eight-line stanza, often the first part of a sonnet.
62. Ode: A formal, often ceremonious poem celebrating a subject.
63. Onomatopoeia: Words that mimic sounds (e.g., “buzz,” “sizzle”).
64. Open Form: Poetry without a fixed structure or rhyme scheme.
65. Oxymoron: A combination of contradictory terms (e.g., “jumbo shrimp”).
66. Paradox: A seemingly self-contradictory statement that reveals a truth.
67. Parallelism: Similar structure in phrases, clauses, or sentences.
68. Paronomasia: A pun or play on words.
69. Pentameter: A line with five metrical feet.
70. Persona: The voice or character speaking in a poem.
71. Personification: Attributing human qualities to inanimate objects.
72. Prosody: The study of meter, rhythm, and intonation in poetry.
73. Pyrrhic: A metrical foot with two unstressed syllables.
74. Quatrain: A four-line stanza.
75. Refrain: A repeated line or phrase in a poem.
76. Repetition: Repeated use of a word or phrase for emphasis.
77. Rhythm: The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
78. Rhyme: Correspondence of sound between words.
79. Rhyme Scheme: The ordered pattern of rhymes in a poem.
80. Satire: The use of humor or irony to criticize or expose flaws.
81. Scansion: The analysis of a poem’s meter.
82. Sestet: A six-line stanza.
83. Simile: A comparison using “like” or “as.”
84. Spondee: A metrical foot with two stressed syllables.
85. Stanza: A grouped set of lines in a poem.
86. Stress: Emphasis on a syllable in speech.
87. Symbol: Something that represents something else.
88. Synecdoche: A part representing the whole (e.g., “wheels” for “car”).
89. Synesthesia: Mixing senses in description (e.g., “a loud color”).
90. Tenor: The subject of a metaphor.
91. Tetrameter: A line of poetry with four metrical feet.
92. Tone: The attitude of the speaker or writer.
93. Trimeter: A line of poetry with three metrical feet.
94. Triple Rhyme: A rhyme involving three syllables.
95. Trochee: A metrical foot with one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable.
96. True Rhyme: Perfect rhyme.
97. Understatement: Intentionally downplaying a situation.
98. Villanelle: A 19-line poem with a specific rhyme and repetition pattern.
99. Virgule: A slash mark (/) used in poetry.
100. Volta: The shift or turn in a sonnet, often signifying a change in tone or argument.
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