Poetry Quiz 4

Form: the structure and styler of a poem

Fixed form: a poem that follows a set pattern 

Free verse or open form: A poem without a fixed pattern of rhyme scheme

Stanza: A group of lines in a poem, like a paragraph in prose

Rhyme scheme: The pattern of rhymes at the end of lines in a poem

Couplet: To consecutive rhyming lines

Heroic couplet: A rhyming pair of lines in iambic pentameter

Tercet: A three-line stanza

Triplet: A tercet where all three lines rhyme

Terza rima: A rhyme scheme where the middle line of one tercet rhymes with the first and third lines of the next (ABA BCB CDC)

Quatrain: Four line stanza

Ballad stanza: A four line stanza with alternating iambic tetrameter and tremeter (ABCB or ABAB)

Sonnet: 14-line poem with a set rhyme scheme and meter

Italian/Petrarchan: Sonnet divided into an 8-line octave and 6-line sestet

Octave: 8-line stanza, often in a Petrarchan sonnet

Sestet: 6 line stanza, often the second part of a Petrarchan sonnet

English/Elizabethan/Shakespearean: A 14-line poem with an ABAB-BCBC-CDCD-EE rhyme scheme

Spenserian: 14-line poem with an ABAB-CDCD-EFEF-GG rhyme scheme

Villanelle: 19-line poem with repeating lines and an ABA rhyme scheme

Sestina: 39-line poem with 6, 6-line stanzas and a final 3-line envoy, repeating the exact six words in a pattern

Envoy: A short closing stanza in some poems

Epigram: A short, witty, and often humorous poem

Limerick: 5-line humorous poem with an AABBA rhyme scheme

Haiku: A3-line Japanese poem with a 5-7-5 syllable pattern

Elegy: A poem mourning a person’s death

Ode: A poem of praise or deep reflection

Picture poem: A poem arranged in a shape that reflects its subject

Parody: A humorous or satirical imitation of another poem or style

Prose poem: A poem written in prose (w/o line breaks) but with poetic language

Found poem: A poem created from existing text, rearranged