RHYME (5) rhyme- close similarity or identity of sound between accented syllables occupying corresponding positions in two or more lines of verse. For a true rhyme, the vowels in the accented syllables must be preceded by different consonants, such as fan and ran. feminine rhyme- a rhyme of two syllables, one stressed and one unstressed, as waken and forsaken and audition and rendition. Feminine rhyme is sometimes called double rhyme. masculine rhyme- rhyme that falls on the stressed and concluding syllables of the rhyme-words. Examples include keep and sleep, glow and no, and spell and tell. (Think of this as Dr. Seuss rhyme) internal rhyme- rhyme that occurs within a line, rather than at the end. prosody-the patterns of rhythm and sound used in poetry TYPES OF POETRY (9) didactic poem- a poem which is intended primarily to teach a lesson. The distinction between didactic poetry and non-didactic poetry is difficult to make and usually involves a subjective judgment of the author's purpose on the part of the critic or the reader. dramatic poem- a poem which employs a dramatic form or some element or elements of dramatic techniques as a means of achieving poetic ends. The dramatic monologue is an example. elegy- a sustained and formal poem setting forth the poet's meditations upon death or another solemn theme. lyric poem- any short poem that presents a single speaker who expresses thoughts and feelings. Love lyrics are common, but lyric poems have also been written on subjects as different as religion and reading, Sonnets and odes are lyric poems. 5, narrative poem- a non-dramatic poem which tells a story or presents a narrative, whether simple or complex, long or short. Epics and ballads are examples of narrative poems. 6. ode- A lyric poem of some length, usually of a serious or meditative nature and having an elevated style and formal stanzaic structure, Also, choric song of classical Greece, ofien accompanied by a dance and performed at a public festival or as part of a drama. satire- writing that seeks to arouse a reader's disapproval of an object by ridicule. Satire is usually comedy that exposes errors with an eye to correct vice and folly. Satire is often found in the poetry of Alexander Pope. 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, cded, efef, gg. villanelle- a nineteen-line poem divided into five tercets and a final quatrain. The villanelle uses only two rhymes which are repeated as follows: aba, aba, aba, aba, aba, abaa. Line 1 is repeated entirely to form lines 6, 12, and 18, and line 3 is repeated entirely to form lines 9, 15, and 19; thus, eight of the nineteen lines are refrain. Dylan Thomas's poem "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night' is an example of a villanelle. METER (5) meter- the repetition of a regular rhythmic unit in a line of poetry. The meter of a poem emphasizes the musical quality of the language and often relates directly to the subject matter of the poem. Each unit of meter is known as a foot. iambic pentameter-a line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable, (EX: Two households, both alike in dignity.) poetic foot a group of syllables in verse usually consisting of one accented syllable and one or two unaccented syllables associated with it. rhythm- the recurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables. The presence of rhythmic patterns lends both pleasure and heightened emotional response to the listener or reader. scansion- a system for describing the meter of a poem by identifying the number and the type(s) of feet per line. FORM/STRUCTURE (11) refrain- a group of words forming a phrase or sentence and consisting of one or more lines repeated at intervals in a poem, usually at the end of a stanza. stanza- usually a repeated grouping of three or more lines with the same meter and rhyme scheme. syntax- the ordering of words into patterns or sentences. If a writer shifts words from the usual word order, you know you are dealing with an older style of poetry or a poet who wants to shift emphasis onto a particular word. blank verse- unrhymed iambic pentameter. Blank verse is the meter of most of Shakespeare's plays fixed form-poems that have a set number of lines, rhymes, and/or metrical arrangements per line. (EX: sonnet/villanelle) free verse- poetry which is not written in a traditional meter but is still rhythmical. The poetry of Walt Whitman is perhaps the best-known example of free verse. couplet- a two-line stanza, usually with end-rhymes the same. heroic couplet- two end-stopped iambic pentameter lines rhymed aa, bb, ce with the thought usually completed in the two-line unit. quatrain- a four-line stanza with any combination of rhymes. sestet- a six-line stanza. Most commonly, sestet refers to the second division of an Italian sonnet. 11, octave/octet- an eight-line stanza. Most commonly, octave refers to the first division of an Italian sonnet.