Literary Devices

Stressed

STRESSED syllables are pronounced slightly louder, for a slightly longer duration, and at a slightly higher pitch than UNstressed syllables.

Sestina

Sestina is a type of a poem that contains six stanzas, each stanza having six lines, while concluding seventh stanza having three lines called as envoi, that is also known as tornada. As sestina derives its name from fixed structure and characteristics, therefore it is as popular as sextain. Unlike other poetic forms, sestina does not rhyme, however, has rhythmic quality on account of the repetition of six end words of the first stanza that recur in the remaining poem. Hence, a sestina follows the rule of an end word pattern.

Quatrain

Stanza of four lines, rhymed or not. Example: "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (ballad stanza)

Tercet

Stanza of three lines, usually with one single rhyme, or a three line section of a larger poem. Terza rima - linked tercet; the 2nd line of each stanza rhymes with the 1st and 3rd lines of the next stanza.

Trochee

The opposite of an iamb, a trochee is one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable. Examples of trochees: ALtar, BRIDESmaid, MARRiage

Rhyme Scheme

The rhyme scheme is the practice of rhyming words placed at the end of the lines in poetry. Rhyme scheme refers to the order in which particular words rhyme. If the alternate words rhyme, it is an "a-b-a-b" rhyme scheme, which means "a" is the rhyme for the lines 1 and 3 and "b" is the rhyme affected in the lines 2 and 4. This is particularly useful when commenting on irregularities in poems, such as a line ending in a rhyme that doesn't fit. Poets often do this to add emphasis to that line.

Connotation

The suggestive meaning of a word - the associations it brings up. A "connection" to the word. Connotations depend a lot on the culture and experience of the person reading the word. For some people, the word "liberal" has a positive connotation. For others, it's negative. Think of connotation as the murky haze hanging around the literal meaning of a word.

Villanelle

Villanelle is derived from an Italian word "villano" that means a peasant. In fact, it is a dance song coupled with pastoral themes. In literature, it is defined as a poetic device which requires a poem to have 19 lines and a fixed form. It has five tercets (first 15 lines), a quatrain (last four lines), and a couplet at the end of the quatrain.

Enjambment

a "sentence" of poetry that continues from one line to the next without punctuation. Where lines of poetry are broken and finished on the next lines. These are intentional choices by the poet to emphasize ideas, words, shape, etc. Example from a poem by Joyce Kilmer: 'I think that I shall never see / A poem as lovely as a tree." The sentence continues right over the break with only a slight pause. Continuation of a syntactic unit from one line or couplet of a poem to the next with no pause.

Narrative

a form of poetry that tells a story, often making use of the voices of a narrator and characters as well; the entire story is usually written in metred verse. Narrative poems do not have to follow rhythmic patterns. The poems that make up this genre may be short or long, and the story it relates to may be complex. It is usually dramatic, with objectives, diverse characters, and meter. Narrative poems include epics, ballads, idylls, and lays.

Ballad

a form of verse, often a narrative, set to a music-like rhythm (a sing-song feel). Many are written in quatrains and rhyme on the 2nd and 4th lines. Other conspicuous elements of any ballad is the recurrence of certain lines at regular intervals (repetition of a certain phrase), simple plots, and dialogue in dialect (more common language). Examples: "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," "Barbara Allan," "Robin Hood and the Three Squires."

Stanza

a grouped set of lines within a poem, usually set off from other stanzas by a blank line or indentation.[1] Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, though stanzas are not strictly required to have either. There are many unique forms of stanzas. Some stanzaic forms are simple, such as four-line quatrains. Stanzas in poetry are similar to paragraphs in prose. Both stanzas and paragraphs include connected thoughts and are set off by a space.

Dimeter

a line of poetry consisting of 2 feet

Trimeter

a line of poetry consisting of 3 feet

Tetrameter

a line of poetry consisting of 4 feet

Pentameter

a line of poetry consisting of 5 feet

Hexameter

a line of poetry consisting of 6 feet

Repetition

a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times intentionally to make an idea clearer. There are several types of repetitions commonly used in both prose and poetry. As a rhetorical device, it could be a word, a phrase or a full sentence or a poetical line repeated to emphasize its significance in the entire text. Repetition is not distinguished solely as a figure of speech but more as a rhetorical device.

Lament

a nonnarrative poem expressing deep grief or sorrow over a personal loss. The form developed as part of the oral tradition along with heroic poetry and exists in most languages. Popular during Anglo-Saxon times, such as ubi-sunts and "The Wanderer."

Epithalamion

a poem written specifically for the bride on the way to her marital chamber. This form continued in popularity through the history of the classical world.

Meter/Scanion - Monometer

a rare form of verse in which each line consists of a single metrical unit (a foot). The best-known example of an entire poem in monometer is Robert Herrick's "Upon His Departure Hence"

Capping Couplet

a rhyming couplet at the end of a poem, section, or act. Frequently found in Shakespearean works

Rhyme Royal

a rhyming stanza form that was introduced into English poetry by Geoffrey Chaucer. The rhyme royal stanza consists of seven lines, usually in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is a-b-a-b-b-c-c. In practice, the stanza can be constructed either as a tercet and two couplets (a-b-a, b-b, c-c) or a quatrain and a tercet (a-b-a-b, b-c-c). This allows for variety, especially when the form is used for longer narrative poems. Along with the couplet, it was the standard narrative metre in the late Middle Ages

Metaphysical Poets/Poems

a term coined by the poet and critic Samuel Johnson to describe a loose group of English lyric poets of the 17th century, whose work was characterized by the inventive use of conceits, and by speculation about topics such as love or religion. These poets were not formally affiliated; most of them did not even know one another or read one another's work.

Haiku

a type of Japanese poem, consisting of three unrhymed lines with mostly five, seven and five syllables in each line.

Dramatic Monologue

also known as a persona poem, is a type of poetry written in the form of a speech of an individual character that reveals a concentrated narrative in a specific moment, usually in reaction to a critical moment. Popular in Victorian period. 1. A single person, who is patently not the poet, utters the speech that makes up the whole of the poem, in a specific situation at a critical moment [...]. 2. This person addresses and interacts with one or more other people; but we know of the auditors' presence, and what they say and do, only from clues in the discourse of the single speaker. 3. The main principle controlling the poet's choice and formulation of what the lyric speaker says is to reveal to the reader, in a way that enhances its interest, the speaker's temperament and character

Epiphora

also known as epistrophe, is a stylistic device in which a word or a phrase is repeated at the end of successive clauses. Examples of epiphora are not only found in literary pieces. Debates and persuasive writings are also rich with epiphora examples. Despite being different in their structures, both anaphora and epiphora have the same function of laying emphasis on a particular point.

Alexandrine

an alexandrine is a line of verse made up of six iambs. If you want to get all fancy about it, you can even say that an alexandrine is a line of poetry written in iambic hexameter (hex means six in Latin).

Conceit

an extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs a poetic passage or entire poem. By juxtaposing, usurping and manipulating images and ideas in surprising ways, a conceit invites the reader into a more sophisticated understanding of an object of comparison.

Personification

attribution of characteristics that normally belong only to humans to inanimate objects, animals, deities, or forces of nature. These characteristics can include verbs of actions that only humans do or adjectives that describe a human condition. The characteristics can also be emotions, feelings, or motives given to objects incapable of thought. For example, if someone said, "the trees whispered their discontent," this would personify the trees both as able to whisper and of feeling unhappy. Personification is also sometimes referred to as anthropomorphism when it is used to give human feelings and actions to animals.

End

endings of lines rhyme exactly (vowel sounds are the same, consonants vary)

Rhyming Couplet

every two lines rhyme with each other. Some sonnets end with a rhyming couplet (such as Shakespearean sonnets).

Couplet

having two successive rhyming lines in a verse and has the same meter to form a complete thought. It could an independent poem, and could be a part of other poems such as sonnets in Shakespearean poetry. If a couplet has the ability to stand apart from the rest of the poem, it is independent and hence it is called a closed couplet. A couplet which cannot render a proper meaning alone is called an open couplet. One of the commonly used couplet examples are these two lines from William Shakespeare's Hamlet. "The time is out of joint, O cursed spite That ever I was born to set it right!"

Ellipsis

is a series of dots (...) that usually indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original meaning.

Prose

is poetry written in prose instead of using verse but preserving poetic qualities such as heightened imagery and emotional effects.

Dash

like commas, semicolons, colons, ellipses, and parentheses, indicate added emphasis, an interruption, or an abrupt change of thought. Experienced writers know that these marks are not interchangeable. Emily Dickinson is famous for using dashes in her poetry. Note how dashes subtly change the tone of the following sentences: You are the friend, the only friend, who offered to help me. You are the friend—the only friend—who offered to help me. I pay the bills; she has all the fun. I pay the bills—she has all the fun. I wish you would...oh, never mind. I wish you would—oh, never mind.

Caesura

marks a major pause in a line. Can come in the middle of a foot, between feet, anywhere...Oftentimes a component of Old English poetry such as Beowulf, where it occurs in the middle of the line. Example: A poem is a composition ; written for performance by the human voice

Internal

rhyming words are found within lines

Refrain

s the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the villanelle, the virelay, and the sestina.

Cadence

the rhythm of a poem (fast or slow). Cadence refers to the rhythmic or musical elements of a poem. You can think of it as the thing that makes poetry sound like poetry. Whereas "meter" refers to the regular elements of rhythm - the beats or accents - "cadence" refers to the momentary variations in rhythm, like when a line speeds up or slows down. Poets often repeat or contrast certain cadences to create a more interesting sound than normal prose. It is the term used to signal the rising and falling of the voice when reading a literary piece. In poetry, it is the momentary changes in rhythm and pitch. Cadences help set the rhythmic paces of a literary piece and can be discussed in terms of the punctuation of a piece as well as other rhythmic and pitch changes.

Cacophony

the term refers to the use of words with sharp, harsh, hissing, and unmelodious sounds - primarily those of consonants - to achieve desired results.

Blank verse

un-rhyming verse written in iambic pentameter. In poetry and prose, it has a consistent meter with 10 syllables in each line (pentameter); where, unstressed syllables are followed by stressed ones and five of which are stressed but do not rhyme. It is also known as un-rhymed iambic pentameter. Most natural to the English language. Poets write in verse paragraphs.

Free Verse

unrhymed poetry

Apostrophe

when the speaker is talking to someone/something not there. A speaker, using an apostrophe, detaches himself from the reality and addresses an imaginary character in his speech.

Carpe Diem

· Carpe Diem - Latin for "seize the day." "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell is one of the most famous. The poems invoke ideas of passing time, youth, living in the moment, etc.

Shift

(poetic, tonal): a change in direction in a work (especially in poetry- sonnets), either in meaning, mood, style, or attitude (tone) and sometimes signified by words, such as yet, but, or.

Dactyl

A dactyl is comprised of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables. A poem written with many dactyls has a very musical quality to it, such as in a limerick (There ONCE was a MAN from NanTUCKet). Examples of dactyls: ANimal, TERRible, DIFFerent

Pastoral

A poem about nature or simple, country life. If the poem you're reading features babbling brooks, gently swaying trees, hidden valleys, rustic haystacks, and sweetly singing maidens, you're probably dealing with a pastoral.

Ode

A poem written in praise or celebration of a person, thing, or event. Odes have been written about everything from famous battles and lofty emotions to family pets and household appliances. Elevated style and elaborate stanzas.

Slant

A rhyme that isn't quite a rhyme. The words "dear" and "door" form a slant rhyme. The words sound similar, but they aren't close enough to make a full rhyme.

Spondee

A spondee is a pattern of two subsequent stressed syllables. Examples of spondees in English are usually compound words or two one-syllables words: HOW NOW, RAINSTORM, SUNSHINE

Lamb

An "iamb" is an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one. "Penta" means "five," and "meter" refers to a regular rhythmic pattern. So "iambic pentameter" is a kind of rhythmic pattern that consist of five iambs per line. Iambic pentameter is meter of poetry in which one line contains 5 stressed syllables, each preceded by an unstressed syllable (ba-DUM, ba-DUM). It's the most common rhythm in English poetry and sounds like five heartbeats: ba-DUM, ba-DUM, ba-DUM, ba-DUM, ba-DUM. Let's try it out on the first line of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: "In fair Verona, where we lay our scene." Every second syllable is accented, so this is classic iambic pentameter.

Allusion

An allusion is a literary device used to reference another object outside of the work of literature. An indirect reference to something of historic, cultural, or literary significance. The object can be a real or fictional person, event, quote, or other work of artistic expression. Allusions can be shorthand for adding emotion or significance to a passage by drawing on the reader's prior associations with the object.

Anapest

An anapest is the opposite of a dactyl in that it has two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable. Examples of anapests: souvenIR, a la CARTE, debonAIR. (Note that all of these examples have a clear French influence, in which anapests are much more common than in Germanic languages).

Unstressed

An unstressed syllable is the part of the word that you don't emphasize or accent, like the to- in today, or the -day in Sunday. An unstressed person is someone for whom every day feels like Sunday. ... Consider those syllables stressed.

Anaphora

Anaphora involves the repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses or sections. Think of an annoying kid on a road trip: "Are we there yet? / Are we going to stop soon? / Are we having lunch soon?" "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens starts with following lines: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."

Chiasmus

Chiasmus is a rhetorical device in which two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their structures in order to produce an artistic effect. Let us try to understand chiasmus with the help of an example: "Never let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You." Notice that the second half of the above mentioned sentence is an inverted form of the first half both grammatically and logically. In the simplest sense, the term chiasmus applies to almost all "criss-cross" structures and this is the concept that is common these days.

Euphony

Euphony is a sound device consisting of several words that are pleasing to the ear. The sounds made by these words are meant to be soothing rather than harsh or alarming. Rougher sounds can produce euphony's opposite: cacophony, which produces a sharp and discordant effect, such as the sound of alarm bells or sirens.

Elegy/Dirge/Requiem

Formal lament for a dead person, remembering influential figures. Example: "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath, "Out, Out" by Robert Frost, or "On My First Son" by Ben Jonson. "Dirge" is oftentimes referred to as a "funeral dirge"- an elegy recited at a funeral.

Sonnet

Fourteen line poem in iambic pentameter with a rhyme scheme. One of the oldest verse forms in English (used a lot, but widely= variety). Originated in Italy (Petrarch).

Epic

It is a form of poem, often written in blank verse, lengthy in size in which poet shows protagonist in action of historical significance or great mythic.

Meteric Foot

Makes up the rhythm, which is the pattern of stressed and unstressed beats. The most basic unit of a poem's meter, a foot is a combination of long and short syllables. The foot is the basic rhythmic unit of poetry, usually two or three syllables. There are all kinds of different feet, such as "LONG-short" and "short-short-LONG."

Accent

Noun used to describe the stress put on a certain syllable while speaking a word.

Lyric

Poetry that explore the poet's personal interpretation of and feelings about the world. Expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. The term owes its importance in literary theory to the division developed by Aristotle between three broad categories of poetry: lyrical, dramatic and epic.