Poetry Exam

Shakespearean Sonnet

A Shakespearean sonnet is generally written in an iambic pentameter, there are 10 syllables in each line, and there are fourteen lines. The rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet is abab-cdcd-efef-gg.

Villanelle

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.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech sometimes represented by exclamation "O". A writer or a speaker, using an apostrophe, detaches himself from the reality and addresses an imaginary character in his speech.

Metonymy

A figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else with which it is closely associated.

Litotes

A figure of speech which employs an understatement by using double negatives or, in other words, positive statement is expressed by negating its opposite expressions.

Stanza

A fixed number of lines of verse forming a unit of a poem.

Haiku

A haiku poem has three lines, where the first and last lines have five moras, while the middle line has seven. The pattern in Japanese genre is 5-7-5. The mora is another name of a sound unit, which is like a syllable, but it is different from a syllable. As the moras cannot be translated into English, they are modified and syllables are used instead. The lines of such poems rarely rhyme with each other.

Synecdoche

A literary device in which a part of something represents the whole or it may use a whole to represent a part. Synecdoche may also use larger groups to refer to smaller groups or vice versa

Iambic

A literary device that can be defined as a foot containing unaccented and short syllables followed by a long and accented syllable in a single line of a poem (unstressed/stressed syllables).

Spondee

A metrical foot of two syllables, both of which are long (or stressed).

Trochee

A metrical foot of two syllables, one long (or stressed) and one short (or unstressed).

Common measure

A metrical pattern for hymns in which the stanzas have four lines containing eight and six syllables alternately rhyming abcb or abab.

Tercet

A poetic triplet is a tercet in which all three lines follow the same rhyme, a a a; triplets are rather rare; they are more customarily used sparingly in verse of heroic couplets or other couplet verse, to add extraordinary emphasis.

Slant Rhyme

A rhyme in which the stressed syllables of ending consonants match, however the preceding vowel sounds do not match. Example: If love is like a /bridge/ or maybe like a /grudge/.

Octave

A verse form consisting of eight lines of iambic pentameter. The most common rhyme scheme for an octave is abba abba.

Internal Rhyme

A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line. Example: I went to town to buy a gown. / I took the car and it wasn't far.

Blank Verse

Blank verse is a literary device defined as 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.

Epigram

Commonly used in poetry, it appears as a short satirical poem with a single subject ending in an ingenious or witty thought.

Conceit

Conceit is a figure of speech in which two vastly different objects are likened together with the help of similes or metaphors.

Envoi

Contains six stanzas that each have six lines. The concluding seventh stanza has three lines called envois/tornadas.The sestina gets its name from its fixed structure. Sestina does not rhyme, but has rhythmic quality due to the repetition of six end words of the first stanza that recur in the remaining poem. Thus, it follows the end rule of an end word pattern.

Sestina

Contains six stanzas that each have six lines. The concluding seventh stanza has three lines called envois/tornadas.The sestina gets its name from its fixed structure. Sestina does not rhyme, but has rhythmic quality due to the repetition of six end words of the first stanza that recur in the remaining poem. Thus, it follows the end rule of an end word pattern.

Anapest

Definition: A metrical foot in a line of a poem that contains three syllables wherein the first two syllables are short and unstressed followed by a third syllable that is long and stressed.

Example of litotes

Example: "Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if I had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice." Explanation: Litotes are used in order to emphasize, as opposed to minimize, something's importance. In this poem, the narrator claims that ice "is also great", and yet contradicts it in the next line when he says that it would only "suffice". Thus, he's showing the extent of his belief that the world will end in fire, as opposed to ice.

Example of concet

Example: "Thou counterfeit'st a bark, a sea, a wind; For still thy eyes, which I may call the sea, Do ebb and flow with tears; the bark thy body is, Sailing in this salt flood; the winds, thy sighs; Who, raging with thy tears, and they with them, Without a sudden calm, will overset Thy tempest-tossed body." Explanation: While comparing Juliet's eyes to the sea is not necessarily a strange comparison, saying that her body is bark or driftwood is. The metaphors used, however, help the reader to understand how this comment fits into the larger picture of Juliet's sadness and tears being similar to that of a tempest.

Example of metonymy

Example: The boy's first outcry was a rueful laugh, As he swung toward them holding up the hand Half in appeal, but half as if to keep /The life from spilling/." Explanation: Metonymy is used to help develop literary symbolism, which means that it is used to help common subjects appear more important for the sake of the poem. Here, "the life from spilling" refers to the boy's blood, which is a much more interesting way of saying that the boy is bleeding because of his injury. Blood and life are largely related, as if you lose all of your blood, then you will also lose your life. That is why the phrase makes sense and can be used here.

Example of apostrophe

Example: Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky. Explanation: Apostrophe is used to make it easier for a writer to express their thoughts or beliefs about an abstract idea or topic. It makes it possible to portray emotions in a way in which the reader could understand.Here, the 'little star' is the object which is being spoken to. Talking to a star is nonsensical, but it helps to create the lullaby that this poem is known to be.

Example of synecdoche

Example: Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, /The hand/ that mocked them, and the heart that fed." Explanation: Synecdoche is used to give commonplace objects and ideas deeper meaning, and in doing so keeping them more interested. It is also used at times to write things in a more concise manner. The hand refers to the entire sculptor, not only his hand, as he is the one who shapes "these lifeless things", meaning the sculptures.

Petrarchan/Italian Sonnet

Has fourteen lines and is written in iambic pentameter The rhyme scheme of Petrarchan sonnet has first eight lines called octet that rhymes as abba -abba -cdc-dcd. The remaining six lines called sestet might have a range of rhyme schemes.

Spenserian Sonnet

Has fourteen lines and is written in iambic pentameter. A sonnet comprising of three quatrains with the latter rhyme part being carried over from one quatrain to the next, and a concluding couplet, therefore comprising a rhyme scheme of abab bcbc cdcd ee.

Feminine Rhyme

One or more unstressed syllables, usually at the end of a line. Example: Day of Satan's painful /duty/ Earth shall vanish, hot and /sooty/; So says Virtue, so says /Beauty/.

Heroic couplet

Poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of lines in iambic pentameter.

Free verse

Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme.`

Villanelle (format, etc.)

Rhyme Scheme: A1) refrain 1 Line 2 (b) (A2) refrain 2 Line 4 (a) Line 5 (b) (A1) refrain 1 Line 7 (a) Line 8 (b) (A2) refrain 2 Line 10 (a) Line 11 (b) (A1) refrain 1 Line 13 (a) Line 14 (b) (A2) refrain 2 Line 16 (a) Line 17 (b) (A1) refrain 1 (A2) refrain 2 Stanza pattern: 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.

Rhyme Royal (format, etc.)

Rhyme Scheme: 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). Stanza pattern: consists of seven lines, usually in iambic pentameter.

English/Shakespearean Sonnet

Rhyme Scheme: abab-cdcd-efef-gg Stanza pattern: generally written in an iambic pentameter, there are 10 syllables in each line, and there are fourteen lines

Terza Rima (format, etc.)

Rhyme Scheme: chain rhyme in the pattern A-B-A, B-C-B, C-D-C, D-E-D. Stanza pattern: three-line stanza, no limit to the number of lines, but poems or sections of poems written in terza rima end with either a single line or couplet repeating the rhyme of the middle line of the final tercet. There is no set rhythm for terza rima, but in English, iambic pentameter is generally preferred.

Sestina (format, etc.)

Rhyme Scheme: does not rhyme, but has rhythmic quality due to the repetition of six end words of the first stanza that recur in the remaining poem. Thus, it follows the end rule of an end word pattern. Stanza pattern: contains six stanzas that each have six lines. The concluding seventh stanza has three lines called envois/tornadas.

Ottava Rima (format, etc.)

Rhyme Scheme: each stanza consists of three alternate rhymes and one double rhyme, following the a-b-a-b-a-b-c-c pattern. Stanza pattern: consists of eight iambic lines, usually iambic pentameters.

Italian/Petrarchan Sonnet

Rhyme Scheme: first eight lines called octet that rhymes as abba -abba -cdc-dcd. The remaining six lines called sestet might have a range of rhyme schemes. Stanza pattern: has fourteen lines and is written in iambic pentameter.

Haiku (format, etc.)

Rhyme Scheme: none. Stanza pattern: three lines, where the first and last lines have five syllables, while the middle line has seven.

Epigram

Rhyme Scheme: often a couplet. Stanza pattern: short, usually two lines or less. Single subject.

Couplet

Rhyming pairs of lines in iambic pentameter.

Terza Rima

Terza rima is a three-line stanza using chain rhyme in the pattern A-B-A, B-C-B, C-D-C, D-E-D. There is no limit to the number of lines, but poems or sections of poems written in terza rima end with either a single line or couplet repeating the rhyme of the middle line of the final tercet. The two possible endings for the example above are d-e-d, e or d-e-d, e-e. There is no set rhythm for terza rima, but in English, iambic pentameter is generally preferred.

Ballad Stanza

The four-line stanza, known as a quatrain, most often found in the folk ballad. This form consists of alternating four- and three-stress lines. Usually only the second and fourth lines rhyme (in an a/b/c/b pattern).

Sestet

The name given to the second division of an Italian sonnet which must consist of an octave, of eight lines, succeeded by a sestet, of six lines. Should mark the turn of emotion in the sonnet.

Ottava Rima

The ottava rima stanza in English consists of eight iambic lines, usually iambic pentameters. Each stanza consists of three alternate rhymes and one double rhyme, following the a-b-a-b-a-b-c-c pattern.

Rhyme Royal

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.

Quatrain

There are different forms of quatrains, but generally it is a stanza or complete poem consisting of four lines.