Poetry Terms #s 1-85

Approximate rhyme

A form of rhyme in which words contain similar sounds, but do not rhyme perfectly

English sonnet (Shakespearean sonnet)

A fourteen-line sonnet consisting of three quatrains with the rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef, followed by a couplet rhyming gg

Italian sonnet (Petrarchan sonnet)

A fourteen-line sonnet consisting of two parts: the octave, eight lines with the rhyme scheme abbaabba: and sestet, six lines followed by a rhyme scheme

End-stopped line

A line of poetry whose meaning is complete in itself and that ends with a grammatical pause marked by punctuation

Dimeter

A line of verse consisting of two metrical feet

Aubade

A lyric or song delivered at dawn, generally involving lovers who must part or, occasionally, one lover who asks the other to wake up

Dramatic monologue

A lyric poem in which the speaker addresses a silent listener, revealing himself or herself in the context of a dramatic of a dramatic situation

Dactyl

A metrical foot in poetry that consists of one stress syllable followed by two unstressed ones

Anapest

A metrical foot in poetry that consists of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable

hyperbole

a trope employing deliberate, emphatic exaggeration, usually for comic or ironic effect

rhetorical question

a type of figurative language—they are questions that have another layer of meaning on top of their literal meaning.

oxymoron

a rhetorical figure that juxtaposes two opposite or apparently contradictory words to present an emphatic and dramatic paradox

parallelism

a rhetorical figure used in written and oral compositions since ancient times to accentuate or emphasize ideas or images by using grammatically similar constructions.

zeugma

a rhetorical figure, in which one word or phrase governs or modifies two or more words or phrases

feminine rhyme

a rhyme in which rhyming stressed syllables are followed by one or more unstressed syllables

foot

a rhythmic unit containing two or more syllables in a line of verse

quatrain

a stanza containing four lines

paradox

a statement that seems self-contradictory or nonsensical on the surface but that, upon closer examination, may express an underlying truth

phonetic intensives

a word whose sound, by an obscure process, to some degree suggests its meaning; as differentiated fro onomatopoetic words, the meanings of phonetic intensives do not refer explicitly to sounds

rhyme sceme

the pattern of rhyme in a poem or stanza, typically described by assigning a lower case letter to each new rhyming sound

Exact rhyme

the repetition of the same stressed vowel sound as well as any consonant sounds that follow the vowel

theme

the statement, express or implies, that a text seems to be making about its subject

volta

the turn of thought or argument: in Petrarchan or Italian sonnets it occurs between the octave and the sestet, and in Shakespearean or English before the final couplet

Onomatopoeia

wording that seems to signify meaning through sound effects

Audience

To describe whom a writer is constructing a poem

Diction

1 (narrowly defined) a speakers or authors word choice 2 (broadly defined) the general type or character of language used in speech or in a work of literature 3 reference to the pronunciation and enunciation, the perceived accuracy and clarity with which someone pronounced words

imagery

1) the corpus of images or in a text 2) the language used to convey a visual picture 3) the use of figurative language, often to express abstract ideas in a vivid and innovative way

sonnet

7a lyric poem that typically consists of fourteen lines and that typically follows one of several conventional thyme schemes

villanelle

A French verse form consisting of nineteen lines grouped in five tercets followed by a quatrain and involving only two rhymes, with the rhyme scheme aba aba aba aba aba abaa.

extended metaphor

A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem.

Caesura

A pause in a line of poetry

Ballad

A poem that recounts a story - generally some dramatic episode- in the form of a song

Antithesis

A rhetorical figure in which two ideas are directly opposed

Denotation

A words literal meaning, independent of any connotations that a given individual might attach to it; the "dictionary definition" of a word

Epithet

An adjective or phrase applied to a noun to accentuate a certain characteristic

Allusion

An indirect reference, often to a person, event, statement, theme, or work

Blank verse

Broadly defined, any unrhymed verse but usually referring to unrhymed iambic pentameter

Enjambement

French for "striding over", a poetic statement that spans more than one line

Conceit

From the Italian for "idea" or "concept", a figure of speech involving an elaborate and often surprising comparison between two apparently highly dissimilar things, often in the form of an extended metaphor

Cacophony

Harsh, unpleasant, or discordant sounds

Elegy

In scientific Greek and Roman times, any poem composed in elegiac meter (pairs of hexameter and pentameter lines composed primarily of dactyls)

Ambiguity

Lack of clarity or uncertainty in meaning

Carpe deim

Latin for "seize the day", a phrase referring to the age-old literary theme (particularly prevalent in a *lyric* poetry) that we should enjoy the present before opportunity - and even life itself- slips away

End rhyme

Rhyme that occurs at the end of lines in the verse

Connotation

The association evoked by a word beyond its denotation, or literal meaning

tone

The attitude of the author toward the reader, audience, or subject matter of literary work

Consonance

The repetition of a final consonant sounds or sounds following different vowel sounds in proximate words

Assonance

The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, usually in stressed syllables, followed by different consonant sounds in proximate words

Alliteration

The repetition of sounds in a sequence of words

Couplet

Two successive lines of rhyming verse, often of the same meter and generally either octosyllabic or decasyllabic

irony

a contradiction or incongruity between appearance or expectation and reality

synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole or, occasionally, the whole is used to represent a part

Personification

a figure of speech in which human characteristics are bestowed upon anything nonhuman, from an abstract idea to a physical force to an inanimate object to living organism

metonymy

a figure of speech in which one thing is represented by another that is commonly and often physically associated with it

metaphor

a figure of speech that associates two distinct things without using a connective word to link the vehicle and the tenor

simile

a figure of speech that compares two distinct things by using words such as like or as to link the vehicle adn the tenor

slant rhyme

a form of rhyme in which words contain similar sounds but do not rhyme perfectly

tercet

a group of three lines of verse

stanza

a grouped set of lines in a poem, usually physically separated from other such clusters by a blank line

pentameter

a line of verse consisting of five metrical feet

tetrameter

a line of verse consisting of four metrical feet

monometer

a line of verse consisting of one metrical foot

hexameter

a line of verse consisting of six metrical feet

trimeter

a line of verse consisting of three metrical feet

trochee

a metrical foot in poetry that consists of one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable

spondee

a metrical foot in poetry that consists of two stressed syllables

iamb

a metrical foot that consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one

implied metaphor

a more subtle comparison; the terms being compared are not so specifically explained

lyric poem

a poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of a speaker

narrative poem

a poem which tells a story. It has a full storyline with all the elements of a traditional story. These elements include characters, plot, conflict and resolution, setting and action

ode

a relatively long, serious, and usually meditative lyric poem that treats a noble or otherwise elevated subject in a dignified and calm manner

litotes

from the Greek for "simple" or "meager," a trope that involves making an affirmative point by negating its opposite

free verse

from the french vers libre, literally meaning "free verse," poetry that lacks a regular meter, does not rhyme, and uses irregular (and sometimes very short) line lengths

octave

generally and eight-line stanza

sestet

generally speaking, any six-line poem or stanza

metaphysical poetry

highly intellectualized poetry marked by bold and ingenious conceits, incongruous imagery, complexity and subtlety of thought, frequent use of paradox, and often by deliberate harshness or rigidity of expression

Dramatic situation

one in which there is tension that defines the emotional tone.

Euphony

pleasing, harmonious sound

run-on line (enjambment)

poetic statement that spans more than one line

masculine rhyme

rhyme involving single, stressed syllables

internal rhyme

rhyme that occurs within a line of verse

speaker

someone who is the voice of the poem

scansion

the analysis, typically using visual symbols, of poetic meter, the more or less regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables found in verse

syntax

the arrangement -the ordering, grouping, and placement- of words within a phrase, clause, or sentence; the study of the rules governing such arrangement

meter

the more or less regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a verse