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