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24 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Alexandrine
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A line of poetry that has 12 syllables. The name probably comes from a medieval romance about Alexander the Great that was written in 12-syllable lines.
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Alliteration
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The repetition of the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words. Some famous examples of alliteration are tongue twisters such as Betty Botta bought some butter and Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
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Assonance
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The repetition or a pattern of similar sounds, especially vowel sounds, as in the tongue twister "Moses supposes his toeses are roses."
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Anapest
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A metrical foot of three syllables, two short (or unstressed) followed by one long (or stressed), as in 'twas the night and to the moon. The anapest is the reverse of the dactyl.
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Blank verse
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Poetry that is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. Shakespeare wrote most of his plays in blank verse.
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Ballade
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A type of poem, usually with three stanzas of seven, eight, or ten lines and a shorter final stanza (or envoy) of four or five lines. All stanzas end with the same one-line refrain. "Ballade of my Lady's Beauty," by Joyce Kilmer, is one example of a ballade.
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Caesura
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A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line. There is a caesura right after the question mark in the first line of this sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways."
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Canzone
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A medieval Italian lyric poem, with five or six stanzas and a shorter concluding stanza (or envoy). The poets Petrarch and Dante Alighieri were masters of the canzone.
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Chanson de geste
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An epic poem of the 11th to the 14th century, written in Old French, which details the exploits of a historical or legendary figure, especially Charlemagne.
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Classicism
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The principles and ideals of beauty that are characteristic of Greek and Roman art, architecture, and literature. Examples of classicism in poetry can be found in the works of John Dryden and Alexander Pope, which are characterized by their formality, simplicity, and emotional restraint.
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Couplet
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In a poem, a pair of lines that are the same length and usually rhyme and form a complete thought. Shakespearean sonnets usually end in a couplet.
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Dactyl
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A metrical foot of three syllables, one long (or stressed) followed by two short (or unstressed), as in happily. The dactyl is the reverse of the anapest.
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Elegy
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A poem that laments the death of a person, or one that is simply sad and thoughtful. An example of this type of poem is Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard."
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Envoy, or Envoi
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The shorter final stanza of a poem, as in a ballade.
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Epithalamium (or Epithalamion)
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A poem in honor of a bride and bridegroom.
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Heptameter
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A line of poetry that has seven metrical feet.
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Enjambment
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The continuation of a complete idea (a sentence or clause) from one line or couplet of a poem to the next line or couplet without a pause. An example of enjambment can be found in the first line of Joyce Kilmer's poem Trees: "I think that I shall never see/A poem as lovely as a tree." Enjambment comes from the French word for "to straddle."
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Feminine rhyme
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A multi-syllable rhyme that ends with one or more unstressed syllables: paper/vapor, vacation/proclamation.
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Foot
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Two or more syllables that together make up the smallest unit of rhythm in a poem. For example, an iamb is a foot that has two syllables, one unstressed followed by one stressed. An anapest has three syllables, two unstressed followed by one stressed.
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Free verse
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Poetry composed of either rhymed or unrhymed lines that have no set meter.
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Heroic couplet
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A stanza composed of two rhymed lines in iambic pentameter
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Heptameter
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A line of poetry that has seven metrical feet.
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Hexameter
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A line of poetry that has six metrical feet
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Haiku
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A Japanese poem composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. Haiku often reflect on some aspect of nature
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