Poetic Conventions Of Verse

Front 1

Iamb

Back 1

o O

Front 2

Trochee

Back 2

O o

Front 3

Anapest

Back 3

o o O

Front 4

Dactyl

Back 4

O o o

Front 5

Spondee

Back 5

O O

Front 6

Pyrrchic

Back 6

o o

Front 7

Foot

Back 7

unit of stressed and unstressed syllable(s)

Front 8

Meter

Back 8

feet put together in groups of one or more syllables, which makes its meter

Front 9

Mono Meter

Back 9

1 group of syllables (e.g. iamb, dactyl, etc.)

Front 10

Dimeter

Back 10

2 groups of syllables

Front 11

Trimeter

Back 11

3 groups of syllables

Front 12

Tetrameter

Back 12

4 groups of syllables

Front 13

Pentameter

Back 13

5 groups of syllables

Front 14

Blank Verse

Back 14

line w/ 5 stressed and 5 unstressed syllables making it iambic pentameter

Marlowe mastered it, but Shakespeare popularized it

Front 15

Stanza

Back 15

group of lines that constitute a unit in a long poem

represents a pause for readers or a shift in ideas

not all poems have stanzas

Front 16

Couplet

Back 16

2 main different types of couplets

pair of lines that usually rhyme

Front 17

Closed Couplet

Back 17

entire thought contained in one couplet

Front 18

Open Couplet

Back 18

Thought, idea continues into next couplet

Front 19

Caesuras (pauses)

Back 19

some couplets have these

Front 20

Cantos

Back 20

like chapters in a book, a canto is to a poem

divided by action or theme

e.g. Dante's "Divine Comedy" has 3 "cantices"

Front 21

Abstract Poetry

Back 21

doesn't subscribe to typical poetic conventions

meaning is secondary to "sound of words"

e.g. Lewis Caroll's "Jabberwocky"

Front 22

Ballad

Back 22

meant to be sung

often deals w/ fatal relationships

may have a refrain

Front 23

British Ballad Stanza

Back 23

4 lines

abab schema

lines 1, 3: 4 syllables

lines 2, 4 have 3 accented syllables

e.g. "The Unquiet Grave" circa 1400

Front 24

Cinquain

Back 24

5-line stanza or poem in 5 lines

usually doesn't rhyme

sometimes moves in iambs

reaction to Japanese Haiku poetry

e.g. Carl Sandburg's "Cornhuskers" Anthology

2 syllables, 4 " , 6 " , 8 " , 2"

Front 25

Dramatic Poetry

Back 25

long, reflective speech given by narrator that typically addresses another character

usually written in monologue

of ancient Greece

Front 26

Elegy

Back 26

poem of mourning

focuses on death, sorrow

has no particular form

e.g. Thomas Gray's "Elegy written in a Country Churchyard"

Front 27

Epigram

Back 27

short, terse witticism

of Greece

comes from Greek "to write on"

mostly written in couplets

e.g. Dryden's "Here lies my wife; here let he lie / Now she's at peace and so am I!"

Front 28

Haiku

Back 28

both "form" & "genre"

uses uncomplicated grammar and words

often about everyday objects and experiences

does not usually include similes or metaphors

3 line poem: L1, 5 syllables; L2, 7 syll; L3, 5 syll

e.g. Matsuo Besho

Front 29

Heroic Couplet

Back 29

longer than Haiku

combines lines of iamb pent. that rhyme in pairs

aa bb cc schema

e.g. Pope's "The Rape of the Lock"

Front 30

Light Verse

Back 30

"type" of poetry, not necessarily a "form"

includes less serious forms like...

limerick, epigrams, nursery rhymes, parodies

Front 31

Limerick

Back 31

humourous

rigid 5-line structure

aabba schema

L 1, 2, 5: anapestic tetrameter

L 3, 4: dimeter

Front 32

Ode

Back 32

lyric poems that celebrate a person or object

3 main types: Pindarric, Horation, Irregular

Front 33

Pindaric Ode

Back 33

named after Greek lyric poet PINDAR

complicated meter, elaborate stanzas

formal intro, middle, end

Front 34

Horation Ode

Back 34

one stanza pattern

aa bb schema

2 four-foot lines followed by 2 three-foot lines

Front 35

Irregular Ode

Back 35

no meter or stanza rules

content trumps structure