Poetry List 2

Front 1

Iamb

Back 1

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

Front 2

Iambic pentameter

Back 2

A type of meter in poetry, in which there are five iambs to a line.

Front 3

Idyll

Back 3

Either a short poem depicting a peaceful, idealized country scene, or a long poem that tells a story about heroic deeds or extraordinary events set in the distant past.

Front 4

In Memoriam stanza

Back 4

A stanza of four lines of iambic tetrameter, rhyming abba

Front 5

Lay

Back 5

A long narrative poem, especially one that was sung by medieval minstrels called trouvères.

Front 6

Limerick

Back 6

A light, humorous poem of five usually anapestic lines with the rhyme scheme of aabba.

Front 7

Litotes

Back 7

A figure of speech in which a positive is stated by negating its opposite.

Front 8

Lyric

Back 8

A poem, such as a sonnet or an ode, that expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet

Front 9

Masculine rhyme

Back 9

A rhyme that occurs in a final stressed syllable: cat/hat, endow/vow, observe/deserve.

Front 10

Metaphor

Back 10

A figure of speech in which two things are compared, usually by saying one thing is another, or by substituting a more descriptive word for the more common or usual word that would be expected.

Front 11

Meter

Back 11

The arrangement of a line of poetry by the number of syllables and the rhythm of accented (or stressed) syllables.

Front 12

Metonymy

Back 12

A figure of speech in which one word is substituted for another with which it is closely associated

Front 13

Narrative

Back 13

Telling a story. Ballads, epics, and lays are different kinds of narrative poems.

Front 14

Ode

Back 14

A lyric poem that is serious and thoughtful in tone and has a very precise, formal structure.

Front 15

Onomatopoeia

Back 15

A figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds

Front 16

Ottava rima

Back 16

A type of poetry consisting of 10- or 11-syllable lines arranged in 8-line "octaves" with the rhyme scheme abababcc.

Front 17

Pastoral

Back 17

A poem that depicts rural life in a peaceful, idealized way.

Front 18

Pentameter

Back 18

A line of poetry that has five metrical feet.

Front 19

Personification

Back 19

A figure of speech in which nonhuman things or abstract ideas are given human attributes: the sky is crying, dead leaves danced in the wind, blind justice.

Front 20

Quatrain

Back 20

A stanza or poem of four lines.

Front 21

Refrain

Back 21

A phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated throughout a poem, usually after every stanza.

Front 22

Rhyme

Back 22

The occurrence of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or more words.

Front 23

Rhyme royal

Back 23

A type of poetry consisting of stanzas of seven lines in iambic pentameter with the rhyme scheme ababbcc.

Front 24

Romanticism

Back 24

The principles and ideals of the Romantic movement in literature and the arts during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Front 25

Scansion

Back 25

The analysis of a poem's meter.

Front 26

Senryu

Back 26

A short Japanese poem that is similar to a haiku in structure but treats human beings rather than nature, often in a humorous or satiric way.

Front 27

Simile

Back 27

A figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word "like" or "as."

Front 28

Sonnet

Back 28

A lyric poem that is 14 lines long

Front 29

Spondee

Back 29

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

Front 30

Stanza

Back 30

Two or more lines of poetry that together form one of the divisions of a poem