Poetry Literary Terms

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The repetition of the same sounds, usually initial consonants, in neighboring words

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alliteration

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the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds in neighboring words

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assonance

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a form of narrative poetry that presents a single dramatic episode, which is often tragic or violent

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ballad

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poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter, which must not be confused with free verse

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blank verse

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harsh, clashing or dissonant sounds, often produced by combination of words that require a clipped, explosive delivery, or words that contain a number of plosive consonants

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cacophony

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the rising and falling rhythm of speech, especially that of the balanced phrases in free verse or in prose. Also the fall or rise in pitch at the end of a phrase or sentence

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cadence

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a pause in a line of verse, often coinciding with a break between clauses or sentences

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Caesura

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an unusually far-fetched or elaborate metaphor presenting a surprisingly apt parallel between two apparently dissimilar things or feelings.

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Conceit

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the repetition of identical or similar consonants in neighboring words whose vowels sounds are different (e.g. coming home, hot foot

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consonance

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two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme and that are written to the same meter, or pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables,

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couplet

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meterical foot of three syllables, one accented followed by two unaccented

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dactyl

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a funeral song of lamentation; a short lyrics of mourning

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dirge

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harshness of sound and/or rhyme, either inadvertent or deliberate

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dissonance

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a kind of poem in which a single fictional or historical character other than the poet speaks to a silent audience of one or more persons. Such poems reveal not the poet's own thoughts, but the mind of the impersonated character

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dramatic monologue

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an elaborately formal lyric poem lamenting the death of a friend or public figure, or serious refleciton on a serious subject

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elegy

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a line brought to a pause at which the end of a verse line coincides with the completion of a sentence, clause, or other independent unit of syntax. It is the opposite of enjambment

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end-stopped line

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the running over of the sense and grammatical structure from one verse line or couplet to the next without a punctuated pause

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enjambment

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a long narrative poem celebrating the great deeds of one or more legendary heroes in a grand style

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epic

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a pleasing smoothness of sound, perceived by the ease with which the words can be spoken in combination

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euphony

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a metaphor that is sustained for several lines or that becomes the controlling image of an entire poem

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extended metaphor

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the basic unit of rhythmic measurement in a line of poetry

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foot

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poetry that is free of rhyme and meter resembling natural speech

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free verse

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two end-stopped iambic pentameter lines rhymed aa, bb, cc, with the thought usually completed in the two line unit.

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heroic couplet

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a line containing six feet

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Hexameter

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a metrical foot consisting of two syllables, an unaccented syllable followed by an accented as in the word invade

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Iamb

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language referring to something that can be perceived through one or more of the senses

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image

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the making of pictures in words

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imagery

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latin for "the middle of things." The term describes the narrative practice of beginning a story in the middle of the action to involve the reader, and then using one or more flashbacks to fill in what led up to that point

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in medias res

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a usually short, personal poem expressing the poet's emotions and thoughts rather than telling a story

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lyric

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an older word for meter. The term is also used to refer to any metrical unit such as a foot

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measure

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the pattern of measured sound-units recurring more or less regularly in lines of verse

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meter

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a group of eight verse lines forming the first part of a sonnet; or a stanza of eight lines

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octave

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an elaborately formal lyrics poem, often in the form of a lengthy address to a person or abstract entity, always serious and elevated in tone

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Ode

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a poem dealing with shepherds and rural life

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pastoral

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a line of five feet.

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pentameter

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the assumed identity of fictional "I' assumed by a writer of a literary work.

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persona

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the study of sound and rhythm in poetry

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prosody

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a verse stanza of four lines, rhymed or unrhymed

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quatrain

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a line, group of lines, or part of a line repeated at regular or irregular intervals in a poem

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refrain

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the similarity of sound between two words

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rhyme

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rhyme which comes at the end of a line or poetry

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end rhyme

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rhyme which comes within the line

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internal rhyme

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two syllable rhyme

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feminine rhyme

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meaning in the poem suffers because of the stilted nature of the rhyme

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forced rhyme

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one-syllable rhyme

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masculine rhyme

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identical rhyme between two words (feature/creature)

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exact rhyme

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inexact rhyme between two words (proximate, near)

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slant rhyme

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rhyme based on spelling rather than sound (bough/though)

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eye rhyme

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the patterned flow of sound in poetry and prose.

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rhythm

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rhythm measured by counting only the accented syllables and by varying the number of unaccented syllables

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sprung rhythm

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analyzing the meter in lines of poetry by counting only the accented and unaccented syllables, and dividing the lines into metrical feet

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scansion

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a six line poem or stanza

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sestet

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a fourteen line lyric poem in iambic pentameter

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sonnet

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a sonnet with rhyme scheme or abab, cdcd, efef, gg (shakespearean sonnet)

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english sonnet

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rhyme scheme of abba, cde, cde (aka, Petrarchan sonnet)

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italian sonnet

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a section or division of a poem, resembling paragraphs in prose

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stanza

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the emphasis placed on a word or syllable

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stress

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a metrical foot consisting of two syllables, an accented syllable followed by an unaccented syllable, as in the word fortune.

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trochee

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poetry as distinct from prose. The term is usually more neutral than poetry, indication that the technical requirements of rhythm and metre are present, while poetic merit may or may not be present

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verse

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a lyric poem made up of five stanzas of three lines, plus a final stanza of four lines

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villanelle

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the Italian term for the turn in the argument or mood of a sonnet, occurring between the octave and the sestet in the ninth line

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volta