Poetry Terms

Front 1

The prominence or emphasis given to a word.

Back 1

Accent

Front 2

A line of Poetry that has twelve syllables. Was probably named after the romance Alexander the Great which was written in 12 syl lines

Back 2

Alexandrine

Front 3

The repetition of same or similar sounds at the BEGINNING of words
What would the world be

Back 3

Alliteration

Front 4

The meterical foot of three syllable two short (stressed) one long (unstressed) as in seventeen and to the moon
REVERSE of Dactyl

Back 4

Anapest

Front 5

A figure of speech in which words or phrases of opposite meanings are balanced against each other (to err is human, to forgive divine)

Back 5

Antithesis

Front 6

Words that are spoken to a person who is absent or imaginary, or to an object or abstract idea. The poem God's World by Edna St. Vincent Millay begins with an apostrophe: “O World, I cannot hold thee close enough!/Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!/Thy mists that roll and rise!”

Back 6

Apostrophe

Front 7

The repetition or a pattern of similar sounds, especially vowel sounds: “Thou still unravished bride of quietness,/Thou foster child of silence and slow time” (“Ode to a Grecian Urn,” John Keats).

Back 7

Assonance

Front 8

A poem that tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend and often has a repeated refrain. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is an example.

Back 8

Ballad

Front 9

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

Back 9

Ballade

Front 10

Poetry that is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. Shakespeare wrote most of his plays in this form.

Back 10

Blank Verse

Front 11

A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line.

Back 11

Ceasura

Hint 11

An example is 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.”

Front 12

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 this form.

Back 12

Canzone

Front 13

A Latin expression that means “seize the day.” This type of poem urges the reader (or the person to whom they are addressed) to live for today and enjoy the pleasures of the moment. A famous carpe diem poem by Robert Herrick begins “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may…”

Back 13

Carpe Diem

Front 14

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.

Back 14

Chanson de geste

Front 15

The principles and ideals of beauty that are characteristic of Greek and Roman art, architecture, and literature. Examples in poetry can be found in the works of John Dryden and Alexander Pope, which are characterized by their formality, simplicity, and emotional restraint.

Back 15

Classicism

Front 16

A fanciful poetic image or metaphor that likens one thing to something else that is seemingly very different. An example can be found in Shakespeare's sonnet “Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?” and in Emily Dickinson's poem “There is no frigate like a book.

Back 16

Conceit

Front 17

The repetition of similar consonant sounds, especially at the ends of words, as in lost and past or confess and dismiss.

Back 17

Consonance

Front 18

In a poem, a pair of lines that are the same length and usually rhyme and form a complete thought. Shakespearean sonnets usually end this way.

Back 18

Couplet

Front 19

A metrical foot of three syllables, one long (or stressed) followed by two short (or unstressed), as in happily. REVERSE of the anapest.

Back 19

Dactyl

Front 20

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.”

Back 20

Elegy

Front 21

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 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.

Back 21

Enjambment

Front 22

The shorter final stanza of a poem, as in a ballade.

Back 22

Envoy

Front 23

A long, serious poem that tells the story of a heroic figure. Two of the most famous are the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer, which tell about the Trojan War and the adventures of Odysseus on his voyage home after the war

Back 23

Epic

Front 24

A very short, witty poem: “Sir, I admit your general rule,/That every poet is a fool,/But you yourself may serve to show it,/That every fool is not a poet.” (Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Back 24

Epigram

Front 25

A poem in honor of a bride and bridegroom.

Back 25

epithalamium (or epithalamion)

Front 26

A rhyme that occurs in a final unstressed syllable: pleasure/leisure, longing/yearning.

Back 26

Feminine Rhyme

Front 27

A verbal expression in which words or sounds are arranged in a particular way to achieve a particular effect. Organized into different categories, such as alliteration, assonance, metaphor, metonymy, onomatopoeia, simile, and synecdoche.

Back 27

Figure of Speech

Front 28

Two or more syllables that together make up the smallest unit of rhythm in a poem. For example, an iamb is one that has two syllables, one unstressed followed by one stressed. An anapest has three syllables, two unstressed followed by one stressed.

Back 28

Foot

Front 29

Poetry composed of either rhymed or unrhymed lines that have no set meter.

Back 29

free verse (also vers libre

Front 30

A Japanese poem composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. Often reflect on some aspect of nature.

Back 30

Haiku

Front 31

A line of poetry that has seven metrical feet.

Back 31

Heptameter

Front 32

A stanza composed of two rhymed lines in iambic pentameter.

Back 32

Heroic Couplet

Front 33

A line of poetry that has six metrical feet.

Back 33

Hexameter

Front 34

A figure of speech in which deliberate exaggeration is used for emphasis. Many everyday expressions are examples: tons of money, waiting for ages, a flood of tears, etc. OPPOSITE of litotes.

Back 34

Hyperbole

Front 35

A metrical foot of two syllables, one short (or unstressed) and one long (or stressed). There are four iambs in the line “Come live/ with me/ and be/ my love,” from a poem by Christopher Marlowe. (The stressed syllables are in bold.) REVERSE of the trochee.

Back 35

Iamb

Front 36

A type of meter in poetry, in which there are five iambs to a line. (The prefix penta- means “five,” as in pentagon, a geometrical figure with five sides. Meter refers to rhythmic units. There are five rhythmic units that are iambs.) Shakespeare's plays were written mostly this way, which is the most common type of meter in English poetry. An example line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is “But soft!/ What light/ through yon/der win/dow breaks?” Another, from Richard III, is “A horse!/ A horse!/ My king/dom for/ a horse!” (The stressed syllables are in bold.)

Back 36

Iambic Pentameter

Front 37

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.

Back 37

Idyll or Idyl

Hint 37

Idylls of the King, by Alfred Lord Tennyson, is about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Front 38

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

Back 38

Lay

Hint 38

The Lais of Marie de France

Front 39

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

Back 39

Limerick

Front 40

A figure of speech in which a positive is stated by negating its opposite. Some examples: no small victory, not a bad idea, not unhappy. OPPOSITE of hyperbole.

Back 40

Litotes

Front 41

A poem, such as a sonnet or an ode, that expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet. May resemble a song in form or style.

Back 41

Lyric

Front 42

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

Back 42

Masculine Rhyme

Front 43

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. Some examples: the world's a stage, he was a lion in battle, drowning in debt, and a sea of troubles.

Back 43

Metaphor

Front 44

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

Back 44

Meter

Front 45

A figure of speech in which one word is substituted for another with which it is closely associated. For example, in the expression The pen is mightier than the sword, the word pen is used for “the written word,” and sword is used for “military power.”

Back 45

Metonymy

Front 46

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

Back 46

Narrative Poem

Front 47

A lyric poem that is serious and thoughtful in tone and has a very precise, formal structure. John Keats's “Ode on a Grecian Urn” is a famous example of this type of poem.

Back 47

Ode

Front 48

A figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds. Examples are: buzz, hiss, zing, clippety-clop, and tick-tock. Keats's “Ode to a Nightingale” not only uses onomatopoeia, but calls our attention to it: “Forlorn! The very word is like a bell/To toll me back from thee to my sole self!” Another example is found in this line from Tennyson's Come Down, O Maid: “The moan of doves in immemorial elms,/And murmuring of innumerable bees.” The repeated “m/n” sounds reinforce the idea of “murmuring” by imitating the hum of insects on a warm summer day.

Back 48

Onomatopoeia

Front 49

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

Back 49

Octavia Rima

Front 50

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

Back 50

Pastoral

Front 51

A line of poetry that has five metrical feet.

Back 51

Pentameter

Front 52

A figure of speech in which things or abstract ideas are given human attributes: dead leaves dance in the

Back 52

Personification

Front 53

A type of literature that is written in meter.

Back 53

Poetry

Front 54

A stanza or poem of four lines.

Back 54

Quatrain

Front 55

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

Back 55

Refrain

Front 56

The occurrence of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or more words. When it occurs in a final stressed syllable, it is said to be masculine: cat/hat, desire/fire, observe/deserve. When it occurs in a final unstressed syllable, it is said to be feminine: longing/yearning. The pattern in a stanza or poem is shown usually by using a different letter for each final sound. In a poem with an aabba scheme, the first, second, and fifth lines end in one sound, and the third and fourth lines end in another.

Back 56

Rhyme

Front 57

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

Back 57

Rhyme Royal

Hint 57

Innovation introduced by Geoffrey Chaucer.

Front 58

The principles and ideals of the Romantic movement in literature and the arts during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. A reaction to the classicism of the early 18th century, favored feeling over reason and placed great emphasis on the subjective, or personal, experience of the individual. Nature was also a major theme. The great English Romantic poets include Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats.

Back 58

Romanticism

Front 59

The analysis of a poem's meter. This is usually done by marking the stressed and unstressed syllables in each line and then, based on the pattern of the stresses, dividing the line into feet.

Back 59

Scansion

Front 60

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.

Back 60

Senryu

Front 61

A figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word “like” or “as.” An example using like occurs in Langston Hughes's poem “Harlem”: “What happens to a dream deferred?/ Does it dry up/ like a raisin in the sun?”

Back 61

Simile

Front 62

A lyric poem that is 14 lines long. Italian (or Petrarchan) are divided into two quatrains and a six-line “sestet,” with the rhyme scheme abba abba cdecde (or cdcdcd). English (or Shakespearean) are composed of three quatrains and a final couplet, with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. English are written generally in iambic pentameter.

Back 62

Sonnet

Front 63

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

Back 63

Spondee

Front 64

Two or more lines of poetry that together form one of the divisions of a poem. These of a poem are usually of the same length and follow the same pattern of meter and rhyme.

Back 64

Stanza

Front 65

The prominence or emphasis given to particular syllables. These kinds of syllables usually stand out because they have long, rather than short, vowels, or because they have a different pitch or are louder than other syllables.

Back 65

Stress

Front 66

A figure of speech in which a part is used to designate the whole or the whole is used to designate a part. For example, the phrase “all hands on deck” means “all men on deck,” not just their hands. The reverse situation, in which the whole is used for a part, occurs in the sentence “The U.S. beat Russia in the final game,” where the U.S. and Russia stand for “the U.S. team” and “the Russian team,” respectively.

Back 66

Synecdoche

Front 67

A Japanese poem of five lines, the first and third composed of five syllables and the rest of seven.

Back 67

Tanka

Front 68

A type of poetry consisting of 10- or 11-syllable lines arranged in three-line “tercets” with the rhyme scheme aba bcb cdc, etc. The poet Dante is credited with it, which he used in his Divine Comedy. It was borrowed into English by Chaucer, and it has been used by many English poets, including Milton, Shelley, and Auden.

Back 68

Terza Rima

Front 69

A line of poetry that has four metrical feet

Back 69

Tetrameter

Front 70

A metrical foot of two syllables, one long (or stressed) and one short (or unstressed). An easy way to remember is to memorize the first line of a lighthearted poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which demonstrates the use of various kinds of metrical feet: “Trochee/ trips from/ long to/ short.” (The stressed syllables are in bold.) REVERSE of the iamb.

Back 70

Trochee

Front 71

A figure of speech, such as metaphor or metonymy, in which words are not used in their literal (or actual) sense but in a figurative (or imaginative) sense.

Back 71

Trope

Front 72

A single metrical line of poetry, or poetry in general (as opposed to prose).

Back 72

Verse