Poetry Terms

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A storytelling poem that uses regular patterns of rhythms and strong rhymes. Meant to be sung.

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Ballad
(ex. The Highwayman)

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Unrhymed iambic pentameter poetry.

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Blank Verse

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Recognizable beat and rhythmic flow of phrase.

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Cadence

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A pair of successive lines of verse, usually rhyming and of approximate equal length.

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Couplet

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A mournful poem or lament, usually a meditation on the death of someone famoous or someone important to the writer.

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Elegy
(ex. O Captain! My Captain)

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A long narrative poem-written in formal style and meant to be read aloud- that related the deeds of heroes

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Epic

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The basic rhythmic unit in a recognizable rhythmic metric pattern

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Foot

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Poetry that has no regular metrical pattern, but which does have cadence.

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Free Verse

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A common type of foot with an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one.

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Iamb

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A line of poetry having five iambs

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Iambic Pentameter

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A comic poe written in five lines, rhyming pattern a a b b a and having a definite pattern of rhythm

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Limerick

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A brief poem which expresses a personal emotion in a musical way- originally to be sung to lyre accompaniment

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Lyric Poem

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A term used to designate the number of feet to a line.

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Meter

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Poetry that tells a story-usaully longer than lyric poetry

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Narrative Poetry
(ex. Raven)

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A subtype of lyric poetry with serious tone (usually), addressed in praise of a person, object, or idea.

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Ode

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a composition using figurative language and imagery extensively to convey a sense of experience. It's often divided into stanzas and uses condensed language chosen for its sounds and rhythms to transport its message.

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Poetry

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All literature which is not written as poetry.

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Prose

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A word, phrase, line, or grooup of lines that is repeated regularly in a poem, usually at the end of each stanza.

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Refrain

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The repitition of sounds in words that appear close to each other in a poem.

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Rhyme

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The pattern of stressed and unstressed sounds in a line of poetry.

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Rhythm

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The individual whose voice seems to be speaking the lines.

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Speaker

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Poetry subtype consisting of 14 lines of iambic pentameter with several possible rhyme schemes.

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Sonnet

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The equivalent in a poem to the paragraph in prose.

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Stanza

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The attitude the writer takes toward his or her subject.

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Tone

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A type o foot with an accented syllable and an unaccented syllable (opposite an iamb) often used for poems aboout evil, despair, and defeat.

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Trochee