Poetry Vocab

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Accentual meter

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A meter that uses a consistent number of strong speech stresses per line. The number of unstressed syllables may vary, as long as the accented syllables do not

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Acrostic

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A poem in which the initial letters of each line, when read downward, spell out a hidden word or words

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Alliteration

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The repetition of 2 or more consonant sounds in successive words in a line of verse or prose.

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Anapest

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a metrical foot in verse in which two unstressed syllables are followed by a stressed syllable, (ex: on a boat)

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Antithesis

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Words, phrases, clauses, or sentences set in deliberate contrast to one another. Antithesis balances opposing ideas, tones, or structures, usually to heighten the effect of a statement.

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Apostrophe

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A direct address to someone or something. (ex: “O Mountain!”)

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Assonance

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The repetition of two or more vowel sounds in successive words, which creates a kind of rhyme. (white lilacs) (all the awful auguries

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Auditory imagery

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a word or sequence of words that refers to the sense of hearing.

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Blank verse

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The most common and well-known meter of unrhymed poetry in English. Blank verse contains 5 iambic feet per line and is never rhymed.

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Cacophony

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A harsh, dirrcordant sound often mirroring the meaning of the context in which it is used.`

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Cesura

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a pause within a line of verse.

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Closed form

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A generic term that describes poetry written in some preexisting patteron of meter, rhyme, line of stanza.

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Colloquial

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The causal or informal but correct language of ordinary native speakers.

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Consonance

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Slant rhyme, A king of rhyme in which the linked words share similar consonant sounds but different voal sounds (reason and raisin)

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Conventions

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Any established feature or technique in literature that is commonly understood by both authors and readers.

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Couplet

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A 2-line stanza in poetry, usually rhymed, which tends to have lines of equal length.

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Dactylic

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A metrical foot of verse in which one stressed syllable is followed by two unstressed syllables.

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Decorum

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Propriety or appropriateness.

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Dialect

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A particular variety of language spoken by an indetifiable region group or social class of persons.

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Diction

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word choice or vocabulary

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Dramatic poetry

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Any verse written for the stage

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End rime

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Rhyme that occurs at the end of rhymes

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End-stopped

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A line of verse that ends in a full pause, usually indicated by a mark of punctuation

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English sonnet (Shakespearean):

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4/4/4/2

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Epic

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A long narrative poem usually composed in an elevated style tracing the adventures of a legendary or mythic hero.

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Euphony

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The harmonious effect when the sounds of the words connect with the meaning in a way pleasing to the ear and mind.

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Exact rime

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A full rhyme in which the sounds following the initial letters of the words are indentical in sound, as in follow and hollow

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Extended metaphor

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on broad image, and then use the details of said image to demonstrate the other facets of the metaphor

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Eye rime

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Rhyme in which the spelling of the words appear alike, but the pronunciations differ, as in laughter and daughter

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Falling meters

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trochaic/dactylic): The first syllable is accented, followed by one or more unaccented syllables

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Feminine rime

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a rhyme of two or more syllables, with a stress on a syllable other than the last , as in turtle and fertile

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Figures of speech

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An expression or comparison that relies not on its literal meaning, but rather on its connotations and suggestions. (ex: hes dumber than dirt)

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Fixed forms

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A traditional verse from requiring certain predertimed elements of structure.

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Free verse

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Poetry that organizes its lines without meter.

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Heroic couplet (Closed couplet):

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2 rhymed lines that contain an indepent and complete thought or statement.

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Iamb

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A metrical foot in verse in which an unaccented syllable if followed by an accented one. Most common meter in English poetry.

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Imagery

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The collective set of images in a poem or other literary work

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Implied metaphor

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A metaphor that uses neither connectives nor the verb to be. “John Crowed over his victory”. We imply metaphorically that he is a rooster, but we don’t say so literally.

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Internal refrain

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A refrain that appears within a stanza, generally in a position that stays fixed throughout a poem

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Internal rime

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Rhyme that occurs within a line of poetry.

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Irony

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A literary device in which a discrepancy of meaning is masked beneath the surface of the language. Irony is present when a write says one thing but means something quite the opposite.

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Italian sonnet

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(Petrarchan): 8/6; abba abba (octave) sestet (any rhyme pattern for 6)

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Limerick

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a short and usually comic verse form of 5 anapestic lines usually rhyming aabba. Stresses (3/3/2/2/3)

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Lyric

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A short poem expressing the thoughts and feelings of a single speaker.

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Madrigals

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A short secular song for three or more voices arrange in counterpoint. The madrigal is often about love or pastoral themes.

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Masculine rime

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Either a rhyme of one syllable words (fox and socks)

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Metaphor

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A statement that one thing is something else.

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Meter

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A recurrent regular rhythmic pattern in verse

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Mixed metaphors

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A metaphor that trips over another metaphor already in the statement. Two or more incompatible metaphors that sound ridiculous (Mary was a tower that breezed; towers don’t breeze)

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Monosyllabic foot

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A foot, or unit of meter, that contains only one syllable

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Narrative poem

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A poem that tells a story

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New formalists

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A term for a recent literary movement around 1980 where young poets began using rhyme, meter and narrative again

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Octave

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A stanza of 8 lines

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Onomatopoeia

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A literary device that attempts to represent a thing or action by the word that imitates the sound associated with it. (crash/bang)

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Open form

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Verse that has no set formal theme. Always in free verse

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Overstatement (hyperbole

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Exaggeration used to emphasize the point

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Paradox:

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A statement that at first strikes one as self-contradictoory, but that on reflection reveals some deeper sense. Paradox is often achieved by a play on words

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Parallel:

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An arrangement of words, phrases, clauses, or sentences side-by-side in a similar grammatical or structural way. Parallelism organizes ideas in a way that demonstrates their coordination to the reader

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Pentameter (iambic):

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A verse meter consisting of 5 metrical feet, or 5 primary stresses per line.

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Persona:

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A fictitious character created by an author to be the speaker of a poem, story, or novel. A persona is always the narrator

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Personification:

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A figure of speech in which a thing is endowed with human characteristics

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Poetic diction:

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Language deemed appropriate for poetic verse. Ornate language

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Projective verse:

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Theory that poets compose by listening to their own breathing and using it as a rhythmic guide rather than poetic meter or form

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Prosody:

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The study of metrical structures in poetry

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Psalms:

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Sacred songs

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Pun:

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A play on words in which one word is substituted for another similar or identical sound, but of very different meaning.

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Quatrain:

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A stanza consisting of four lines.

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Refrains:

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A word, phrase, line, or stanza repeated at intervals in a song or poem. Like a song chorus

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Rhythm:

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The pattern of stresses and pauses in a poem. meter

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Rime scheme:

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Any recurrent pattern of rhyme within an individual poem or fixed form

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Rime:

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2 or more words that contain an identical or similar vowel sound.

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Rising meters

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(iambic/anapestic): A meter whose movement rises from an unstressed syllable to a stressed syllable

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Run-on-line:

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A line of verse that does not end in punctuation but continues to the next line

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Sarcasm:

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A conspicuously bitter form of irony in which the ironic statement is designed to hurt or mock its target.

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Satiric poetry:

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Poetry that blends criticism with humor to convey a message.

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Scansion:

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A practice used to describe rhythmic patterns in a poem by separating metrical feet, counting the syllables, marking the accents, and indicating the pauses.

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Sestet:

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A poem or stanza of 6 lines

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Sestina:

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A complex verse form in which six end words are repeated in a prescribed order through six stanzas. A sestina ends with an envoy of three lines in which all six words appear- for a total of 39 lines.

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Simile:

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A comparison of 2 things, indicated by some connective (cool as a cucumber)

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Slack syllables:

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An unstressed syllable in a line of verse

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Sonnet:

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A traditional and widely used verse form. “little song”

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Spondee:

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A metrical foot of verse contain 2 stressed syllables often subsitiuted into a meter to create extra emphasis

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Stanza:

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A recurring pattern of 2 or more lines of verse

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Stress (ascent):

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An emphasis or accent placed on a syllable of speech.

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Subject:

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The main topic of the poem

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Syllabic verse

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: A verse form in which the poet establishes a pattern of a certain number of syllables to a line.

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Synecdoche:

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The use of a significant part of a thing to stand for the whole of it or vice versa. (my rhyme; referring to a poem)

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Tactile imagery:

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A word or sequence of words that refers to the sense of touch

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Tercet:

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A group of three lines of verse, usually all ending in the same rhyme

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Terminal refrain:

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A refrain that appears at the end of each stanza in a song or poem

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Terza rima:

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A verse form made up of threeline stanzas that are connected by an overlapping rhyme scheme (aba, bcb, cdc,…)

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Tetrameter:

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A verse meter consisting of 4 metrical feet

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Theme:

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A generally recurring subject or idea conspicuously evident in a literary work.

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Tone:

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The attituted toward a subject conveyed in a literary work

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Trochaic:

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A metrical foot in which an stressed syllable is folled by an unstressed syllable. (associated with magic spells, bubble bubble toil and trouble)

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Troubadours:

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The minstrels of the late middle ages

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Understatement:

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An ironic figure of speech that deliberately describes something in a way that is less than the true case

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Verbal irony:

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A statement in which the speaker or writer says the opposite of what is really meant

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Villanelle:

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a fixed form consisting of 6 rhymed stanzas in which two lines are repeated in a prescribed pattern

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Visual imagery:

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A word or sequence of words that refers to the sense of sight or presents something one may see

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Vulgate:

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The lowest level of formality in language