Poetry Vocab

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Alliteration

Back 1

The repetition of the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words of in stressed syllables

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Allusion

Back 2

Indirect reference

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Anapest

Back 3

A line of verse composed of two short syllables followed by one long one.

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Blank verse

Back 4

Unrhymed poetry with a regular rhythm and line length, usually an iambic pentameter

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Ballad

Back 5

A narrative poem, often of folk origin and intended to be sung, with short stanzas and usually a refrain

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Cacophony

Back 6

Harsh, discordant sounds

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Concrete poetry

Back 7

Poetry which uses a visual arrangement (of words, letters, or symbols) to convey the meaning

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Couplet

Back 8

Two lines of verse which form one unit, usually rhyming and with the same meter

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Dactyl

Back 9

A metrical foot [for the ppl im sending this to, note that a foot is a unit of poetic meter] consisting of one accented/long syllable followed by two unaccented/short syllables

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Dialect

Back 10

A regional variety of language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary

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Diction

Back 11

Choice of words to fit their context

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End Rhyme

Back 12

The use of rhyme at the ends of lines of poetry

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End-stopped

Back 13

Poetry containing a pause in meaning at the end of a line, instead of continuing into the next line

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Enjabment/run-ons

Back 14

The continuation in meaning without pause or break from one line of poetry to the next

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Figure of Speech

Back 15

An expression used in a nonliteral sense in order or achieve a particular effect

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Free verse

Back 16

Verses without any pattern

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Haiku

Back 17

Japanese poetry with 3 unrhymed lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables describing one nature-based image

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Iamb

Back 18

An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

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Imagery

Back 19

The figurative language, especially metaphors and similes, used to create a picture

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Implied Metaphor

Back 20

To indirectly suggest something through a metaphor

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Internal Rhyme

Back 21

Rhyme in which one of the rhyming words is within the line of poetry, and the other is at the end of the same line or within the next line

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Irony

Back 22

Humor based on opposites

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Metaphor

Back 23

The application of a word or phrase that is not meant literally but to make a comparison

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Onomatopeia

Back 24

The formation of words that imitate the sound associated with what’s being talked about (for example “hiss” or “buzz”)

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Oxymoron

Back 25

A phrase where two contradicting words are used together for special effect

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Paraphrase

Back 26

To restate in order to make simpler or shorter

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Parody

Back 27

A piece of writing or music that copies another in a humorous or ridiculing manner

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Personification

Back 28

Somebody who is an embodiment or perfect example of something

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Pun

Back 29

A humorous word of phrase because it has more than one possible meaning

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Rhyme Scheme

Back 30

The patter of rhyming lines often indicated with matching letters to show which lines rhyme.

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Scanning

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to conform to a pattern of rhythm

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Shakespearean Sonnet

Back 32

A sonnet in iambic pentameter composed of three quatrains followed by a couplet. The rhyme pattern is abab cdcd efef gg.

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Simile

Back 33

A figure of speech that draws a comparison, especially using the words “like” or “as”

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Sonnet

Back 34

A short poem with fourteen lines, usually ten-syllable rhyming lines, divided into two, three ,or four sections. They’re usually written in iambic pentameter.

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Spondee

Back 35

A unit of rhythm in poetry consisting of two long/stressed syllables

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Stanza

Back 36

One of the divisions of a poem, composed of two or more lines. Each stanza will normally have its own different rhythm and rhyme scheme.

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Thesis/Antithesis

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Contrasting words or phrases that create a blanced effect (the thesis is one line, usually happy, and the antithesis is the next line which contradicts, usually sad)

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Tone

Back 38

A sound with a particular quality

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Trochee

Back 39

A metrical foot with one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable