| Term | Definition |
|---|
| alliteration | use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verse |
| Allusion | a reference to a famous person place thing or event taken from literature, history etc.... |
| Anaphora | The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs; for example, "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills" (Winston S. Churchill). |
| Assonance | repetition of vowel sounds |
| Blank verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| cadence | non metric rhythm or beat |
| Conceit | Extended metaphor |
| consonance | repetition of the endings of words, opposite of alliteration, repetition of final consonant sounds |
| couplet | 2 line rhyming stanza |
| dramatic monologue | a poem in which an imaginary speaker addresses an imaginary audience |
| elegy | A type of poem that meditates on death or mortality in a serious, thoughtful manner. |
| enjambment | a run-on line of poetry in which logical and grammatical sense carries over from one line into the next |
| feminine rhyme | 2 syllable rhyme with an accent on the first syllable |
| Free verse | poetry with no rhyme and no metric rhythm |
| Haiku | an unrhymed Japanese poem consisting of three lines with five, seven, and five syllables, respectively |
| heroic couplet | two lines of rhyming iambic pentameter |
| hyperbole | a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor |
| iamb | A metrical foot consisting of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable |
| imagery | the ability to form mental images of things or events |
| internal rhyme | rhyme within a line of poetry |
| litotes | An understatement for effect |
| lyric poetry | verse characterized by imagination, melody, emotion, brevity. It's used to present a unified idea. |
| metaphor | Comparing two things WITHOUT using "like" or "as" |
| meter | rhythmic pattern determined by the repetition of poetic feet |
| metonymy | use of an object associated with an item in place of the item itself |
| narrative | a story |
| onomatopoeia | words which create the sounds they represent ex: bam! pow! smash! |
| oxymoron | paradox created by 2 contradictory words |
| paradox | apparent contradiction which is none-the-less true |
| pentameter | verse form with 5 metric feet per line |
| personification | giving non-human things human qualities |
| quatrain | four verse stanza |
| rhyme | identical final sounds in words |
| rhyme scheme | pattern of end rhyme |
| scansion | the process of counting out and marking poetic feet |
| simile | explicit, stated comparison of 2 unlike things using like or as |
| slant rhyme | approximate rhyme (dependent on assonance or consonance) |
| sonnet | 14 line lyric poem following a prescribed rhythmic pattern and rhyme scheme (abab cdcd efef gg) |
| stanza | recurring grouping of 2 or more lines in a poem; depends on line length, meter, rhyme or meaning |
| symbol | something which exists in its own right but suggests a meaning beyond itself |
| synaesthesia | description of one sense perception in terms of another;, One sensory experience described in terms of another sense. (ie: I tasted the blue) |
| tone | writer's attitude toward the audience or subject |
| synecdoche | significant part is used to represent the whole; a figure of speech that utilizes a part as representative of the whole. "All hands on deck" is an example. |
Combine with other sets
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