| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Meter | A pattern of syllables stressed and unstressed in a line of poetry |
| Rhymed Verse | Lines that have both meter and rhyme |
| Blank Verse | Poetry that has meter, but no rhyme |
| Free Verse | Poetry that has neither meter nor rhyme |
| End Rhyme | The rhyme comes at the end of a couple lines in the stanza |
| Internal Rhyme | Two or more words in the same line rhyme |
| Rhyme Scheme | The pattern of end rhymes in a poem |
| Alliteration | The repetition of the same sound at the beginning of each word in a sequence |
| Assonance | Repetition of the same vowel sounds anywhere in a series of words |
| Consonance | Repetition of the same consonant sounds anywhere in a series of words |
| Onomatopoeia | A word that imitates a sound |
| Refrain | Repetition of two or more lines in a poem |
| Repetition | The repetition of any word or phrase up to one full line |
| Antithesis/Oxymoron | A word or phrase made up fo two contradictory words or phrases |
| Apostrophe | The direct address of a person in a poem who is not there |
| Hyperbole | An exaggeration |
| Litotes | Understatement (Formed by using the opposite) |
| Metaphor | A direct comparison between two totally different things |
| Simile | A direct comparison between two totally different things always using like or as |
| Personification | Giving human qualities to inanimate objects |
| Symbol | Something concrete that represents something else |
| Metonymy | SUBSTITUTION of one thing for something closely associated with it |
| Synecdoche | Using a part to represent the whole |
| Stanza | A division of lines in a poem |
| Quatrain | A four-line stanza |
| Couplet | Two consecutive lines that rhyme |
| Heroic couplet | Two consecutive lines of rhyme poetry that expresses a complete thought |
| Sonnet | A fourteen line poem |
| Italian/Petrachan sonnet | a-b-b-a, a-b-b-a, c-d-c-d-c-d |
| English/Shakespearean sonnet | a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g |
| Haiku | A three line Japanese poem; 5-7-5; All haikus consist of two parts: a question and an answer or a vague description and then it tells us what that thing is being described |
| Poetic license | the freedom given to a poet for rhyme or meter |
Combine with other sets
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace