| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Lyric | Subjective, reflective, reveals poet's thoughts |
| Narrative | Objective verse which tells a story |
| Sonnet | 14-line verse poem, variable structure and rhyme scheme |
| Shakespearian/English | 3 quatrains + couplet in iambic pentameter |
| Petrarchan/Italian | Octet, sestet, abba abba cde cde |
| Ode | Lyric poem dealing seriously with dignified theme |
| Blank verse | Unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter |
| Free verse | Unrhymed lines without regular rhythm |
| Epic | Long narrative which gives account of hero |
| Dramatic monologue | Lyric poem, speaker tells audience about dramatic moment, indirectly reveals character |
| Elegy | Poem lamenting someone's death |
| Ballad | Simple narrative, story to be sung/recited |
| Idyll | Lyric poem describing shepherd life |
| Villanelle | French verse calculated to appear spontaneous, 5 tercets and final quatrain, (aba)5 abaa |
| Light verse | General category written to entertain, can also be serious |
| Haiku | Japanese poem of 5, 7, 5 syllables depicting delicate image |
| Limerick | Humorous, nonsense, 5 anapestic lines, aabba, trimeter and dimeter |
| Rhythm | Pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables |
| Feet | Units of measurement for meter |
| Scansion | Analysis of poem to determine meter |
| Stanza | Identified by # of lines it contains |
| Caesura | Pause in rhythm of line |
| Enjambement | Run-on line which continues into next without grammatical break |
| Rime | Repetition of like sounds at regular intervals |
| End rhyme | Rhyme occurs at ends of verse lines |
| Internal rhyme | Rhyme contained within line of verse |
| Rhyme scheme | Pattern of rhymes, each end rhyme represented by a letter |
| Masculine rhyme | Only last accented syllable of rhyming words correspond in sound |
| Feminine rhyme | Two consecutive syllables of rhyming words correspond in sound, first is accented |
| Half rhyme/slant rhyme | Approximate rhyme |
| Assonance | Repetition of 2 or more vowel sounds in a line |
| Consonance | Repetition of 2 or more consonant sounds in a line |
| Alliteration | Repetition of 2 or more initial sounds in a line, usually consonants |
| Onomatopoeia | Word whose sound suggests its meaning |
| Euphony | Use of compatible sounds to produce melodious effect |
| Cacophony | Use of inharmonious sounds for effect |
| Metaphor | Direct comparison of 2 unlike objects |
| Simile | Direct comparison of 2 unlike objects using like or as |
| Conceit | Extended metaphor comparing 2 unlike objects |
| Personification | Objects/animals given human qualities |
| Apostrophe | Address to person/personified object not present |
| Metonymy | Substituting word which relates to object/person to be named, rather than name itself |
| Synecdoche | Part represents whole object/idea |
| Hyperbole | Gross exaggeration for effect |
| Litote | Understatement in which negative of antonym used for emphasis |
| Irony | Contrast between actual and suggested meanings |
| Symbolism | Using one object to represent another object/idea |
| Imagery | Poetic representation of a sensory experience; "sensuous envelope of poem" |
| Paradox | Statement appearing self-contradictory but actually based on truth |
| Oxymoron | Contradictory terms brought together for effect |
| Allusion | Reference to an outside fact or event |
| Prosody | Study of sound devices, rhyme, and metrics |
| Imagery umbrella | Diction, figurative language, sound devices, poetic devices |
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