A Glossary of Poetic Terms

adapted from Ann-Marie Imbornoni Accent The prominence or emphasis given to a syllable or word. In the word poetry, the accent (or stress) falls on the first syllable. Alliteration The repetition of the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words. Some famous e amples of alliteration are tongue twisters such as She sells seashells by the seashore and !eter !iper pic"ed a pec" of pic"led peppers. Antithesis # figure of speech in which words and phrases with opposite meanings are balanced against each other. #n e ample of antithesis is $To err is human, to forgive, divine.$ (#le ander !ope) Apostrophe %ords that are spo"en to a person who is absent or imaginary, or to an ob&ect or abstract idea. The poem 'od(s %orld by )dna St. *incent +illay begins with an apostrophe, $- %orld, I cannot hold thee close enough./Thy winds, thy wide grey s"ies./Thy mists that roll and rise.$ Assonance The repetition or a pattern of similar sounds, especially vowel sounds, as in the tongue twister $+oses supposes his toeses are roses.$ Ballad # poem that tells a story similar to a fol" tale or legend and often has a repeated refrain. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor 0oleridge is an e ample of a ballad. Blank verse !oetry that is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. Sha"espeare wrote most of his plays in blan" verse. Caesura # natural pause or brea" in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line. There is a caesura right after the 1uestion mar" in the first line of this sonnet by )li2abeth 3arrett 3rowning, $4ow do I love thee5 6et me count the ways.$ Carpe diem # 6atin e pression that means $sei2e the day.$ 0arpe diem poems urge the reader (or the person to whom they are addressed) to live for today and en&oy the pleasures of the moment. # famous carpe diem poem by 7obert 4erric" begins $'ather ye rosebuds while ye may . . .$

Conceit # fanciful poetic image or metaphor that li"ens one thing to something else that is seemingly very different. #n e ample of a conceit can be found in Sha"espeare(s sonnet $Shall I compare thee to a summer(s day5$. Consonance The repetition of similar consonant sounds, especially at the ends of words, as in lost and past or confess and dismiss. Couplet In a poem, a pair of lines that are the same length and usually rhyme and form a complete thought. Sha"espearean sonnets usually end in a couplet. Ele y # poem that laments the death of a person, or one that is simply sad and thoughtful. #n e ample of this type of poem is Thomas 'ray(s $)legy %ritten in a 0ountry 0hurchyard.$ En!ambment The continuation of a complete idea (a sentence or clause) from one line or couplet of a poem to the ne t line or couplet without a pause. #n e ample of en&ambment can be found in the first line of 8oyce 9ilmer(s poem Trees, $I thin" that I shall never see/# poem as lovely as a tree.$ )n&ambment comes from the :rench word for $to straddle.$ Envoy The shorter final stan2a of a poem, as in a ballade. Epic # long, serious poem that tells the story of a heroic figure. Two of the most famous epic poems are the Iliad and the -dyssey by 4omer, which tell about the Tro&an %ar and the adventures of -dysseus on his voyage home after the war. Epi ram # very short, witty poem, $Sir, I admit your general rule,/That every poet is a fool,/3ut you yourself may serve to show it,/That every fool is not a poet.$ (Samuel Taylor 0oleridge) "eminine rhyme # rhyme that occurs in a final unstressed syllable, pleasure/leisure, longing/yearning. "i ure of speech # verbal e pression in which words or sounds are arranged in a particular way to achieve a particular effect. :igures of speech are organi2ed into different categories, such as alliteration, antithesis, assonance, hyperbole, litotes, metaphor, metonymy, onomatopoeia, simile, and synecdoche.

"oot Two or more syllables that together ma"e up the smallest unit of rhythm in a poem. :or e ample, an iamb is a foot that has two syllables, one unstressed followed by one stressed. #n anapest has three syllables, two unstressed followed by one stressed. "ree verse !oetry composed of either rhymed or unrhymed lines that have no set meter. #aiku # 8apanese poem composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. 4ai"u often reflect on some aspect of nature. #eroic couplet # stan2a composed of two rhymed lines in iambic pentameter. #yperbole # figure of speech in which deliberate e aggeration is used for emphasis. +any everyday e pressions are e amples of hyperbole, tons of money, waiting for ages, a flood of tears, etc. 4yperbole is the opposite of litotes. Iamb # metrical foot of two syllables, one short (or unstressed) and one long (or stressed). There are four iambs in the line $0ome live/ with me/ and be/ my love,$ from a poem by 0hristopher +arlowe. (The stressed syllables are in bold.) The iamb is the reverse of the trochee. Iambic pentameter # type of metre in poetry, in which there are five iambs to a line. (The prefi penta; means $five,$ as in pentagon, a geometrical figure with five sides. +eter refers to rhythmic units. In a line of iambic pentameter, there are five rhythmic units that are iambs.) Sha"espeare(s plays were written mostly in iambic pentameter, which is the most common type of meter in )nglish poetry. #n e ample of an iambic pentameter line from Sha"espeare(s 7omeo and 8uliet is $3ut soft./ %hat light/ through yon/der win/dow brea"s5$ #nother, from 7ichard III, is $# horse./ # horse./ +y "ing/dom for/ a horse.$ Idyll )ither a short poem depicting a peaceful, ideali2ed country scene, or a long poem that tells a story about heroic deeds or e traordinary events set in the distant past. Idylls of the 9ing, by #lfred 6ord Tennyson, is about 9ing #rthur and the 9nights of the 7ound Table. $imerick # light, humorous poem of five lines with the rhyme scheme of aabba. $itotes # figure of speech in which a positive is stated by negating its opposite. Some e amples of litotes, no small victory, not a bad idea, not unhappy. 6itotes, which is a form of understatement, is the opposite of hyperbole.

$yric # poem, such as a sonnet or an ode, that e presses the thoughts and feelings of the poet. # lyric poem may resemble a song in form or style. Metaphor # figure of speech in which two things are compared, usually by saying one thing is another, or by substituting a more descriptive word for the more common or usual word that would be e pected. Some e amples of metaphors, the world(s a stage, he was a lion in battle, drowning in debt, and a sea of troubles. Metre %meter in &'A( The arrangement of a line of poetry by the number of syllables and the rhythm of accented (or stressed) syllables. Metonymy # figure of speech in which one word is substituted for another with which it is closely associated. :or e ample, in the e pression The pen is mightier than the sword, the word pen is used for $the written word,$ and sword is used for $military power.$ )arrative Telling a story. 3allads, epics, and lays are different "inds of narrative poems. *de # lyric poem that is serious and thoughtful in tone and has a very precise, formal structure. 8ohn 9eats(s $-de on a 'recian <rn$ is a famous e ample of this type of poem. *nomatopoeia # figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds. ) amples of onomatopoeic words are bu22, hiss, 2ing, clippety;clop, coc";a;doodle;do, pop, splat, thump, and tic";toc". #nother e ample of onomatopoeia is found in this line from Tennyson(s 0ome =own, - +aid, $The moan of doves in immemorial elms,/#nd murmuring of innumerable bees.$ The repeated $m/n$ sounds reinforce the idea of $murmuring$ by imitating the hum of insects on a warm summer day. Pastoral # poem that depicts rural life in a peaceful, idealised way. Pentameter # line of poetry that has five metrical feet. Personification # figure of speech in which nonhuman things or abstract ideas are given human attributes, the s"y is crying, dead leaves danced in the wind, blind &ustice.

+uatrain # stan2a or poem of four lines. ,efrain # phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated throughout a poem, usually after every stan2a. ,hyme The occurrence of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or more words. %hen the rhyme occurs in a final stressed syllable, it is said to be masculine, cat/hat, desire/fire, observe/deserve. %hen the rhyme occurs in a final unstressed syllable, it is said to be feminine, pleasure/leisure, longing/yearning. The pattern of rhyme in a stan2a or poem is shown usually by using a different letter for each final sound. In a poem with an aabba rhyme scheme, the first, second, and fifth lines end in one sound, and the third and fourth lines end in another. ,hyme royal # type of poetry consisting of stan2as of seven lines in iambic pentameter with the rhyme scheme ababbcc. 7hyme royal was an innovation introduced by 'eoffrey 0haucer. ,omanticism The principles and ideals of the 7omantic movement in literature and the arts during the late >?th and early >@th centuries. 7omanticism, which was a reaction to the classicism of the early >?th century, favored feeling over reason and placed great emphasis on the sub&ective, or personal, e perience of the individual. Aature was also a ma&or theme. The great )nglish 7omantic poets include %ordsworth, 0oleridge, 3yron, Shelley, and 9eats. 'cansion The analysis of a poem(s metre. This is usually done by mar"ing the stressed and unstressed syllables in each line and then, based on the pattern of the stresses, dividing the line into feet. 'imile # figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word $li"e$ or $as.$ #n e ample of a simile using li"e occurs in 6angston 4ughes(s poem 4arlem, $%hat happens to a dream deferred5/ =oes it dry up/ li"e a raisin in the sun5$ 'onnet # lyric poem that is >B lines long. Italian (or !etrarchan) sonnets are divided into two 1uatrains and a si ;line $sestet,$ with the rhyme scheme abba abba cdecde (or cdcdcd). )nglish (or Sha"espearean) sonnets are composed of three 1uatrains and a final couplet, with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. )nglish sonnets are written generally in iambic pentameter.

'tan-a Two or more lines of poetry that together form one of the divisions of a poem. The stan2as of a poem are usually of the same length and follow the same pattern of metre and rhyme. 'tress The prominence or emphasis given to particular syllables. Stressed syllables usually stand out because they have long, rather than short, vowels, or because they have a different pitch or are louder than other syllables. 'ynecdoche # figure of speech in which a part is used to designate the whole or the whole is used to designate a part. :or e ample, the phrase $all hands on dec"$ means $all men on dec",$ not &ust their hands. The reverse situation, in which the whole is used for a part, occurs in the sentence $)ngland beat :rance in the final game,$ where )ngland and :rance stand for $the )nglish team$ and $the :rench team,$ respectively. Tetrameter # line of poetry that has four metrical feet. Trochee # metrical foot of two syllables, one long (or stressed) and one short (or unstressed). #n easy way to remember the trochee is to memori2e the first line of a lighthearted poem by Samuel Taylor 0oleridge, which demonstrates the use of various "inds of metrical feet, $Trochee/ trips from/ long to/ short.$ The trochee is the reverse of the iamb. Trope # figure of speech, such as metaphor or metonymy, in which words are not used in their literal (or actual) sense but in a figurative (or imaginative) sense.