BLAKE (AO2) Flashcards
assonance (l)
a figure of speech where the same vowel sound is repeated within a group of words.
it can occur anywhere in the word, unlike in alliteration.
it also plays a role in rhyme,
(e.g. ‘nurses song’ in songs of innocence:
“no, no let us play, for it is yet day…
besides, in the sky the little birds fly.”
allegory (l)
a work that conveys a hidden meaning: usually moral, spiritual or political, through the use of symbolic characters and events.
it makes extensive use of symbolism in order to communicate a broader moral/meaning.
(e.g. in ‘the garden of love’ songs of innocence, the garden serves as an allegory for innocence and the sacredness of love).
alliteration (l)
alliteration is a figure of speech in which the same sound repeats in a group of words.
alliteration is the repetition of sounds, not just letters.
alliterative words do not have to be right next to each other, other words can appear between them.
alliteration is found often in poetry and prose.
allusion (l)
an unexplained reference to someome or something outside of the text. writer’s often allude to other literary works; famous individuals; historical works or philosphical ideas.
allusions can be direct or indirect.
(e.g. in ‘the chimney sweeper’ in songs of innocence, blake alludes to the biblical concept of the Lamb of God.)
anapest (r)
anapest is a three-syllable metrical pattern which contains two unstressed syllables, followed by a stressed syllable.
(e.g. understand is an anapest. stressed syllables “un” and “der” followed by the stressed syllable “stand”)
antithesis (l)
a figure of speech that juxtaposes two contrasting or opposing ideas usually within parallel grammatical structures.
(e.g. one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind)
(e.g. “burning bright” and “forests of the night” in ‘The Tyger’. opposotion between the beauty of the creature and the fear it evokes creates antithesis.)
caesura (s)
a pause that occurs within a line of poetry, usually marked by some form of punctuation such as a full stop, dash, comma, ellipsis, colon.
consonance (l)
a figure of speech in which the same consonant sound repeats within a group of words.
occurs when sounds, not letters, repeat.
(e.g. tyger, tyger burning bright,
in the forests of the night;
what formal hand or eye,
could frame thy fearful symmetry.)
repeated ‘t’ and ‘r’ sounds in Tyger, “burning” znd “bright” as well as “forests”, “frame” and “fearful” creates a sense of musicality and emphasis.
- contributes to poem’s overall sonic texture of poem.
diacope (l)
figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated with a small number of intervening words.
(e.g “happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”
end rhyme (r)
rhyme that occurs in the final words of lines of poetry.
- like rhyming couplets.
end-stopped line (s)
a line of poetry in which a sentence of phrase comes to a conclusion at the end of the line.
consistently end-stopping the lines of poetry tends to accentuate the rhythmic quality of the poem, since it makes the pauses occur regularly.
enjambment (s)
a continuation of the sentence or clause across a line break.
enjmabment has the effect of encouraging a fast-paced rhythm for the reader
poets often use enjambment to introduce ambiuguity or contradiction.
epistrophe (l)
a figure of speech in which one or more words repeat at the end of successive phrases, clauses or sentences.
epizeuxis (l)
a figure of speech in which a word is repeated in immediate succession with no intervening words.
(e.g. words, words words)
the immediate repetition of the same word/phrase in epizeuxis is blunt and powerful.
euphony (r)
euphony is the combining of words that sound pleasant together or are easy to pronounce, usually becaus they contain a lot of consonants or soft or muffled sounds (like L, M, N and R) instead of consants with harsh, percussive sounds (like T,P and K).
