Key poetry terms

Question 1

Caesura

Answer 1

A mid-line pause e.g. Not do, my heart…

Question 2

Conceit

Answer 2

Deliberarly elaborate metaphor

Question 3

Definite article

Answer 3

‘The’

Question 4

Dynamic verb

Answer 4

A verb that expresses an action rather than a state.

Question 5

Enjambment

Answer 5

Run-on lines

Question 6

Filler

Answer 6

Words used when hesitating e.g. Er and in

Question 7

Hyperbole

Answer 7

Exaggeration used to heighten feeling and intensity.

Question 8

Indefinite article

Answer 8

‘A’

Question 9

Anaphora

Answer 9

Repetition at the beginning of a sentence to create emphasis

Question 10

Oxymoron

Answer 10

The use of apparently contradictory words in a phrase

Question 11

Parallelism

Answer 11

The patterning of pairs of sounds, words, or structure to create a sense of balance.

Question 12

Sonnet

Answer 12

A poem of fourteen lines. Each line is typically an iambic pebtameter of ten syllables.

Question 13

Petrarchan or Italian Sonnet

Answer 13

A poem of 14 lines, divided into an octet and a sestet, written in iambic pentameter.

Question 14

Shakespearean Sonnet

Answer 14

A poem of 14 lines, 3 quatrains with eight lines each, and 1 two-line heroic couplet

Question 15

Olfactory Imagery

Answer 15

Description and presentation of sense of smell

Question 16

Auditory Imagery

Answer 16

Description and presentation of sound

Question 17

Plosive Allieration

Answer 17

The alliteration of the p, b, or t sound.

Question 18

Dysphemism

Answer 18

Expressing an idea in the most unpleasant way

Question 19

Blazon

Answer 19

Poetic mode wherein the speaker uses metaphors, similes, and hyperbole to describe parts of their lover’s body.

Question 20

Paean

Answer 20

Song of praise to chastity and female beauty

Question 21

Conceit

Answer 21

An idea

Question 22

Devotional poem

Answer 22

About man’s relationship with God

Question 23

Antithesis

Answer 23

Contrasting or combining two terms, phrases, or clauses with opposite meanings.

Question 24

Gutteral alliteration

Answer 24

Alliteration with ‘g’ and ‘c’ sounds

Question 25

Lyric Poem

Answer 25

A song, or a short non-narrative. A singlespeaker, who expresses personal emotions or thoughts. Are pleasing to the ear and are easily put to music.

Question 26

Anastrophe

Answer 26

Normal word order of the subject, the verb, and the object is changed.