Poem Terms Flashcards
A three-line stanza
Tercet
A four-line stanza in a poem
Quatrain
A six-line unit of verse constituting a stanza or section of a poem
Sestet
An eight-line unit, which may constitute a stanza
Octave
The matching of final vowel or consonant sounds in two or more words.
Rhyme
A pair of rhymed lines that may or may not constitute a separate stanza in a poem.
Couplet
The recurrence of accent or stress in lines of verse
Rhythm
The repetition of initial stressed, consonant sounds in a series of words within a phrase or verse line.
Alliteration
A brief, intentional reference to a historical, mythic, or literary person, place, event, or movement.
Allusion
The repetition of vowel sounds without repeating consonants; sometimes called vowel rhyme.
Assonance
A figure of speech composed of a striking exaggeration
Hyperbole
A comparison that is made directly (for example, John Keats’s “Beauty is truth, truth beauty”
Metaphor
A figure of speech in which the sound of a word imitates its sense (for example, “choo-choo,” “hiss,” or “buzz”).
Onomatopoeia
A figure of speech that brings together contradictory words for effect, such as “jumbo shrimp” and “deafening silence.”
Oxymoron
A figure of speech in which the poet describes an abstraction, a thing, or a nonhuman form as if it were a person.
Personification
