Poetry Flashcards
identify stressed and unstressed syllables in each verse
iamb and trochee
described by the number of beats or stressed syllables per verse: dimeter (2), trimeter (3), tetrameter (4), pentameter (5), and so forth.
Meter
Unrhymed iambic pentameter
Blank verse
utilized by Homer and other Greco-Roman poets. Epic poems typically recount heroic deeds and adventures, using stylized language and combining dramatic and lyrical conventions
Epic Poetry
poems that are written and read as letters, also developed in ancient times
Epistolary Poetry
often follow a rhyme scheme and meter and focus on subjects such as love, death, and religion
Ballads
memorable rhymes with one or two lines
Epigrams
two lines of iambic dimeter followed by two lines of iambic dimeter and another of iambic trimeter) are known for humor and wit.
Limericks
originally a Japanese poetry form. 17 syllables, traditionally distributed across three lines as 5/7/5, with a pause after the first or second line
Haiku
traditionally has 14 lines of iambic pentameter, tightly organized around a theme
Sonnet
named for 14th-century Italian poet Petrarch, has an eight-line stanza, the octave, and a six-line stanza, the sestet.
There is a change or turn, known as the volta, between the eighth and ninth verses, setting up the sestet’s answer or summary. The rhyme scheme is ABBA/ABBA/CDECDE or CDCDCD.
Petrarchan Sonnet
three quatrains and one couplet, with the rhyme scheme ABAB/CDCD/EFEF/GG. This format better suits English, which has fewer rhymes than Italian
English or Shakespearean Sonnet
Poems arranged so the full poem takes a shape that is relevant to the poem’s message
Concrete Poems
poetry that does not always incorporate meter or rhyme, it relies more heavily on punctuation and structure to influence the reader’s experience and create emphasis.
Free Verse
lines with a punctuation mark at the end, create a pause that can contribute to the poem’s flow or create emphasis.
End-Stopped Lines
lines that do not end with a punctuation mark, carry a sentence to the next line and create an effect similar to long lines. They can speed up a poem’s flow and reflect an idea within the poem or contribute to tone.
Enjambed lines
“masculine” endings—that is, strongly stressed syllables at the ends of each of the lines.
trochaic (/ᴗ)
“feminine” (unstressed) ending syllable in the last word, “symmetry.”
dactyl (/ ᴗᴗ)
pause in mid-verse
caesura
Through exaggeration, this communicates the strength of a poet’s or persona’s feelings and enhances the mood of the poem
hyperbole
appeals to the reader’s auditory sense and enhances sound imagery even when the poem is visual (read silently) rather than auditory (read aloud).
Onomatopoeia
nineteen-line poem composed of five tercets and one quatrain
villanelle
