Poetry Glossary

Question 1

alliteration

Answer 1

the repetition of the same consonant sounds at any place, but particularly at the beginning of words
e.g. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper

Question 2

assonance

Answer 2

the repetition or a pattern of the same vowel sounds

e.g. Moses supposes his toeses are roses

Question 3

ballard

Answer 3

a poem that tells a story similar to a folk tale or a legend

Question 4

carpe diem

Answer 4

a Latin expression that means ‘seize the day’.

Carpe Diem poems urge the reader to live for today and enjoy this moment

Question 5

couplet

Answer 5

in a poem a pair of lines that are the same length and usually rhyme

Question 6

elegy

Answer 6

a poem that laments the death of a person

Question 7

enjambement

Answer 7

a line in which the sense continues, with no punctuation, into the next line or stanza

Question 8

Feminine rhyme

Answer 8

a rhyme that occurs in a final unstressed syllable

e.g. pleasure/leisure

Question 9

haiku

Answer 9

a Japanese poem composed of 3 un-rhymed lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables - often about nature

Question 10

hyperbole

Answer 10

a figure of speech in which deliberate exaggeration is used for emphasis
e.g. tons of money

Question 11

imagery

Answer 11

the use of pictures, figures of speech and description to evoke idea, feelings etc

Question 12

litotes

Answer 12

a figure of speech in which a positive is stated by negating its opposite
e.g. it’s no small victory

Question 13

lyric

Answer 13

a poem that expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet

Question 14

masculine rhyme

Answer 14

a rhyme that occurs in a final stressed syllable

Question 15

metaphor

Answer 15

a figure of speech in which 2 things are compared or linked to describe something
e.g. drowning in debt

Question 16

narrative

Answer 16

telling a story

Question 17

ode

Answer 17

a lyric poem that is serious

Question 18

onomatopoeia

Answer 18

a figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds

Question 19

pastoral

Answer 19

a poem that pictures country life in a peaceful, idealized way

Question 20

personification

Answer 20

a figure of speech in which nonhuman things or ideas are given human attributes
e.g. the sky is crying

Question 21

refrain

Answer 21

a phrase or a line that is repeated through a poem, usually after every stanza

Question 22

rhyme

Answer 22

the same or similar sounding words

Question 23

rhyme scheme

Answer 23

the pattern that is made by a rhyme within each stanza

Question 24

simile

Answer 24

a figure of speech in which 2 things are compared using the word like or as
e.g. as mad as a box of frogs

Question 25

sonnet

Answer 25

a lyric poem that is 14 lines long

Question 26

stanza

Answer 26

two or more lines of poetry that together form the divisions of a poem

Question 27

stress

Answer 27

the prominence or emphasis given to particular syllables

Question 28

symbol

Answer 28

when a word or phrase stands for an idea or theme