POETRY TERMS 1-35

Question 1

alliteration

Answer 1

the repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds, normally at the beginning of words

Question 2

allusion

Answer 2

a reference in a work of literature to something outside of the work, especially to a well-known historical or literary event, person, or work

Question 3

antithesis

Answer 3

a figure of speech characterized by strongly contrasting words, clauses, sentences, or ideas

ex: “man proposes; God disposes”

Question 4

apostrophe

Answer 4

a figure of speech in which someone (usually, but not always absent), some abstract quality, or a nonexistent personage is directly addressed as though present

Question 5

assonance

Answer 5

the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds

Question 6

ballad meter

Answer 6

a four-line stanza rhymed abcd with four feet in lines one and three and three feet in lines two and four

Question 7

blank verse

Answer 7

unrhymed iambic pentameter

Question 8

cacophony

Answer 8

a harsh, unpleasant combination of sounds or tones

Question 9

caesura

Answer 9

a pause, usually near the middle of a line or verse, usually indicated by the sense of the line, and often greater than abnormal pause

ex: to err is human, to forgive is divine

Question 10

conceit

Answer 10

an ingenious and fanciful notion or conception, usually expressed through an elaborate analogy, and pointing to a striking parallel between two dissimilar things

Question 11

consonance

Answer 11

the repetition of similar consonant sounds in a group of words

ex: born and burn

Question 12

couplet

Answer 12

a two line stanza, usually with end-rhymes the same

Question 13

devices of sound

Answer 13

the techniques of deploying the sound of words, especially in poetry

(rhyme, alliteration, assonance, consonance, and onomatopoeia)

Question 14

diction

Answer 14

the use of words in literary work

Question 15

didactic poem

Answer 15

a poem intended primarily to teach a lesson

Question 16

dramatic poem

Answer 16

a poem which employs a dramatic form or some element or elements of dramatic techniques as a means of achieving poetic ends (dramatic monologue)

Question 17

elegy

Answer 17

a sustained and formal poem setting forth the poet’s meditations upon death or another solemn theme

Question 18

end-stopped

Answer 18

a line with a pause at the end (end with a period, coma, colon, semicolon, exclamation point, or question mark)

Question 19

enjambment

Answer 19

the continuation of the sense and grammatical construction from one line of poetry to the next

Question 20

extended metaphor

Answer 20

an implied analogy, or comparison, which is carried throughout a stanza or an entire poem

Question 21

euphony

Answer 21

a style in which combinations of words pleasant to the ear predominate

Question 22

eye rhyme

Answer 22

rhyme that appears correct from spelling, but is half-rhyme or slant rhyme from the pronunciation

ex: watch and match

Question 23

feminine rhyme

Answer 23

a rhyme of two syllables, one stressed and one unstressed, as “waken” and “forsaken”

also called double rhyme

Question 24

figurative language

Answer 24

writing that uses figures of speech (as opposed to literal language or that which is actual or specifically denoted) such as metaphor, irony, and simile

Question 25

free verse

Answer 25

poetry which is not written in a traditional meter but is still rhythmical

Question 26

heroic couplet

Answer 26

two end-stopped iambic pentameter lines rhymed aa, bb, and cc with the thought usually completed in the two line unit

Question 27

hyperbole

Answer 27

a deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration

Question 28

imagery

Answer 28

the images of a literary work; the sensory details of a work; the figurative language of a work

Question 29

irony

Answer 29

the contrast between actual meaning and the suggestion of another meaning

verbal irony- figure of speech in which the actual intent is expressed in words which carry the opposite meaning

sarcasm- more harsh

Question 30

internal rhyme

Answer 30

rhyme that occurs within a line, rather than at the end

ex: once upon a midnight dreary, while i pondered weak and weary

Question 31

lyric poem

Answer 31

any short poem that presents a single speaker who expresses thoughts and feelings

ex: sonnets and odes

Question 32

masculine rhyme

Answer 32

rhyme that falls on the stressed and concluding syllables of the rhyme words

ex: keep and sleep

Question 33

metaphor

Answer 33

a figurative use of language in which a comparison is expressed without the use of a comparative term like “like” and “as”

Question 34

meter

Answer 34

the repetition of a regular rhythmic unit in a line of poetry

each meter is called a foot

Question 35

metonymy

Answer 35

a figure of speech which is characterized by the substitution of a term naming an object closely associated with the word in mind for the word itself

ex: king=crown