poetry terms Flashcards
anaphora
the repetition of a word or phrase, usually at the beginning of a line
alliteration
the repetition of sounds in a sequence of words
allegory
narrative with two levels of meaning, one stated and one unstated
apostrophe
direct address to an absent or otherwise unresponsive entity (someone or something dead, imaginary, abstract, or inanimate)
assonance
the repetition of vowels sounds
beat
a stressed (or accented) syllable
binary
duel, twofold, characterized by two parts
blank verse
unrhymed iambic pentameter
caesura
an audible pause internal to a line, usually in the middle. (an audible pause at the end of a line is called an end-stop) the french alexandrine, anglo-saxon alliterative meter, and latin dactylic hexameter are all verse forms that call for a caesura
chiasmus
from the greek letter chi (x), a “crossed” rhetorical parallel. that is, the parallel form a:b::a:b changes to a:b::b:a to become chiasmus
climax
the high point; the moment of greatest tension or intensity. the climax can occur at any point in a poem and can register on different levels, e.g. narrative, rhetorical, or formal
consonance
the repetition of consonant sounds
couplet
two lines of verse, usually rhymed. heroic couplet: a rhymed iambic pentameter couplet
diction
word choice, specifically the “class” or “kind” of words chosen
elegy
since the 17th century, usually denotes a reflective poem that laments the loss of something or someone
end-stopped line
a line that ends with a punctuation mark and whose meaning is complete
enjamed line
a “run-on” line that carries over into the next to complete its meaning
foot
the basic unit of accentual-syllabic and quantitative meter, usually combining a stressed with one or more unstressed syllables
free verse
poetry in which the rhythm does not repeat regularly
imagery
the visual (or other sensory) pictures used to render a description more vivid and immediate
meter
a regularly repeating rhythm, divided for convenience into feet
metonymy
a figure of speech in which something is represented by another thing that is commonly and often physically associated with it, e.g. “white house” for “the president”
ode
a genre of lyric, an ode tends to be a long, serious meditation on an elevated subject
prosody
the study of versification, i.e. the form – meter, rhyme, rhythm, stanzaic form, sound patterns – into which poets put language to make it verse rather than something else. refrain a phrase or line recurring at intervals. (n.b. the definition does not require that a refrain include the entire line, nor that it recur at regular intervals, though refrains often are and do)
rhythm
the patterns of stresses, unstressed syllables, and pauses in language. regularly repeating rhythm is called meter
simile
a figure of speech that compares two distinct things by using a connective word such as “like” or “as”
speaker
the “I” of a poem, equivalent to the “narrator” of a prose text. in lyric poetry, the speaker is often an authorial persona
stanza
a “paragraph” of a poem: a group of lines separated by extra white space from other groups of lines
symbol
an image that stands for something larger and more complex, often something abstract, such as an idea or a set of attitudes
symbolism
the serious and relatively sustained use of symbols to represent or suggest other things or idea (distinct from allegory in that symbolism does not depend on narrative)
synecdoche
a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole, e.g. “wheels” for “car”
tone
the speaker’s or authors’s attitude toward the reader, addressee, or subject matter. the tone of a poem immediately itself upon the reader, yet it can be quite difficult to describe and analyze
trope
a figure of speech, such as a metaphor
valediction
an act or utterance of farewell
