Poetry terms Flashcards
Ballad
a narrative poem that usually includes a repeated refrain
Blank verse
unrhymed iambic pentameter, a line of five feet
Cacophony
the use of words in poetry that combine sharp, harsh, hissing, or unmelodious sound
Conceit
elaborate figure of speech combining possible metaphor, simile, hyperbole, or oxymoron
Couplet
A pair of rhyming lines with identical meter
Elegy
A mourning poem of lament for a tragic individual or event
Free verse
A type of poetry that differs from conventional verse forms in being “free” from a fixed pattern of meter or rhyme
Iambic pentameter
A line of verse having five metrical feet (Shakespearse’s most frequent writing pattern)
Meter (rhythm)
the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry
Rhyme
exact repetition of sounds in at least the final accented syllables of two or more words
Rhyme scheme
The pattern of rhyme. The traditional way of marking these patterns of rhyme is to assign a letter of the alphabet to each rhyming sound at the end of each line
Sonnet
A fourteen line poem, usually in iambic pentameter, with a varied rhyme scheme
Iambic
~,/ de DUMM
trochaic
/,~ DUMM de
anapestic
,,/ de de DUMM
dactyllic
/,~,~ DUMM de de
End-stopped
a pause at the end of a line
Caesura
a pause that occurs within a line
Enjambment
a line that “runs over” to the next line without pause
Single (masculine) Rhyme
1 syllable rhyme (i.e. dame, same)
Double (feminine) Rhyme
2 syllable rhyme (i.e. napping, tapping)
Sight (eye) rhyme
two words that look alike but don’t sound alike (i.e. Love, Jove)
Slant (imperfect) Rhyme
two words that are nearly rhymed but have a slight variation in vowel sounds (i.e. Lake, Fate)
Identical Rhyme
Basically homonyms
End Rhyme
the rhyming words occur at the ends of lines
Internal Rhyme
the rhyme occurs inside the line
Assonance
the repetition of identical vowel sounds (i.e. lake, fake)
Consonance
repetition of identical consonant sounds (i.e. Bill, ball)
Onomatopia
Words which sound like their meanings (i.e. Hiss)
Metonymy
Substitution of one word for another closely related word (i.e. “the pot’s boiling)
Synechdoche
Substitution of part for the whole (i.e. “All hands on deck”)
Antithesis
Using contrasts for a accumulative effect
Litotes
a form of understatement in which a thing is affirmed by stating the negative of its opposite (i.e. “he was not unmindful)
Rhymed Couplet
2 lines with identical rhymes
Tercet, triplet
3 lines- any rhyme scheme, any meter
Quatrain
4 lines- any rhyme scheme, any meter
Sestet
6 lines (often 3 sets of couplets) any rhyme scheme, any meter
Octave
8 lines- any rhyme scheme, any meter
Spenserian stanza
9 lines rhyming a b a b b c b c c
lines 1-8 iambic pentameter
line 9 iambic hexameter
Villanelle
19 lines
Narrative poetry
i.e. ballad, epic
Lyric poetry
i.e. dirge, elegy, ode
