Poetry Terms Flashcards
Allegory
a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.
Alexandrine
A line or verse with 6 iambic feet
Alliteration
the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
Allusion
an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.
Analogy
a comparison between two things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation or clarification.
Apostrophe
an exclamatory passage in a speech or poem addressed to a person (typically one who is dead or absent) or thing (typically one that is personified).
Assonance
in poetry, the repetition of the sound of a vowel or diphthong in nonrhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible (e.g., penitence, reticence ).
Ballad
a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas. Traditional ballads are typically of unknown authorship, having been passed on orally from one generation to the next as part of the folk culture.
Blank verse
verse without rhyme, esp. that which uses iambic pentameter.
Cacophony
a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.
Conceit
a fanciful expression in writing or speech; an elaborate metaphor.
“the idea of the wind’s singing is a prime romantic conceit”
Concrete poetry
poetry in which the meaning or effect is conveyed partly or wholly by visual means, using patterns of words or letters and other typographical devices.
Consonance
the recurrence of similar sounds, esp. consonants, in close proximity (chiefly as used in prosody).
Couplet
Two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit.
Dialect
a particular form of a language that is peculiar to a specific region or social group.
“this novel is written in the dialect of Trinidad”
Diction
the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing.
“Wordsworth campaigned against exaggerated poetic diction”
Dramatic poetry
Written as it is to be spoken
Elision
the process of joining together or merging things, esp. abstract ideas.
“unease at the elision of so many vital questions”
Euphony
the quality of being pleasing to the ear, esp. through a harmonious combination of words.
Figurative language
expressing ideas indirectly; language used in a special way to create a special effect made up of words and phrases which don’t mean what they first appear to mean