Poetry Terms Flashcards
stanza
A grouping of lines separated from others in a poem. In modern free verse, the stanza, like a prose paragraph, can be used to mark a shift in mood, time, or thought.
enjambment
The running-over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation.
The opposite of end-stopped.
end stopped line
A metrical line ending at a grammatical boundary or break—such as a dash or closing parenthesis—or with punctuation such as a colon, a semicolon, or a period. A line is considered end-stopped, too, if it contains a complete phrase.
The opposite of enjambment.
rhyme scheme
The pattern of rhyme, usually indicated by assigning a letter of the alphabet to each rhyme at the end of a line of poetry.
free verse
Nonmetrical, nonrhyming lines that closely follow the natural rhythms of speech. A regular pattern of sound or rhythm may emerge in free-verse lines, but the poet does not adhere to a metrical plan in their composition.
blank verse
Unrhyming iambic pentameter, also called heroic verse. This 10-syllable line is the predominant rhythm of traditional English dramatic and epic poetry, as it is considered the closest to English speech patterns.
foot
The basic unit of measurement of accentual-syllabic meter. A foot usually contains one stressed syllable and at least one unstressed syllable. The standard types of feet in English poetry are the iamb, trochee, dactyl, anapest, spondee, and pyrrhic.
rhyme
The repetition of syllables, typically at the end of a verse line. Rhymed words conventionally share all sounds following the word’s last stressed syllable.
end rhyme
The most common type. The rhyming of the final syllables of a line.
internal rhyme
Rhyme within a single line of verse. When a word from the middle of a line is rhymed with a word at the end of the line.
slant rhyme
A near rhyme in which the concluding consonant sounds are identical but not the vowels. Example: sun/noon, should/food, slim/ham.
onomatopoetia
The use of words to imitate the sounds they describe. Words such as buzz and crack are onomatopoetic.
alliteration
The repetition of consonant sounds, especially at the beginning of words.
consonance
A resemblance in sound between two words, or an initial rhyme (see also Alliteration). Consonance can also refer to shared consonants, whether in sequence (“bed” and “bad”) or reversed (“bud” and “dab”).
assonance
The repetition of vowel sounds without repeating consonants; sometimes called vowel rhyme.
auditory imagery
Where the reader can hear the sounds that are being made or can be heard. Authors sometimes use onomatopoeia to convey this type of imagery.
tactile imagery
Allows the reader to imagine the feel or texture of certain things.
visual imagery
Allows the reader to see, or imagine in their mind, what scenes or settings the author is describing.
olfactory imagery
Allows the reader to imagine the smell of the odours and scents in the writing.
gustatory imagery
The reader can imagine the taste of certain things.
metaphor
A comparison between essentially unlike things without an explicitly comparative word such as “like” or “as”.
simile
A figure of speech involving a comparison between unlike things using “like”, “as”, or “as though”.
conceit
An extended metaphor. Evolves beyond the initial comparison and allows the writer to flesh out multiple points of contrast.
personification
A figure of speech in which the poet describes an abstraction, a thing, or a non-human form as if it were a person.
allusion
A brief, intentional reference to a historical, mythic, or literary person, place, event, or movement.
hyperbole
A figure of speech composed of a striking exaggeration. Usually carries the force of strong emotion,
understatement
A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker says less than what he or she means; the opposite of exaggeration.
irony
A contrast or discrepancy between what is said and what is meant or between what happens and what is expected to happen in life and in literature.
apostrophe
Speaker in a poem addresses a person not present or an animal, inanimate object, or concept as though it is a person.
