POETRY TERMS Flashcards
The repetition of the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words.
Alliteration
A figure of speech in which words and phrases with opposite meanings are balanced against each other.
Antithesis
A poem that tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend and often has a repeated refrain.
Ballad
Poetry that is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
Blank Verse
A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line.
Caesura
In a poem, a pair of lines that are the same length and usually rhyme and form a complete thought.
Couplet
A poem that laments the death of a person, or one that is simply sad and thoughtful.
Elegy
A long, serious poem that tells the story of a heroic figure. For instance: the Iliad and the Odyssey
Epic
Poetry composed of either rhymed or unrhymed lines that have no set meter.
Free Verse
A Japanese poem composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. They often reflect on some aspect of nature.
Haiku
A figure of speech in which deliberate exaggeration is used for emphasis.
Hyperbole
A type of meter in poetry, in which there are five iambs to a line. (The prefix penta- means “five,” as in pentagon, a geometrical figure with five sides. Meter refers to rhythmic units.
Iambic Pentameter
A light, humorous poem of five usually anapestic lines with the rhyme scheme of aabba.
Limerick
A poem, such as a sonnet or an ode, that expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet.
Lyric
A figure of speech in which two things are compared, usually by saying one thing is another, or by substituting a more descriptive word for the more common or usual word that would be expected.
Metaphor
