Poetry Vocabulary Flashcards
the recurrence of similar sounds, especially consonants, in close proximity (chiefly as used in prosody).
Consonance
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 ).
Assonance
a series of eight notes occupying the interval between (and including) two notes, one having twice or half the frequency of vibration of the other.
Octave
the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g., cuckoo, sizzle ).
Onomatopoeia
the ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines of a poem or verse.
Rhyme scheme
two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit.
Couplet
a metrical foot consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable.
Iamb
the rhythm of a piece of poetry, determined by the number and length of feet in a line.
Meter
verse without rhyme, especially that which uses iambic pentameter.
Blank verse
a poem or other literary work in the form of a letter or series of letters.
Epistle
a phrase or statement written in memory of a person who has died, especially as an inscription on a tombstone
Epitaph
(in modern verse) a pause near the middle of a line
Caesura
the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
Alliteration
a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid (e.g., as brave as a lion, crazy like a fox ).
Something written as something else
Simile
a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.
Metaphor
a figure of speech which has lost its original imagery of its meaning due to extensive, repetitive, and popular usage
Dead metaphor
a type of rhyme formed by words with similar but not identical sounds. In most instances, either the vowel segments are different while the consonants are identical, or vice versa.
Half rhyme
a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.
Cliché
a group of lines forming the basic recurring metrical unit in a poem; a verse.
Stanza
the last six lines of a sonnet.
Sestet
A seven line stanza
Septet
rhyme of the terminal syllables of lines of poetry.
End rhyme
