Poetry Terms
Meter- more or less regular repetition of an evenly spaced series of beats or accents. Also called scansion.
Foot- a metrical unit. __ = accented U = unaccented
U __ U __
Iamb: 2 syllables, an unaccented followed by an accented (afraid accept )
__ U
Trochee: 2 syllables, an accented followed by an unaccented ( beauty )
______
Spondee: 2 syllables, both accented (bookcase heartbreak )
U U __
Anapest: 3 syllables, 2 unaccented followed by an accented ( introduce)
__ U U
Dactyl: 3 syllables, 1 accented followed by 2 unaccented ( merrily )
U __
Monometer- 1 footI am
U __ U __
Dimeter- 2 feetI am the one
U __ U __ U __
Trimeter- 3 feetI am the one to see
U __ U __ U __ U __
Tetrameter- 4 feetI am the one to see the sun
U __ U __ U __ U __ U __
Pentameter- 5 feetI am the one to see the sunrise shine
U __ U __ U __ U __ U __ U __
Hexameter- 6 feetI am the one to see the sunrise shine so bright
U __ U __ U __ U __ U __ U __ U __
Heptameter- 7 feetI am the one to see the sunrise shine so bright and clear
Trochee trips from long to short
From long to short in solemn sort
Slow Spondee stalks; strong foot! Yet ill able
Ever to come up with Dactyl tri-syllable
Iambics march from short to long
With a leap and a bound the swift Anapest throng. (Coleridge)
Rhyme- the repetition of a vowel and/or consonant sound
Consonantal rhyme- ( grave-grieve, skip, scope)
Consonantal/vowel rhyme- ( run-fun, me-see)
Assonance- special effect from juxtaposition of identical or closely similar vowel sounds
(The vast land of the past. See me by the sea)
Alliteration- repetition of consonants, particularly on stressed syllables
(The breezes blew,/The fair foam flew,/ The farrow followed free)
Onomatopoeia- a word that is the imitation of sound ( buzz, crash, whirr)
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Simile- comparison of unlike objects using “like” or “as”
“My Luve is like a red,red, rose” (Burns)
Metaphor-comparison of unlike objects NOT using “like” or “as”(often a prepositional phrase)
“There is a garden in her face” (Campion) “The eye of heaven” (Marvell)
Conceit- extended comparison using similes or metaphors in unexpected ways
“The evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table.” (Eliot)
Synecdoche- naming a part to represent a whole
“All hands on deck.” “Lend me your ears.”
Metonymy-relating an object to something or someone
“The crown” for a ruler or something royal. “The White House” for the president
Personification- giving human characteristics to an inanimate object
“See Scandal praying with her sharp knees up” (Auden)
Irony- use of words to express opposite of true meaning (verbal irony)
“The grave’s a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace” (Herrick)
Hyperbole- overstatement or exaggeration
“All the other teachers let me leave early.”
Allusion- reference to mythology, Bible or previous work of literature
“I feel like the second age of man” (whining school boy-As You Like It)
Paradox- a statement or situation contradictory or incompatible in elements
“Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we can make him run. (Herrick)
VERSE FORMS
Blank verse- series of unrhymed iambic pentameters
Free verse- unrhymed, loose rhythm
Couplet- Two lines linked by rhyme “I think that I shall never see/ A poem as lovely as a
tree”
Heroic couplet- two rhymed lines in iambic pentameter
Quatrain- any four line stanza
TYPES OF POETRY
Lyric- predominately musical and emotional (songs)
Epic- long, narrative poem on a grand scale about heroic deeds of gods and man (Odyssey)
Ballad- poem meant for singing which tells a story (“Barbara Allen”)
Dramatic Monologue- a narrative in which character presents all action from his view
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”)
Sonnet-14 line poem in iambic pentameter ABABCDCDEFEFGG- English
ABBAABBACDECDE- Italian or Petrarchian
Ode- reflective, formal poem in exalted tone “Ode to a Grecian Urn”
Elegy- serious mediative verse dealing with war, death, love “Elegy In a Country
Churchyard”
Epitaph- a memorial verse intended to be carved on a tombstone
Epigram- short poem leading to a witty turn or thought “Men don’t make passes at girls
who wear glasses.”