Poetic Terms

Repetition of similar consonant sounds at word beginnings.

Reference to external historical or literary elements in a work.

Contrasting words or ideas for emphasis, like 'Man proposes; God disposes.'

Directly addressing absent or abstract entities in speech or writing. Ex. Papa Above! Regard a Mouse. -Emily Dickinson

Repetition of similar vowel sounds in words.

Rhymed four-line stanza with specific feet per line. Ex. O mother, mother make my bed. O make it soft and narrow. Since my love died for me today, I'll die for him tomorrow.

Unrhymed iambic pentameter, common in Shakespeare's works.

Harsh combination of sounds, used for effect in poetry. Ex. Irks care the crop-full bird? Frets doubt the maw-crammed beast?

Pause in the middle of a verse line for emphasis. For example, one would naturally pause after "human" in the following line from Alexander Pope: To err is human, to forgive divine.

Elaborate analogy drawing parallels between dissimilar things. Ex. occurs in John Donne's poem "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning," in which he compares his soul and his wife's to legs of a mathematical compass.

Repetition of similar consonant sounds in words. Ex. "add" and "read," "bill and ball," and "born" and "burn."

Two-line stanza with matching end rhymes.

Techniques like rhyme, alliteration, and onomatopoeia in poetry; deploy the sound of words to create a general effect of pleasant or of discordant sound, to imitate another sound, or to reflect a meaning.

Word choice in literary works; Diction may be described as formal (the level of usage common in serious books and formal discourse), informal (the level of usage found in the relaxed but polite conversation of cultivated people), colloquial (the everyday usage of a group, possibly including terms and constructions accepted in that group but not universally acceptable), or slang (a group of newly coined words which are not acceptable for formal usage as yet).

Poem primarily teaching a lesson.

Poem using dramatic form or techniques. Ex. dramatic monologue

Formal poem reflecting on death or solemn themes.

Line with a pause at the end, marked by punctuation. Ex. True ease in writing comes from Art, not Chance, As those move easiest who have learn'd to dance.

Continuation of sense and grammatical construction from one line to the next in poetry. Ex. . . . .Or if Sion hill Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd Fast by the oracle of God, . . . .

Implied analogy carried through a poem.

Pleasant word combinations in poetry. Its opposite is cacophony. Ex. A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

Rhyme based on spelling but not pronunciation. Ex. Examples include "watch" and "match," and "love" and "move."

Rhyme of two syllables, one stressed and one unstressed. Ex. "waken" and "forsaken" and "audition" and "rendition."

Use of figures of speech like metaphor and simile. uses words to mean something other than their literal meaning.

Non-traditionally metered but rhythmic poetry.

two end-stopped iambic pentameter lines rhymed aa, bb, cc with the thought usually completed in the two-line unit. ex. But when to mischief mortals bend their will, How soon they find fit instruments of ill!

Extravagant exaggeration for effect, serious or comic. ex. No; this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red.

Sensory details and figurative language in a literary work. the visual auditory, or tactile images evoked by the words of a literary work or the images that figurative language evokes. When an AP question asks you to discuss imagery, you should look especially carefully at the sensory details and the metaphors and similes of a passage. Some diction is also imagery, but not all diction evokes sensory responses.

Contrast between actual and implied meanings, often using sarcasm.

Rhyme within a line, not just at the end. ex. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore' While I nodded, nearly napping. . suddenly there came a tapping . . . .

Short poem expressing thoughts or feelings by a single speaker.

Rhyme on stressed, concluding syllables like 'keep' and 'sleep'

Figurative comparison without 'as,' 'like,' or 'than'

Regular rhythmic unit repetition in poetry lines. emphasizes the musical quality of the language and often relates directly to the subject matter of the poem.

Substitution of closely associated term for the word ex. we commonly speak of the king as the "crown," an object closely associated with kingship.

Incongruous mingling of two metaphors ex. "I smell a rat. I see it floating in the air. I shall nip it in the bud."

Non-dramatic poem telling a story ex. epics or ballads

Eight-line stanza, often in Italian sonnets

Words whose sound suggests their meaning ex. buzz, hiss, honk

Paradoxical pairing of contrary terms. This combination usually serves the purpose of shocking the reader into awareness. Ex. "wise fool," "sad joy," and "eloquent silence."

Contradictory situation or feeling that makes sense ex. Take me to you, imprison me, for I Except you enthrall me, never shall be free, Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

Similar grammatical structure in poetry lines ex. . . . .Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them. Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold, Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.

Restatement retaining meaning but changing form

Metaphor giving human traits to inanimate objects

Syllable group in verse with accented and unaccented syllables

Play on words with similar sounds but diverse meanings

Four-line stanza with any rhyme combination

Repeated phrase or sentence in poem at intervals

Similar sound between accented syllables in verse lines

Seven-line iambic pentameter stanza rhymed ababbcc

Stressed and unstressed syllable recurrence in poetry, lends both pleasure and heightened emotional response to the listener or reader.

Praising with intent to insult or hurt

Writing ridiculing an object to evoke disapproval, usually comedy that exposes errors with an eye to correct vice and folly.

Meter description by identifying feet per line

Six-line stanza, often in Italian sonnets

Direct comparison using 'like,' 'as,' or 'than'

Fourteen-line iambic pentameter poem

Grouping of three or more lines with same meter

Language management for a specific effect in poetry- planned placing of elements to achieve an effect Ex. The rhetorical strategy of most love poems is deployed to convince the loved one to return to the speaker's love. By appealing to the loved one's sympathy, or by flattery, or by threat, the lover attempts to persuade the loved one to love in return.

the arrangement of materials within a work; the relationship of the parts of a work to the whole; the logical divisions of a work. The most common units of structure in a poem are the line and stanza.

the characteristic manner of expression of an author. Many elements contribute to style, and if a question calls for a discussion of style or of "stylistic techniques," you can discuss diction, syntax, figurative language, imagery, selection of detail, sound effects, and tone, using the ones that are appropriate.

something that is simultaneously itself and a sign of something else. For example, winter, darkness, and cold are real things, but in literature they are also likely to be used as symbols of death.

a form of metaphor which in mentioning a part signifies the whole. For example, we refer to "foot soldiers" for infantry and "field hands" for manual laborers who work in agriculture.

the ordering of words into patterns or sentences. If a poet shifts words from the usual word order, you know you are dealing with an older style of poetry or a poet who wants to shift emphasis onto a particular word.

a stanza of three lines in which each line ends with the same rhyme.

a three-line stanza rhymed aba, bcb, cdc,etc. Dante's Divine Comedy is written in terza rima.

the main thought expressed by a work. In poetry, it is the abstract concept which is made concrete through its representation in person, action, and image in the work.

the manner in which an author expresses his or her attitude; the intonation of the voice that expresses meaning. (Remember that the "voice" need not be that of the poet.) Tone is described by adjectives, and the possibilities are nearly endless. Often a single adjective will be enough, and tone may change from stanza to stanza or even line to line. Tone is the result of allusion, diction, figurative language, imagery, irony, symbol, syntax, and style.

the opposite of hyperbole. It is a kind of irony that deliberately represents something as being much less than it really is. For example, Macbeth, having been nearly hysterical after killing Duncan, tells Lenox,:"Twas a rough night."

a nineteen-line poem divided into five tercets and a final quatrain. The villanelle uses only two rhymes which are repeated as follows: aba, aba, aba, aba, aba, abaa. Line 1 is repeated entirely to form lines 6, 12, and 18, and line 3 is repeated entirely to form lines 9, 15, and 19; thus, eight of the nineteen lines are refrain.