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Poetry Terms
A list of poetical terms and their definitions.
48
English
12th Grade
09/20/2012

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Term
scansion
Definition
a method of graphing the stresses of a line of poetry, using È (or x) and ? (or ') for unstressed and stressed accents, or musical notes to indicate degrees of stress and length
Term
prosody
Definition
the study of rhythm in poetry, prose, or dialogue
Term
Anglo-Saxon meter
Definition
4-stress lines halved by a caesura, in which 3 of the 4 stresses alliterate
Term
accentual meter
Definition
verse in which only stresses are counted
Term
syllabic meter
Definition
verse in which only the number of syllables is counted, lumping stressed in with unstressed syllables
Term
accentual-syllabic meter
Definition
verse in which the number of stresses, and the total number of syllables, are both counted; the most common form of English verse
Term
iamb
Definition
-/

iambic
Term
trochee
Definition
/-

trochaic
Term
anapest
Definition
--/

anapestic
Term
dactyl
Definition
/--

dactylic
Term
spondee
Definition
//

spondaic
Term
pyrrhic
Definition
--

pyrrhic
Term
double iamb
Definition
--//

pyrrhic-spondee
Term
Variation in meter
Definition
substitution of one foot with another
Term
elision
Definition
pronouncing two syllables as one by dropping an unstressed vowel
Term
truncation (catalexis)
Definition
drop final unstressed syllable(s) of a line ending with a trochee or dactyl
Term
monometer
Definition
1 foot, 2 syllables
Term
dimeter
Definition
2 feet, 4 syllables
Term
trimeter
Definition
3 feet, 6 syllables
Term
tetrameter
Definition
4 feet, 8 syllables
Term
pentameter
Definition
5 feet, 10 syllables
Term
hexameter
Definition
6 feet, 12 syllables
Term
heptameter
Definition
7 feet, 14 syllables (fourteeners)
Term
octameter
Definition
8 feet, 16 syllables
Term
end-stopped lines
Definition
ending with a natural pause indicated by the syntax and confirmed by the sense of the line
Term
enjambed or run-on lines
Definition
a line in which the sense continues on to the next line without a natural syntactical pause, establishing a strong grammatical pull between lines (enjambment)
Term
caesura
Definition
a pause in the middle of a line
Term
refrain
Definition
repeated line, usually at the end of a stanza
Term
feminine ending
Definition
a line ending with an unstressed syllable
Term
couplet
Definition
2 lines per stanza
Term
triplet (if rhymed) or tercet
Definition
3 lines per stanza
Term
quatrain
Definition
4 lines per stanza
Term
sestet
Definition
6 lines per stanza
Term
octave
Definition
8 lines per stanza
Term
closed or open stanza
Definition
like end-stopped or enjambed lines, but at the stanza break
Term
stichic verse
Definition
verse without discrete stanzas
Term
verse paragraph (strophe)
Definition
a stanza in free verse
Term
Rhyme and rhyme scheme
Definition
half - or off - or near - or slant rhyme
feminine (double-syllabic) and triple rhymes
Term
eye rhyme
Definition
"rhyming" words that look alike but do not have full rhyme
Term
alliteration
Definition
repeating consonant sounds
Term
consonance
Definition
repeating initial and concluding consonant sounds
Term
assonance
Definition
repeating vowel sounds
Term
onomatopoeia (echoism)
Definition
a word or phrase that sounds like what it describes
Term
blank verse
Definition
unrhymed iambic pentameter
Term
heroic couplets
Definition
closed iambic pentameter couplets
Term
alexandrine
Definition
iambic hexameter
Term
terza rima
Definition
aba bcb cdc...
Term
ballad stanza
Definition
quatrain of iambic tetrameter, trimeter, tetrameter, trimeter, rhyming abcb or abab
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