Glossary of poetry terms
- 1. Glossary of Poetry Terms Allegory : a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms / figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another (a parallel) Alliteration : words starting with the same letter. (Many mice might make a mess.) Ballad : sentimental or romantic popular song Couplet : a pair of successive lines in poetry Elegy : sad or mournful musical composition (especially for a funeral) Figurative : metaphorical and not literal Foot : unit of meter in poetry consisting of a combination of stressed and unstressed syllables Free verse : no rhythm or rhyme Hyperbole : exaggeration Iambic : syllable stress pattern, 1 light then 1 strong ( u / ) Idiomatic : peculiar to or characteristic of a particular language or dialect Imagery : formation of images or likeness of things related to the 5 senses. Internal rhyme : 2 or more words rhyming in a line Irony : the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning Litotes : understatement Metaphor : compares two things without using “like” Meter : type or number of feet/stressed syllables in a line of poetry Metonymy: figure of speech in which an attribute of a thing is substituted for the thng itself (e.g. “sweat” can mean hard labour, “”crown” can mean king or sovereign(ty) Ode : long stately elaborate lyrical verse Onomatopoeia : a word representing a sound (e.g. “click”, “swish”) Parody : a mocking imitation Personification : treating an object as if it were a person (the tree reached its arms towards the sun) Pun : a play on words Quatrain : a stanza/verse/poem of four lines Rhyme : 2 or more words with similar sounding final syllables ( “run” and “sun” or “loan” and “bone”) Rhythm : pulse/beat or variation of length and accent of a series of sounds Satire : using humour to say bad things as a way to change people’s thinking / the use of irony, sarcasm ridicule, or the like, to expose or denounce vice, folly etc. Setting : place, time or atmosphere in literature Stanza : group of lines of poetry forming a unit Stress pattern : stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry -anapaestic - - / (to the beach) -dactylic / - - (frequently) -iambic - / (indeed) -spondaic / / (trueblue) -trochaic / - (deadline) Symbolism : the use of symbols to represent ideas Tone : quality in the voice/writing that expresses the speaker’s/writer’s feeling or thoughts Verse : one of the parts that a song or poem is divided into