poetry terms Flashcards
alliteration
the repetition of identical or similar consonant words
ex: mlary closed her cluttered clothes closet
allusion
a reference in a work of literature to something outside of the work
ex: when Mary Shelley writes, “…” she alludes to …
antithesis
balancing of one tern against another for emphasis
ex: hape for the best: prepare for the worst
apostrophe
some abstract quality or non-existent person is directly addressed
ex: O Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo
assonance
the repetition of identical or similar vowel word
ex: go slow on the road
ballad meter
a for lined stanza rhymed ABCD
ex:
1 O mother, mother make my bed
2 O make it soft and narrow
3 Since my love dies for me today
4 I’ll die for him tomorrow
blank verse
unrhymed iambic pentameter
ex:
cacophony
a harsh, unpleasant combination of sounds or tones
ex: Irks care the crop-full bird? Fret doubt the maw-cramed beast
caesura
a significant pause in the middle of a line of verse
ex: to err is human; to forgive is divine
conceit
an unconventional, complex or surprising metaphor
ex: A broken heart is like a damaged clock.
consonance
A resemblance in sound between two words, or an initial rhyme
ex:
Let the boy try along this bayonet blade
How cold steel is, and keen with hunger of blood;
Blue with all malice, like a madman’s flash;
And thinly drawn with famishing for flesh.
couplet
a two-line stanza, usually with end-rhymes the same.
devices of sound
the techniques of deploying the sound of words
Trochaic
Pentameter
An uncommon type of poetic line consisting of five
trochees.
ex:O, how I wish I had the strength to fly!
