poetic terms Flashcards
(33 cards)
alliteration
repetition of the sound at a beginning of a word
anaphora
repetition at the start of a line
assonance
repetition of a vowel sound anywhere within a section of the poem
caesura
a break in the line
consonance
– repetition of a consonant sound anywhere within a section of the
poem
contrast
a strong difference between two things
couplet
a pair of rhymed lines (
enjambment
a flow on line (where the reader is forced to keep reading rather
than stop at the end of the line / stanza in order to maintain the meaning
form
a specific type of poem, such as a sonnet or a haiku
fricatives
these consonants create a turbulent flow of air. E.g. f and th
iambic pentameter
a line containing ten syllables where the stress alternates
from soft to heavy (five pairs of syllables)
imagery
words so descriptive they create a picture in the reader’s mind
metaphor
an image created by referring to something as something else (He is
a pig)
metre
the measurement of the rhythm of a poem
octet
a stanza comprising eight lines
ode
a poem in praise of something / usually addresses and exalts its subject
onomatopoeia
words that sound like their meaning (crash/bang/pop)
oxymoron
– two words positioned together with contrasting ideas (beautiful
death
personification
giving an object human qualities (the wind whistled)
plosives
sounds that explode from the mouth
quartet
A stanza of four lines
repetition
words/phrases/sentences and structures repeated
rhyme
Rhyme – repetition of a sound either at the end of the line or internally, within
the same line.
half rhyme
(where the words almost rhyme / Eye rhyme – where the words look as though they should rhyme but pronunciation means they do not
