Poetry Glossary

Question 1

Alliteration

Answer 1

Repetition of the same consonant sounds at any place, but often at the beginning of words. Famous examples are tongue twisters.. ‘she sells sea shells…’

Question 2

Assonance

Answer 2

Repetition or a pattern of the same vowel sounds
eg. Moses supposes his toeses are roses

Question 3

Ballad

Answer 3

A poem that tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend.

Question 4

Carpe Diem

Answer 4

Latin to “seize the day”, encourages the reader to live for today.

Question 5

Couplet

Answer 5

A pair of lines that are the same length and usually rhyme and form a acomplete thought. Shakes peare sonnets usually end in a couplet.

Question 6

Elegy

Answer 6

A poem that laments the death of a person, or one that is siply sad and thoughtful.

Question 7

Enjambment

Answer 7

Lines running into each other with no punctuation.

Question 8

Feminine rhyme

Answer 8

A rhyme that occurs in a final unstressed syllable eg. pleasure/leisure

Question 9

Haiku

Answer 9

Japeneses poem, 3 unrhymed lines of 5, 7 aqnd 5 syllables.
often reflects on some aspect of nature.

Question 10

Hyperbole

Answer 10

Deliberate exaggeration is used for emphasis
eg. tons of money, waiting for ages

Question 11

Imagery

Answer 11

Use of pictures, figures of speech and description to evoke ideas, feelings objects, actions, states of mind.

Question 12

Limerick

Answer 12

A light, humorous poem with the rhyme scheme of a a b b a

Question 13

Litotes

Answer 13

A figure of speech in which a positive is stated by negating its opposite
eg. no small victory, not a bad idea

Question 14

Lyric

Answer 14

A poem, such as sonnet or ode, that expresses the thoughts and feelings of te poet. May resemble a song in form.

Question 15

Masculine rhyme

Answer 15

A rhyme that occurs in a final stressed syllable.
eg. cat/hat, desire/fire

Question 16

Metaphor

Answer 16

A figure of speech in which two things are compared, ususally be saying one thing is another
eg. the world is a stage, drowning in debt
* most important figure of speech to comment on in an essay

Question 17

Narrative

Answer 17

Tells a story
egs. ballads, epics, lays

Question 18

Ode

Answer 18

Lyric poem that is serious and thoughtful in tone. Has a precise, formal structure.

Question 19

Onomatopoeia

Answer 19

Words are used to imitate sounds
eg. buzz, hiss, thump

Question 20

Pastoral

Answer 20

Pictures country life ina peaceful, idealized way.

Question 21

Personification

Answer 21

Non-human things or abstract ideas are given human attributes
eg. the sky is crying, dead leaves danced in the wind

Question 22

Refrain

Answer 22

A phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated throughout a poem, usually after every stanza.

Question 23

Rhyme

Answer 23

Same or similar sounds at the end of two or more words. Pattern of rhyme ina stanza or poem is shown usually by using a different letter for each sound.