Poetry Terms

Question 0

a piece of writing that partakes of the nature of both speech and song that is nearly always rhythmical, usually metaphorical, and often exhibits such formal elements as meter, rhyme, and stanzaic structure.

Answer 0

Poem

Question 1

the measured flow of words and phrases in verse or prose as determined by the relation of long and short or stressed and unstressed syllables.

Answer 1

Rythm

Question 2

a distinct emphasis given to a syllable or word in speech by stress or pitch.

Answer 2

Accent

Question 3

Verse whose meter is determined by the number and alternation of its stressed and unstressed syllables, organized into feet. From line to line, the number of stresses (accents) may vary, but the total number of syllables within each line is fixed. The majority of English poems from the Renaissance to the 19th century are written according to this metrical system.

Answer 3

Accentual-syllabic verse

Question 4

The rhythmical pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse.

Answer 4

Meter

Question 5

The basic unit of measurement of accentual-syllabic meter.

Answer 5

Foot

Question 6

A metrical foot consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable. The words “unite” and “provide” are both examples.

Answer 6

iambic

Question 7

A metrical foot consisting of an accented syllable followed by an unaccented syllable. Examples of these words include “garden” and “highway.

Answer 7

Trochaic

Question 8

A metrical foot consisting of an accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables; the words “poetry” and “basketball” are both examples.

Answer 8

dactylic

Question 9

An end-stressed meter consisting of three syllables per foot.

Answer 9

Anapestic

Question 10

commonly used metrical line in traditional verse and verse drama. The term describes the particular rhythm that the words establish in that line.

Answer 10

Iambic pentameter

Question 11

A line consisting of one metrical foot.

Answer 11

Monometer

Question 12

A line of poetry consisting of two metrical feet.

Answer 12

Dimeter

Question 13

A line of poetry consisting of three metrical ‘feet’.

Answer 13

Trimeter

Question 14

A line of poetry consisting of four metrical ‘feet’.

Answer 14

Tetrameter

Question 15

A line of poetry comprising of five metrical ‘feet’.

Answer 15

Pentameter

Question 16

A line containing six metrical ‘feet’.

Answer 16

Hexameter

Question 17

A line of poetry containing seven metrical ‘feet’.

Answer 17

Heptameter

Question 18

Verse without formal meter or rhyme patterns.

Answer 18

Free Verse

Question 19

Verse that does not employ a rhyme scheme.

Answer 19

Blank Verse

Question 20

The effect produced when similar vowel sounds chime together and where the final consonant sound is also in agreement e.g. ‘bat’ and ‘cat’.

Answer 20

Rhyme

Question 21

A stanza compromising of 2 lines.

Answer 21

Couplet

Question 22

A stanza compromising of 3 lines.

Answer 22

Triplet

Question 23

A stanza compromising of 4 lines

Answer 23

Quatrain

Question 24

A stanza compromising of 5 lines.

Answer 24

Quintet

Question 25

A stanza compromising of 6 lines.

Answer 25

Sestet

Question 26

A stanza compromising of 8 lines.

Answer 26

Octet

Question 27

One or more lines that make up the basic units of a poem - separated from each other by spacing.

Answer 27

Stanza

Question 28

Either where a word in the middle of a line of poetry rhymes with the word at the end of the line.

Answer 28

Internal rhyme

Question 29

Occurs with feminine or three-syllable words where the initial accented syllables rhyme but the unaccented syllables don't e.g. 'nearly' and 'clearing' or 'wilderness' and 'building'.

Answer 29

Half Rhyme

Question 30

This occurs where the end words of a line are spelled similarly e.g. 'love' and 'move' but don't chime together as rhymes.

Answer 30

Eye Rhyme

Question 31

Where a poet repeats exactly the same word to create a rhyme. This is usually regarded as 'bad form' unless the repetition serves a particular purpose.

Answer 31

Identical Rhyme

Question 32

the ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines of a poem or verse.

Answer 32

Rhyme Scheme

Question 33

The effect created when words with the same vowel sound are used in close proximity - but where the consonants in these words are different.

Answer 33

Assonance

Question 34

The effect created when words share the same stressed consonant sounds but where the vowels differ.

Answer 34

Consonance

Question 35

A break in the flow of sound in a line of poetry e.g.

Answer 35

Caesura

Question 36

Line runs from one end to another.

Answer 36

Enjambment

Question 37

Specific, literal word usage rather than metaphorical or figurative language.

Answer 37

Concrete language

Question 38

an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning. "the word “discipline” has unhappy connotations of punishment and repression"

Answer 38

Connotation

Question 39

A poem in which the characters or descriptions convey a hidden symbolic or moral message.

Answer 39

Allegory

Question 40

The 'tone' of a poem (according to the New Critics) reveals the attitude of the poet being studied e.g. anger, love, resignation, despair, fear, boredom etc.

Answer 40

Tone

Question 41

a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation.

Answer 41

Epic

Question 42

a form of poetry which tells a story, often making use of the voices of a narrator and characters as well; the entire story is usually written in metred verse. The poems that make up this genre may be short or long, and the story it relates to may be complex. ...

Answer 42

Narrative Peotry

Question 43

Term originating from the Portuguese word balada meaning 'dancing-song'. However, it normally refers to a simple song.

Answer 43

Ballad

Question 44

Term originally derived from the Greek word meaning 'for the lyre' and indicating verses that were written to be sung. However, more recently the term 'lyric' has been used to refer to short poems, often written in the 'I' form, where the poet expresses his or her feelings e.g.

Answer 44

Lyric poetry

Question 45

Comes from the Greek word meaning song.

Answer 45

Ode

Question 46

Poem written to lament the dead

Answer 46

Elegy

Question 47

A fourteen line poem usually in iambic pentameters (see meter) consisting of an octave and a sestet. The octave presents and develops the theme while the sestet reflects and brings the poem to a conclusion.

Answer 47

Sonnet

Question 48

Descriptive poetry is the name given to a class of literature belongs mainly to the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries in Europe. From the earliest times, all poetry not subjectively lyrical was apt to indulge in ornament which might be named descriptive. ...

Answer 48

Descriptive poetry

Question 49

It can make you laugh, or has witty or silly, nonsensical humor in it. It does not necessarily have to make you laugh, but it's fun to.

Answer 49

Humorous poetry

Question 50

poetry in which the meaning or effect is conveyed partly or wholly by visual means, using patterns of words or letters and other typographical devices.

Answer 50

Concrete poetry

Question 51

Where a poem makes reference to another poem or text.

Answer 51

Allusion

Question 52

A poem related to or per attaining to religion.

Answer 52

Religion

Question 53

Classical Poets/Poetry Pre-Christian Roman and Greek poets such as Homer, Horace, Virgil, Ovid etc.

Answer 53

Classical

Question 54

sub-genre of poetry that has its roots in history. Its aim is to delineate events of the past by incorporating elements of artful composition and poetic diction.

Answer 54

Historical

Question 55

Concerning the writing or study of literature, especially that of high quality.

Answer 55

Literary

Question 56

Repeating the same words or phrases a couple of times to make the point clearer.

Answer 56

Repetition

Question 57

The effect created when words with the same initial letter (usually consonants) are used in close proximity.

Answer 57

Alliteration

Question 58

Phrases or sentences placed side by side which exhibit repetition of structure or meaning. particularly a feature of religious verse (especially Hebrew) or of incantations. A more modern example is the beginning of T.S. Eliot's Ash-Wednesday 'Because I do not hope to turn again Because I do not hope Because I do not hope to turn'

Answer 58

Parallelism

Question 59

An imaginative comparison between two actions/objects etc which is not literally applicable.

Answer 59

Metaphor

Question 60

The explicit comparison of two objects/phenomenon/states etc - by employing either 'as' or 'like' e.g. '

Answer 60

Simile

Question 61

the state of being strikingly different from something else, typically something in juxtaposition or close association.

Answer 61

Contrast

Question 62

Figure of speech employing ironic understatement which affirms something by denying its opposite.

Answer 62

Understatement (litotes)

Question 63

Figure of speech whereby inanimate objects or abstractions are given human characteristics.

Answer 63

Personification

Question 64

Exaggeration for dramatic effect.

Answer 64

Hyperbole

Question 65

Poem which is directly addressed to a person or thing (often absent).

Answer 65

Apostrophe

Question 66

Figure of speech where the name of the object being described is substituted for something closely related to it. For example, 'the crown' is often substituted for 'the monarchy'. Other examples include 'the press' for newspapers and 'the bench' for the judiciary.

Answer 66

Metonymy

Question 67

Figure of speech where a part is made to stand for the whole.

Answer 67

Synecdoche

Question 68

All five senses (using representative words)

Answer 68

Synaesthesia

Question 69

Sound effects

Answer 69

Onomatopoeia

Question 70

a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.

Answer 70

Euphemism

Question 71

uncertainty or inexactness of meaning in language.

Answer 71

Ambiguity

Question 72

a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings. "the pigs were a squeal.

Answer 72

Pun

Question 73

a word or phrase open to two interpretations, one of which is usually risqué or indecent.

Answer 73

Double entendre

Question 74

a statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory.

Answer 74

Paradox

Question 75

a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction (e.g., faith unfaithful kept him falsely true ).

Answer 75

Oxymoron

Question 76

the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.

Answer 76

Irony

Question 77

In congruency between what is said and what is meant *sarcasm

Answer 77

Verbal irony

Question 78

(theater) irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play

Answer 78

Dramatic irony

Question 79

an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect.

Answer 79

Parody/satire

Question 80

Poem about pastures and rural life

Answer 80

Pastoral poetry