Poetry Glossary

terms you should be familiar with and use in discussing and writing about poetry

POEM

PROSODY

THEME
   carpe diem
   ubi sunt

DICTION
   concrete
   abstract
   poetic diction
   dialect

VOICE
    Persona
    Narrative
    Lyric
    Dramatic
    Speech Acts [ see Vendler, Appendix 3, pp. 678-80]

STRUCTURE [see Vendler, Appendix 1, pp. 659-74]
    Analytic Shape
    Spatial Shape
    Temporal Shape
    Skeleton
   
   Stanza
        couplet
        heroic couplet
        tercet
        triplet
        terza rima
        quatrain
        quintet
        cinquain
        sestet
        septet
        rime royal
        octave     
        ottava rima
        Spenserian stanza 
        incremental repetition  
   Closed form
        syllabic verse
        epigram
        blank verse
        common measure
        ballad stanza
        sonnet
            Petrarchan (Italian)
            Shakespearean (English)
        haiku
        villanelle
        sestina
        limerick       
    Open form/free verse
        shaped verse
        concrete poem
        prose poem
        found poem

SOUND
    rhyme
        exact
        near or half
        eye
        end
        internal
        masculine (hard)
        feminine (soft)
   
   alliteration
   assonance
   anaphora
   euphony
   cacophony
   onomatopoeia

METER
    rhythm
    scansion
    stress
    cesura

    lines:
        monometer
        dimeter
        trimeter
        tetrameter
        pentameter
        hexameter
        heptameter
        octameter
   
    feet:
        iamb
        trochee
        anapest
        dactyl
        spondee
        pyrrhic 

GENRE
   Occasional poetry
   Didactic poetry
   Dramatic poetry

   Narrative poetry
       Epic
            traditional
            literary
        Ballad
            popular
            broadside
            literary
        Verse Fable
        Verse Novel

    Lyric poetry [see Vendler, Appendix 5, pp. 683-85]
       Ode
       Elegy
       Aubade
       Nocturne
       Complaint
       Meditation
       Pastoral
       Ekphrasis
       Epithalamion
       Valediction
      
   Satiric poetry
      Satire      
      Parody

IMAGERY
     visual
     auditory
     tactile
     olfactory
     gustatory
     synaesthesia

FIGURES OF SPEECH/RHETORICAL DEVICES [see Vendler, Appendix 4, 681-82]

metaphor

simile

personification

conceit

hyperbole

understatement

apostrophe

allusion

symbol

paradox

ambiguity

SOME USEFUL WEBSITES

"Glossary of Poetic Terms" on McGraw Hill's Online Learning Center:
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072405228/student_view0/poetic_glossary.html

Bob's Byway: http://www.poeticbyway.com/ "This site features a unique Glossary of Poetic Terms, plus Examples of Poetic Terms from the works of prominent poets, Tips for the Enjoyment of Poetry and A Selection of Bob's Poems. Also, you will find helpful links to relevant poetic, literary, and reference websites."