English 2 Honors Poetry Terms

alliteration
repetition of initial consonant sounds; writers and poets use them to create pleasing musical effects; must contain two or more words

allusion
a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art

apostrophe
figure of speech where the writer speaks directly to an idea, to a quality, to an object, or to a person who is not present

assonance
the close repetition of similar vowels in conjunction with dissimilar consonant sounds

ballad
a song-like poem that tells a story, often dealing with adventure or romance

cacophony
a succession of harsh jolting sounds

connotation
the set of associations that the word calls to mind

consonance
the repetition of consonant sounds in conjunction with dissimilar vowel sounds

couplet
a pair of consecutive rhyming lines

denotation
the literal or exact meaning of a word

elegy
lyric poem which expresses mourning usually over the death of an individual

epic poem
a long, narrative poem about the exploits of a hero or a god

euphony
smooth, harmonious sounds

figurative language
a writing or speech not meant to be interpreted literally

free verse
poetry not written in a regular rhythmical pattern

hyperbole
deliberate exaggeration or overstatement that is not meant to be taken literally

iamb or iambic
a line of poetry with 5 iambic feet, each with one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable

imagery
the descriptive language used in literature to recreate sensory experiences

internal rhyme
occurs when the rhyming words fall within a line

lyric poetry
a highly musical verse tat expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker

metaphor
figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else

narrative poetry
tells a story in verse

octave
an 8-line stanza

onomatopoeia
the use of words that imitate sounds

personification
a nonhuman subject is given human qualities

prose
the ordinary form of written language

quatrain
a four line poem or stanza with 4 lines

quintain
a five line stanza

rhyme scheme
a regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem; use lower case letters on the right to describe it

rhythm
the pattern of beats or stresses in spoken or written language

simile
a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two subjects

sonnet
a 14-line lyric poem focused on a single theme; has rhyming lines and an iambic pentameter

stanza
a group of lines in a poem considered as a unit equivalent to a paragraph in prose

trochee or trochaic
a foot with one strong stress followed by one weak stress

tone
the writers attidude toward the subject or reader