Stanza
A group of consecutive lines in a poem that form a single unit; a division of a poem that is often referred to as a “paragraph of poetry”
Couplet
2 lines
Triplet
3 lines
Quatrain
4 lines
Quintet
5 lines
Sestet
6 lines
Septet
7 lines
Octave
8 lines
Rhyme
The similarity of likeness of sound in two or more words
Perfect/exact Rhyme
Rhyme involving sounds that are exactly the same
Imperfect/Approximate Rhyme
Rhyme involving words that sound similar but are not exactly the same like sun/gone
Eye rhyme
Rhyme that depends on spelling rather than sound, words that look like they should rhyme but don’t
Internal Rhyme
A rhyme between words in one line of poetry
End Rhyme
Rhyme between words at the end of 2 or more lines in a poem
Rhyme Scheme
The pattern or sequence in which end rhyme occurs throughout a poem
Rhythm
The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in words in a line of poetry; rhythm may be regular or irregular
Meter
A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry
Foot
A unit of meter; can consist of 2 or 3 syllables
Scansion
The process of marking lines of poetry to show the type of feet and number of feet they contain
Iambic*
U/
Trochaic*
/U
Spondaic
//
Pyrric
UU
Anapestic*
UU/
Dactylic*
/UU
Number of feet in a line
MonoDiTriTetraPentaHexHeptOct
Verse Forms
Rhymed Blank Free
Rhymed verse
End rhyme and regular meter
Blank Verse
Unrhymed iambic pentameter
Free verse
No regular rhythm, no rhyme
