Glossary+of+Poetic+Devices

**A Glossary of Terms Used in the Analysis of Poetry**
1. **__Alliteration__:** the repetition of one or more initial sounds, usually consonants, in words within a line. Bright black-eyed creature, brushed with brown. (Robert Frost, “To a Moth Seen in Winter”) 2. **__Allusion__:** a reference to an outside fact, event, or other source. World-famous golden-thighed Pythagorus Fingered upon a fiddle-stick or strings What a star sang and careless Muses heard (Pythagorus - Greek mathematician; Muses - mythological goddesses of beauty and music) (William Butler Yeats, “Among School Children”) 3. **__Apostrophe__:** an address to a person or personified object not present. Little Lamb, who made thee? (William Blake, “The Lamb”) 4. **__Assonance__:** repetition of two or more vowel sounds within a line. Burnt the fire of thine eyes (William Blake, “The Tiger”) 5. **__Blank Verse:__** unrhymed iambic pentameter. 6. **__Cacophony__:** the use of inharmonious sounds in close conjunction for effect; opposite of euphony. But when loud surges lash the sounding shore (Alexander Pope, “Sound and Sense”) 7. **Caesura:** a pause, metrical or rhetorical, occurring somewhere in a line of poetry. The pause may or may not be typographically indicated. 8. **Conceit**: an extended metaphor comparing two unlike objects with powerful effect. If they be two, theory are two so As stiff twin compasses are two; Thy soul, the fix’d foot, makes no show To move, but doth, if th’ other do. (John Donne, “ A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”) 9**. __Connotation__**: the implied meaning of a word, as opposed to denotation, which is the dictionary meaning of a word. 10. **__Consonance__:** repetition of two or more consonant sounds within a line. And all is seared with trade; bleared smeared with toil; And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil (Gerard Manley Hopkins, “God’s Grandeur”) 11. **__Denotation__:** the dictionary meaning of a word, as opposed to connotation, which is the implied meaning of a word. 12. **__End Rhyme__:** rhyme that occurs at the end of verse lines. I was angry with my friend I told my wrath, my wrath did end (William Blake, “A Poison Tree” 13. __**End-stopped:**__ a line that has a natural pause at the end (period, comma, etc.). For example, these lines are end stopped: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun. Coral is far more red than her lips red. --Shakespeare 14. __**Enjambment:**__ the running over of a sentence or thought into the next couplet or line without a pause at the end of the line; a run-on line. For example, the first two lines here are enjambed:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds Or bends with the remover to remove. . . . --Shakespeare

15. __**Euphony:**__ the use of compatible, harmonious sounds to produce a pleasing, melodious effect. I knew a woman in her bones, When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them. (Theodore Roethke, “I Knew a Woman”) 16__.__**__Foot__:** the basic unit of meter consisting of a group of two or three syllables. 17. **Feminine Rhyme**: rhyme in which two consecutive syllables of the rhyming words correspond, the first syllable carrying the accent; double rhyme. Trembling, hoping, lingering, flying. O the pain, the bliss of dying! (Alexander Pope, “Vital Spark of Heavenly Flame” 18. **__Free verse:__** verse that has neither regular rhyme nor regular meter. Free verse often uses cadences rather than uniform metrical feet. 19. **__Half Rhyme__** (Slant Rhyme): imperfect, approximate rhyme. In the mustardseed sun. By full tilt river and switchback sea Where the cormorants scud, In his house on stilts high among beaks (Dylan Thomas, “Poem on his Birthday”) 20. **Heroic Couplet:** two lines of rhyming iambic pentameter. Most of Alexander Pope's verse is written in heroic couplets. In fact, it is the most favored verse form of the eighteenth century. Example: u / u / u / u / u 'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill

u / u / u / u / u Appear in writing or in judging ill. . . . --Alexander Pope

[Note in the second line that "or" should be a stressed syllable if the meter were perfectly iambic. Iambic= a two syllable foot of one unstressed and one stressed syllable, as in the word "begin." Pentameter= five feet. Thus, iambic pentameter has ten syllables, five feet of two syllable iambs.] 21. **__Hyperbole__:** gross exaggeration for effect; overstatement. Love you ten years before the Flood, And you should, if you please, refuse Till the conversion of the Jews. (Andrew Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress”) 22. **__Imagery__:** the use of word to represent things, actions, or ideas by sensory description. Night after Night Her purple traffic Strews the land with Opal Bales - Merchantmen - poise upon Horizons - Dip - and vanish like Orioles! (Emily Dickenson, “This Is the Land Where Sunset Washes”) 23. **__Irony__**: the contrast between actual meaning and the suggestion of another meaning. a. //Verbal// //Irony// - meaning one thing and saying another. next to of course god america i love you (e.e. cummings) b. //__Dramatic Irony__// - two levels of meaning - what the speaker says and what he/she means, and what the speaker says and the author means. I stood upon a high place, And saw, below, many devils Running, leaping And carousing in sin. One looked up grinning, And said, “Comrade! Brother!” (Stephen Crane, “I Stood Upon a High Place”) c. __//Situational Irony//__- when the reality of a situation differs from the anticipated or intended effect; when something unexpected occurs. What rough beast, its hour come round at last Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born? (William Butler Yeats, “The Second Coming”) (The second coming of Christ is intended, but a rough beast will come instead.) 24. **__Internal Rhyme:__** rhyme contained within a line of verse. The splendor falls on castle walls And snowy summits old in story: The long light shakes across the lakes And the wild cataract leaps in glory. (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Blow, Bugle, Blow” 25. **__Litotes__**: a form of understatement in which the negative of an antonym is used to achieve emphasis and intensity. He accused himself, at bottom and not unveraciously, of a fantastic, a demoralized sympathy with her. (Henry James, “The Pupil”) 26. **Masculine Rhyme:** rhyme in which only the last, accented syllable of the rhyming words correspond exactly in sound; most common kind of end rhyme. She walks in beauty like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes: (Lord Byron, “She Walks in Beauty”) 27. **__Metanymy__:** the substitution of a word that relates to the object or person to be named, in place of the name itself. The serpent that did sting thy father’s life, Now wears his crown. (William Shakespeare, Hamlet) 28. **__Metaphor__:** a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison of unlike objects by identification or substitution. All the world’s a stage (William Shakespeare, As You LIke It) 29. **Metaphysical Poetry:** The term metaphysical was applied to a style of 17th Century poetry first by John Dryden and later by Dr. Samuel Johnson because of the highly intellectual and often abstruse imagery involved.

Chief among the metaphysical poets are John Donne, George Herbert, Richard Crashaw, Andrew Marvell, and Henry Vaughan. While their poetry is widely varied (the metaphysicals are not a thematic or even a structural school), there are some common characteristics:


 * 1. Argumentative structure. The poem often engages in a debate or persuasive presentation; the poem is an intellectual exercise as well as or instead of an emotional effusion.
 * 2. Dramatic and colloquial mode of utterance. The poem often describes a dramatic event rather than being a reverie, a thought, or contemplation. Diction is simple and usually direct; inversion is limited. The verse is occasionally rough, like speech, rather than written in perfect meter, resulting in a dominance of thought over form.
 * 3. Acute realism. The poem often reveals a psychological analysis; images advance the argument rather than being ornamental. There is a learned style of thinking and writing; the poetry is often highly intellectual.
 * 4. Metaphysical wit. The poem contains unexpected, even striking or shocking analogies, offering elaborate parallels between apparently dissimilar things. The analogies are drawn from widely varied fields of knowledge, not limited to traditional sources in nature or art. Analogies from science, mechanics, housekeeping, business, philosophy, astronomy, etc. are common. These "conceits" reveal a play of intellect, often resulting in puns, paradoxes, and humorous comparisons. Unlike other poetry where the metaphors usually remain in the background, here the metaphors sometimes take over the poem and control it.

Metaphysical poetry represents a revolt against the conventions of Elizabethan love poetry and especially the typical Petrarchan conceits (like rosy cheeks, eyes like stars, etc.). 30. **__Meter__:** the poetry’s rhythm, or its stressed and unstressed syllables. Meter is measured in units of feet. The five basic kinds of metric feet are indicated below. Accent marks indicate stressed(‘) pr unstressed (^^) syllables. Type of Metric Foot Accent/Stress Example Iambic ^ “ ba^ loon’ Trochaic ‘ ^ so’ da^ Anapestic ^ ^ ‘ con^ tra^ dict’ Dactyllic ‘ ^ ^ ma’ ni^ ac^ Spondaic ‘ ‘ man’ made’ Metircal units are the building blocks of lines of verse; lines are named according to the number of feet they contain: Number of Metric Feet Type of Line one foot monometer two feet dimeter three feet trimeter four feet tetrameter five feet pentameter six feet hexameter seven feet heptameter eight feet octometer (rare)

31. **Near Rhyme:** see “half rhyme”. 32. **__Onomatopoeia__:** the use of a word whose sound suggest its meaning. The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard (Robert Frost, “Out, Out”) 33. **__Oxymoron__:** contradictory terms brought together to express a paradox for strong effect. Beautiful tyrant! fiend angelical! Dove-feathered raven! wolvish-ravening lamb! (William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet) 34. **__Paradox__:** a statement that appears self-contradictory, but that underlines a basis of truth. Elected silence, sing to me. (Gerard Manley Hopkins, “The Habit of Perfection”) 35. **__Personification__:** a figure of speech in which objects and animals are given human qualities. When it comes, the landscape listens, Shadows hold their breath. (Emily Dickenson, “A Certain Slant of Light”) 36. **__Rhyme__:** the similarity between syllable sounds at the end of two or more lines. Some kinds of rhyme (also spelled rime) include:
 * Couplet: a pair of lines rhyming consecutively.
 * Eye rhyme: words whose spellings would lead one to think that they rhymed (slough, tough, cough, bough, though, hiccough. Or: love, move, prove. Or: daughter, laughter.)
 * Feminine rhyme: two syllable rhyme consisting of stressed syllable followed by unstressed.
 * Masculine rhyme: similarity between terminally stressed syllables.

37. **__Rhyme Scheme__:** the pattern of rhyme within a unit of verse. When analyzing for rhyme scheme, each end rhyme sound is represented by a letter. Take, O take those lips away - A that so sweetly were forsworn - B And those eyes, the break of day, - A LIghts that do mislead the morn: - B But my kisses bring again, bring again; - C Seals of love, but seal’d in vain, seal’d in vain. - C (William Shakespeare, “Take, O Take Those Lips Away” 38. **__Simile__**: a direct comparison of two unlike objects, using like or as. The holy time is quiet as a nun (William Wordsworth, “On the Beach at Calais”) 39. **__Stanza__**: a group of lines in a poem that are what a paragraph is to a narrative or an essay. Stanzas are made up of lines which are made up of metric feet. Number of Lines Type of Stanza 2 couplet 3 tercet 4 quatrain 5 cinquain 6 sestet 7 septet 8 octet (octave) 9 (or more) x-lined stanza 40. **__Symbolism__**: the use of one subject to suggest another, hidden object or idea. In Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”, the fork in the road represents a major decision in life, each road a separate way of life. 41. **__Synecdoche__**: a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole object or idea. And all mankind that haunted nigh Had sought their household fire(homes). (Thomas Hardy, “The Darkling Thrush”) 42. **__Theme__**: the dominant, core meaning of the poem. The theme of the poem is the abstract idea upon which the poem is built, rendering it concrete through the speaker, events, or images within the poem. 43. **__Tone__**: the author’s attitude toward his / her audience and subject. 44. **Versification**: generally, the structural form of a verse, as revealed by scansion. Identification of verse structure includes the name of the metrical type and the name designating number of feet:
 * Monometer: 1 foot
 * Dimeter: 2 feet
 * Trimeter: 3 feet
 * Tetrameter: 4 feet
 * Pentameter: 5 feet
 * Hexameter: 6 feet
 * Heptameter: 7 feet
 * Octameter: 8 feet
 * Nonameter: 9 feet

The most common verse in English poetry is iambic pentameter. See foot for more information.

Types of Poems:
1. __**Ballad**__: simple, narrative verse that tells a story to be sung or recited; the folk ballad is anonymously handed down, while the literary ballad has a single author. 2. **__Blank Verse__:** unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter. 3. __**Dramatic Monologue**__: a lyric poem in which the speaker tells an audience about a dramatic moment in his/her life and, in doing so, reveals his/her character. 4. __**Elegy**__: a poem of lament, meditating on the death of an individual. 5. __**Epic**__: a long, dignified narrative poem that gives the account of a hero important to his nation or race. Characteristics of the classical epic include these:
 * The main character or protagonist is heroically larger than life, often the source and subject of legend or a national hero
 * The deeds of the hero are presented without favoritism, revealing his failings as well as his virtues
 * The action, often in battle, reveals the more-than-human strength of the heroes as they engage in acts of heroism and courage
 * The setting covers several nations, the whole world, or even the universe
 * The episodes, even though they may be fictional, provide an explanation for some of the circumstances or events in the history of a nation or people
 * The gods and lesser divinities play an active role in the outcome of actions
 * All of the various adventures form an organic whole, where each event relates in some way to the central theme

Typical in epics is a set of conventions (or epic machinery). Among them are these:
 * Poem begins with a statement of the theme ("Arms and the man I sing")
 * Invocation to the muse or other deity ("Sing, goddess, of the wrath of Achilles")
 * Story begins in medias res (in the middle of things)
 * Catalogs (of participants on each side, ships, sacrifices)
 * Histories and descriptions of significant items (who made a sword or shield, how it was decorated, who owned it from generation to generation)
 * Epic simile (a long simile where the image becomes an object of art in its own right as well as serving to clarify the subject).
 * Frequent use of epithets ("Aeneas the true"; "rosy-fingered Dawn"; "tall-masted ship")
 * Use of patronymics (calling son by father's name): "Anchises' son"
 * Long, formal speeches by important characters
 * Journey to the underworld
 * Use of the number three (attempts are made three times, etc.)
 * Previous episodes in the story are later recounted

Examples:
 * Homer, Iliad
 * Homer, Odyssey
 * Virgil, Aeneid
 * Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered
 * Milton, Paradise Lost

6. __**Free Verse:**__ unrhymed lines without regular rhythm. 7. **Haiku**: Japanese verse in three lines of five, seven, and five syllables, often depicting a delicate image. 8. __**Idyll**:__ lyric poem describing the life of the shepherd in pastoral, bucolic, idealistic terms. 9. **Light Verse**: a general category of poetry written to entertain, such as lyric poetry, epigrams, and limericks. It can also have a serious side, as in parody or satire. 10. **__Limerick__:** humorous nonsense-verse in five anapestic lines rhyming aabba, a - lines being trimeter and b lines dimeter. 11. __**Lyric**__: subjective, reflective poetry with regular rhyme scheme and meter that reveals the poet’s thoughts and feelings to create a single, unique impression. 12. __**Mock Epic**__: treating a frivolous or minor subject seriously, especially by using the machinery and devices of the epic (invocations, descriptions of armor, battles, extended similes, etc.). The opposite of travesty. Examples: 13. __**Narrative**__: nondramatic, objective verse with regular rhyme scheme and meter that relates a story or narrative. 14. __**Ode**__: elaborate lyric verse that deals seriously with a dignified theme. 15. __**Sonnet**__: a rigid 14-line verse form, with variable structure and rhyme scheme according to type: a. Shakespearean(English) - three quatrains and concluding couplet in iambic pentameter, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg or abba cddc effe gg. The Spenserian sonnet is a specialized form with linking rhyme abab abba bcbc cdcd ee. b. Italian(Petrarchan) - an octave and sestet, between which a break in though occurs. The traditional rhyme scheme is abba abba cde cde ((or in the sestet, any variation of c, d,e. ) 16. **Villanelle**: a French verse form, strictly calculated to appear simple and spontaneous; five tercets and a final quatrain, rhyming aba aba aba aba aba abaa.
 * Alexander Pope, The Dunciad
 * Alexander Pope, Rape of the Lock

Sources: Barron’s How To Prepare For The AP English Advanced Placement Examinations, 7th Edition A Glossary of Literary Terms [|http://www.virtualsalt.com.litterms.htm]

Last updated 7/14/04