Glossary of Poetry Terms

Meter and Rhythm

meter - the number of feet (i.e. usually equals the number of stressed syllables, but not always) per line, as in monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter, heptameter, and octameter (1-8)

iambic foot - unstressed followed by stressed syllable (unite)

trochaic foot - stressed followed by an unstressed (unit)

anapestic foot - 2 unstressed followed by a stressed (cameroon)

dactylic foot - stressed followed by 2 unstressed (Washington)

spondaic foot - 2 stressed (headline)

verse - number of feet in each line (dimeter-2, trimeter-3, tetrameter-4, pentameter-5, etc.)

iambic pentameter - contains 5 iambic feet (an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable)

alexandrine - 6 iambic feet

sprung rhythm - a poetic rhythm designed to approximate the natural rhythm of speech, developed by Gerard Manley Hopkins. In it, a foot may be composed of one to four syllables; because stressed syllables often occur one after another (rather than in alteration with unstressed syllables) the rhythm is said to be "sprung."

blank verse -- unrhymed iambic pentameter

rhyme royal -- 7 lines, iambic pentameter, ababbcc (Chaucerian)

ballad stanza -- a quatrain in which the odd-numbered lines use iambic tetrameter and the even-numbered lines us iambic trimeter. The rhyme scheme is abcb.

free verse - neither a fixed metrical foot nor a fixed number of feet in its line

heroic couplet - rhymed iambic pentameter closed couplets (ending with a terminal mark of punctuation) used in heroic tragedies--principal form of neoclassical style in early 17th Century

terza rima - aba, bcb, cdc, ded....rhyme scheme. Used in Divine Comedy.

ballad stanza - quatrains alternating tetrameter (4 ft.) and trimeter (3 ft.) rhyming abcb

rhyme royal - 7 line iambic pentameter stanza consisting of a quatrain dovetailed into two couplets (ababbcc), as in Chaucer's "Trolius and Criseide"

ottava rima - 8 lines rhyming abababcc, closing with a witty couplet, as in Wyatt

Spenserian stanza - 9 lines rhyming ababbcbcc; 1st 8 are pentameter, last is an alexandrine, as in Keat's "Eve of St. Agnes", or Shelley's "Adonais"

Petrarchian sonnet - 14 lines, explores the contrary states of feeling a lover experiences over an unattainable lady, (i.e. fire of love vs. ice of chastity)

English sonnet - 14 lines consisting of 3 quatrains and a couplet (Shakespeare and Surrey), with rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg, iambic pentameter

Spenserian sonnet - abab bcbc cdcd ee rhyme scheme, iambic pentameter

verse paragraphs - divisions of sense where stanzaic divisions do not exist (as in Milton's Paradise Lost)

ode -- a lyric or song-like poem that is dignified, serious, and elaborate in stanzaic structure

elegy -- a sustained and formal poem setting forth the poet's meditations on death or another solemn theme

pastoral -- an elaborately conventional poem expressing an urban poet's nostalgic image of the peace and simplicity of the life of shepherd and rural folk, but still exhibiting the sophisticated sentiments, manner, and speech, and complex issues of the society the poet inhabits; an artificial form.

pastoral elegy -- represents the author and the one he mourns as shepherds. Conventions often found in the pastoral elegy are: (1) The lyric speaker begins by invoking the muses, and goes on to make frequent references to classical mythology. (2) All nature joins in mourning the shepherd's death: (3) The mourner charges with negligence the nymphs or other guardians of the dead shepherd: (4) There is a procession of appropriate mourners (5) The poet raises questions about he justice of divine providence and averts to the corrupt conditions of his own times (6) Elaborate passage in which appropriate flowers are brought to deck the hearse (7) Closing consolation

epic -- literary form that must at least meet these criteria: (1) long narrative poem (2) on a great and serious subject (3) related in an elevate style (4) and centered on a heroic figure on whose actions hang the sate of a tribe, nation, or race

dramatic monologue -- a poem written in the form of a speech of an individual character; it reveals the characters psychology, history, and motivation in a subtle way, perfected by Robert Browning

epithalamium - a lyric ode in honor of a bride and groom

enjambment - in poetry when one line flows into the next without an end stop

invocation -- calling on a Muse or God for inspiration, usually occurs at the beginning of the poem

assonance - relatively close juxtaposition of similar vowel sounds: "For 'tis to that high title I aspire"

alliteration - repetition of initial consonant sounds: "reverend rogues in robes"

masculine rhyme - rhyme is last syllable (sound--rebound)

feminine rhyme - rhyme is followed by an unaccented syllable (hounding--bounding)

catalog -- a list in poetry

carpe diem -- seize the day; generally, a genre of poetry encouraging sex while one is still young and beautiful