Poems vocabulary

Poems vocabulary

allegory

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds

allusion

A reference to another work of literature, person, or event

anaphora

the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences

antologize

to compile, publish, or include in an anthology

apostrophe

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.

avant-garde

ahead of the times, especially in the arts

ballad

A poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas

blank verse

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

candence

Rhythmic rise and fall

caesura

A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line.

chiamus

A statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed

cliché

a worn-out idea or overused expression

connotation

an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

contradiction

A direct opposition between things compared; inconsistency

denotation

the literal meaning of a word

elegy

a sad or mournful poem

ellipsis

three periods (...) indicating the omission of words in a thought or quotation

enjambment

the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.

haiku

A japanese form of poetry, consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables

hyperbole

exaggeration

imagery

Description that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste)

irony

A contrast between expectation and reality

metaphor

A comparison without using like or as

ode

A lyric poem usually marked by serious, respectful, and exalted feelings toward the subject.

onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it represents.

oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.

paralellism

similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses

personification

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes

pun

a play of words

quatrain

a four line stanza

refrain

A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem.

simile

A comparison using "like" or "as"

sonet

14 line poem

stanza

a group of lines in a poem

symbol

A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.

synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa

syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

understatement

the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.