Poetry Terms

a poem, word puzzle, or other composition in which certain letters in each line form a word or words

• acrostic

• iamb

• stanza

• verse

the repetition of the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words

• alliteration

• assonance

• acrostic

• consonance

in poetry, the repetition of the sound near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible

• alliteration

• assonance

• consonance

• repetition

a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas

• ballad

• rhyme

• epic

• verse

verse without rhyme, especially that which uses iambic pentameter

• blank verse

• free verse

• strict verse

• AB verse

two rhyming words that are consecutive or very close together in a phrase or line

• close rhyme

• quatrain

• couplet

• internal rhyme

two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme

• couplet

• quatrain

• doublet

• refrain

a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead

• elegy

• obituary

• limerick

• haiku

a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the adventures of heroic figures or the history of a nation

• elegy

• epic

• limerick

• acrostic

a group of 2 or 3 syllables forming the basic unit of poetic rhythm

• iamb

• foot

• line

• verse