A Glossary of Literary Terms -...

© Cian Hogan Engl i sh Notes 2012 1

A Glossary of

LiteraryTerms

© C

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Hog

an E

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A Glossar y of L i ter ar y Terms

Adject i ve : A word that i s used to descr ibe a noun ( the name of a

per son , p lace , th ing or abstr act idea) .

Aesthet i cs : The s tudy of the nature of beauty, espec ia l ly as i t i s perce ived

through ar t or l i ter ature . Much of the poetr y on the cour se can be

apprec iated f rom an aesthet ic po int of v iew.

Al l i te rat ion : Somet imes known as in i t ia l rhyme , a l l i ter at ion i s used to

create poet ic e f fect through the repet i t ion of the in i t ia l sounds of

sever a l words in success ion . Al l i ter at ion usua l ly re fer s to the repet i t ion

of consonant sounds .

Al lus ion : An ind i rect re ference in one p iece of l i ter ature to a char acter,

theme or idea found in a h i s tor ica l per iod or another l i ter ar y wor k .

Ambigu i ty : When a l ine of poetr y conta ins more than one meaning , i t i s

sa id to be ambiguous .

Analogy : A l i keness or an agreement that i s made between th ings that

are otherwise d i ss imi lar. Ana log ies are regu lar ly found in Metaphys ica l

poetr y.

Anaphora : The repet i t ion of the same word or phr ase at the beg inn ing of

consecut ive sentences , l ines or ver ses , usua l ly for emphas i s or rhetor ica l

e f fect .

Apost rophe : A f igure of speech where someth ing obv ious ly non-human

or abstr act i s spoken to d i rect ly.


Assonance : The repet i t ion of vowel sounds . The e f fect of assonance i s

gener a l ly to create a lone ly or haunt ing qua l i ty. By appea l ing to the ear,

i t a l so increases our sense of immediacy, as i t makes the exper ience

more access ible .

Asyndet i c : An ad ject ive used to descr ibe the act of omit t ing con junct ions

in sentence constr uct ions in which they would usua l ly be used . Gerard

Manley Hopk ins makes extens ive use of asyndeton in many of h i s poems

on the cour se .

Atmosphere : The over a l l mood created in a poem.

Aubade : A poem or song that e i ther addresses or announces the dawn.

John Donne’s ‘The Sun R is ing ’ i s one of the best -known and , indeed ,

beaut i fu l aubades .

Bal lad : A s tor y in poet ic form, of ten about t r ag ic love and usua l ly sung .

Tr ad i t iona l ly passed down f rom gener at ion to gener at ion in or a l form,

ba l lads are espec ia l ly common with in the I r i sh t r ad i t ion .

Blank ver se : A poem wr i t ten in unrhymed iambic pentameter. Poets tend

to favour iambic pentameter, as i t i s normal ly the amount of words the

aver age per son can get out in a s ing le breath . By us ing unrhymed iambic

pentameter, the poet can create a natur a l and conver sat iona l fee l to a

poem. Th is , o f cour se , has the e f fect of render ing the p iece more

access ible to the reader. (See a l so Iambic pentameter and Metre for

more in format ion . )

Cacophony/euphony : Cacophony i s an unpleasant combinat ion of sounds .

Euphony, the oppos i te , i s a p leasant combinat ion of sounds . These sound

ef fects can be used intent iona l ly to create an e f fect that wor ks to


enhance the meaning of the poem. Cacophonous sounds tend to gr ate

on the ear and of ten cons i s t o f har sh k or c sounds .

Cadence : Th is i s the r i se and fa l l in rhythm that natur a l ly occur s when

we speak . The cadence of a poem can be more powerfu l than the

obv ious metre or rhyming .

Caesura : A pause wi th in a l ine of poetr y, which may or may not a f fect

the metr ica l count . A caesur a i s usua l ly ind icated by the fo l lowing

symbol ( / / ) . However, th i s i s not a lways necessar i ly so.

Chiasmus : A type of rhetor ica l constr uct ion in which the order of the

words in the second of two pa i red phr ases i s the rever se of the order

in the f i r s t . Perhaps the most famous example of th i s dev ice i s to be

found in Shakespeare ’s Macbeth , when the wi tches ut ter the i r famous

chant , ‘ Fa i r i s fou l and fou l i s fa i r ’ .

Cinemat ic : A poem is sa id to be c inemat ic i f i t presents i t s sub ject

matter in a manner that reca l l s the movement of a camera in a movie or

i f the scene presented i s s t rong ly remin iscent of the c inema in gener a l .

Col loqu ia l language/co l loqu ia l i sm : A form of language used in ever yday

speech .

Compar i son : The act o f compar ing . Normal ly in poetr y, a compar i son

fa l l s in to two categor ies : s imi le and metaphor.

Conce i t : A far- fetched s imi le or metaphor. A l i ter ar y conce i t occur s

when the speaker compares two h igh ly d i ss imi lar th ings .

Concrete poetr y : A poem wr i t ten in the shape of i t s sub ject matter.


Confess iona l s ty le : A poem is sa id to have a confess iona l s ty le i f i t

revea l s deta i l s about the poet ’s per sona l l i fe . The term i s usua l ly app l ied

to cer ta in poets of the Uni ted States f rom the la te 1950s and 1960s .

Consc iousness : The percept ive qua l i t ies of the speaker in a poem.

Consonance : The repet i t ion of consonant sounds wi th d i f fer ing vowel

sounds in words near each other in a l ine or l ines of poetr y. Cons ider

the fo l lowing example f rom Eavan Boland ’s ‘The War Hor se ’ : ‘ the c l ip,

c lop, casua l | I ron of h i s shoes ’ . The repet i t ion of the c sound in ‘c l ip ’ ,

‘ c lop ’ and ‘casua l ’ creates consonance . The resu l t i s that someth ing of

the nature of the hor se ’s movement i s captured . Consonance i s o f ten

assoc iated wi th onomatopoeia .

Cont inuous present : A form of the present tense used to descr ibe

cont inuous act ions , e .g . ‘ I am s ing ing .’

Contras t : To set in oppos i t ion in order to show or emphas i se d i f ferences

between two ideas or two phys ica l ob jects .

Couplet : A s tanza of two l ines that usua l ly rhymes . Rhymed couplets are

known as hero ic couplets . In Rober t Eager ’s op in ion , such hero ic

couplets of ten ‘a im at a c lear t r ansmiss ion of sense ’ . For th i s to succeed ,

the hero ic couplet must be suppor ted by a l l i ter at ion , assonance and

contro l led rhythm. (See a l so Stanza . )

Counterpo int : In a p iece of mus ic , the sounding together of two or more

melodic l ines , each of which d i sp lays an ind iv idua l and d i f ferent ia ted

melodic contour and rhythmic profi le .Gerard Manley Hopk ins bor rowed

th i s term to descr ibe the rever sa l o f two success ive feet in a l ine .


Cour t l y love poem : A h igh ly cr a f ted and sty l i sed type of poem. Normal ly,

in the f ina l s tanza of such a poem, human love i s represented as an

ennobl ing force .

Cur ta i led or contracted sonnet : Refer s to a sonnet of jus t 11 l ines ,

normal ly us ing an abcabc dcbdc or abcabc dbcdc rhyming scheme . The

f ina l l ine of a cur ta i led sonnet i s a ha l f l ine . The term was co ined by

Gerard Manley Hopk ins to descr ibe the form that he used in the poem

‘P ied Beauty ’ .

Dacty l s : S t ressed sy l lables fo l lowed by unstressed sy l lables .

Dirge : A song of mourn ing for someone’s death .

Dramat ic mono logue : A type of poem deve loped dur ing the V ictor ian

per iod in which a f i c t i t ious or h i s tor ica l char acter de l iver s a speech

expla in ing h i s or her fee l ings , act ions or mot ives . Th is speech or

monologue i s usua l ly d i rected toward a s i lent aud ience , wi th the

speaker ’s words in f luenced by a dr amat ic or cr i t i ca l s i tuat ion . Examples

of the dr amat ic monologue can be seen in the poems ‘The Love Song of

J . A l f red Pr ufrock ’ by T.S . E l iot , ‘Lady Lazar us ’ by Sy lv ia P lath and more

recent ly in ‘The Capta in of the 1964 Top of the Form Team’ by Caro l

Ann Duf fy.

Elegy : A lyr ic poem lament ing the death of someone or someth ing .

Enjambment : A term descr ib ing the cont inu ing of the sense f rom l ine to

l ine in a poem, to the extent that i t becomes unnatur a l in speak ing the

l ines to make a pause at the l ine ending .

Envo i : Somet imes known as a tornada , an envoi i s the shor t s tanza at

the end of a poem, used for summing up or as a dedicat ion .


Epic : In l i ter ature gener a l ly, a major wor k dea l ing wi th an impor tant

theme that usua l ly incorporates events of un iver sa l impor tance .

Epigraph : A br ie f quotat ion which appear s at the beg inn ing of a l i ter ar y

wor k .

Epiphany : A near-sp i r i tua l turn ing point or moment in a poem when the

speaker becomes aware of t r uths that he or she had not prev ious ly

thought about .

Epi tha lamium : A poem or song wr i t ten or per formed in ce lebr at ion of a

wedding .

Euphemism : A word or phr ase that i s subst i tuted for another word or

phr ase that might be more unpleasant or of fens ive .

Femin i sm: Th i s term i s used to descr ibe the movement for the

advancement and the emanc ipat ion of women. Th is movement became

par t icu lar ly voca l in the 1960s and 1970s . The poet Adr ienne R ich can

be descr ibed as be ing par t icu lar ly femin is t in her out look .

Femme fata le : A woman who i s cons idered to be h igh ly at t r act ive and to

have a destr uct ive e f fect on those who succumb to her charms . Keats ’s

‘La Be l le Dame sans Merc i ’ prov ides us wi th an example of such a

dangerous ly seduct ive woman.

F igurat i ve language : In l i ter ature or poetr y, th i s i s a way of say ing one

th ing and meaning someth ing e l se . In her poem ‘Tr y ing to Ta lk wi th a

Man’ , R ich compares her re la t ionsh ip to a nuc lear test s i te . Of cour se ,

she does not mean that i t i s l i ter a l ly burned and scorched or even

r ad ioact ive . The compar i son i s intended to improve our under stand ing


of how she fee l s . Whi le f i gur at ive language prov ides a wr i ter wi th the

scope to wr i te imag inat ive ly, i t a l so tests the imag inat ion of the reader,

forc ing the reader to go be low the sur face of the poem and explore

deeper, h idden meanings .

F i gu re o f speec h : An examp le o f f i gu r a t i ve l anguage tha t s t a te s

someth ing that i s not actua l ly t r ue in order to create an e f fect . S imi les ,

metaphor s and per son i f i cat ion are f igures of speech that are based on

compar i sons . Metonymy, synecdoche , synesthes ia , apostrophe , oxymoron

and hyperbole are other commonly used f igures of speech .

Foot : The bas ic un i t o f measurement in a l ine of poetr y. The metre in a

poem is c lass i f ied accord ing to both i t s pat tern and the number of feet

to the l ine . Be low i s a l i s t o f c lass i f i cat ions :

Monometer = one foot to a l ine

Dimeter = two feet to a l ine

Tr imeter = three feet to a l ine

Tetr ameter = four feet to a l ine

Pentameter = f ive feet to a l ine

I f a l ine of poetr y i s wr i t ten in iambic metre wi th four feet to the

l ine , the l ine would be re fer red to as iambic tetr ameter. Poets tend

to favour iambic pentameter, as i t i s normal ly the number of words

that an aver age per son can get out in a s ing le breath . Th is can create

a natur a l and conver sat iona l fee l to a poem that in turn render s the

piece more access ible .

Formal i s t i c : A poem is sa id to be formal i s t i c i f i t cu l t ivates ar t i s t i c

techn ique even at the expense of i t s sub ject matter.


Free ver se : Unrhymed poetr y wi th l ines of var y ing lengths and conta in ing

no spec i f i c metr ica l pat tern .

Genre : One of the categor ies that ar t i s t i c wor ks of a l l k inds can be

d iv ided into on the bas i s o f form, s ty le or theme . For example , detect ive

nove ls are a genre of f i c t ion , whi le Keats ’s ‘La Be l le Dame sans Merc i ’ i s

wr i t ten in the genre of the l i ter ar y ba l lad .

Gustator y imager y : The representat ion through language of the sensat ion

of tas te .

Hendiadys : The subst i tut ion of a con junct ion for a subord inat ion , where

a con junct ion i s used to l ink two words to express a s ing le complex

idea . Normal ly, a noun and ad ject ive pa i r ing i s t r ans formed into two

nouns jo ined by a con junct ion . Perhaps the best -known example of

h end i a d y s c a n b e f o und i n S h a ke s pe a r e ’s Ma cbe t h , whe r e t h e

protagonis t speaks of the ‘ sound and fur y ’ o f l i fe . Th is prov ides the

reader wi th a far more s t r ik ing image than , say, ‘ fur ious sound’ would

have . Eng l i sh names for hendiadys inc lude ‘ two for one ’ and ‘ f i gure of

twinnes ’ .

H y p e r b o l e : A f i g u r e o f s p e e c h i n w h i c h a n ove r s t a t e m e n t o r

exagger at ion occur s .

Iamb : A metr ica l pat tern of one unstressed sy l l able , fo l lowed by one

st ressed sy l l able .

Iambic pentameter : A l ine of poetr y that i s made up of f i ve un i ts o f

rhythm, e .g . f i ve pa i r s o f s t ressed and unstressed sy l l ables . E l i zabeth


Bishop’s favour i te example of iambic pentameter was ‘ I hate to see that

even in ’ sun go down’ .

Iambic te t rameter : A l ine of ver se that has four metr ica l feet .

Imager y : A word or group of words in a poem which appea l to one or

more of the senses : s ight , tas te , touch , hear ing and smel l . The use of

images ser ves to intens i fy the impact of the wor k .

Imag ism : Around 1912 in London, some Br i t i sh and Amer ican- I r i sh

poets , led by Ezr a Pound, s tar ted a poet ic movement ca l led Imag ism.

These poets reacted aga inst 19th-centur y poetr y, which they fe l t was

sent imenta l and emot iona l ly d i shonest . Ins tead , they favoured prec i s ion

of imager y and c lear, sharp language .

Imperat i ve : The order form of the verb. For example , in the sentence

‘ shut the door ’ , the verb ‘ shut ’ i s in the imperat ive .

Impress ion i sm : A s ty le of pa int ing that concentr ates on the gener a l tone

and ef fect produced by a sub ject wi thout e laborat ion of deta i l s .

Impress ion is t ic mus ic i s char acter i sed by the use of r ich harmonies and

tones r ather than form to express scenes or emot ions .

In ference : A judgement based on reason ing r ather than on d i rect or

exp l ic i t s tatement or a conc lus ion based on facts or c i rcumstances .

In terna l rhyme : Th is i s the rhyme between a word wi th in a l ine and

another word e i ther at the end of the same l ine or wi th in another l ine .

The fo l lowing excerpt f rom the comic poem ‘Bantams in P ine Woods ’ by

Wal lace Stevens makes good use of interna l rhyme:

© Cian Hogan Engl i sh Notes 2012

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Chief ta in I f fucan of Azcan in ca f tan

Of tan wi th henna hack les , ha l t !

In t rans i t i ve verb : A verb that does not normal ly take a d i rect ob ject . For

example , the verb ‘ to go ’ does not normal ly take a d i rect ob ject . You

cannot say ‘ to go the car ’ .

I r i sh L i terar y Rev iva l : The I r i sh L i ter ar y Rev iva l , a l so known as the Cel t ic

Rev iva l , was begun by Lady Gregor y, Edward Mar tyn and Wi l l i am But ler

Yeats in I re land in 1896 . Th is group of wr i ter s a imed to s t imulate a new

app r e c i a t i o n o f t r a d i t i o n a l I r i s h l i t e r a t u r e . The movemen t a l s o

encouraged the creat ion of wor ks wr i t ten in the sp i r i t o f I r i sh cu l ture ,

as d i s t inct f rom Br i t i sh cu l ture . S lowly and perhaps inev i tably, the

movement became pol i t i ca l . Wel l -known wr i ter s such as Yeats , J .M.

Synge , George Russe l l , Æ and Sean O’Casey wrote many p lays and

poems about the pol i t i ca l s tate of I re land at the t ime . Perhaps the

greatest symbol of the I r i sh L i ter ar y Rev iva l was the Abbey Theatre . In

many respects , the next gener at ion of wr i ter s , spearheaded by poets

such a s Pa t r i c k Kavanagh , reac ted to the Rev i va l ’s tendency to

romant ic i se the I r i sh peasantr y.

I rony : I rony takes many forms . Normal ly, a s i tuat ion i s sa id to be i ron ic i f

there i s an incongr u i ty between actua l c i rcumstances and those that

would seem appropr ia te .

K i n a e s t h e t i c image r y : Ima ge r y a s so c i a t ed w i t h t h e s en s a t i o n o f

movement or tens ion .

Logaoed ic rhy thm: A poem or l ine of ver se in which d i f ferent metr ica l

feet are mixed to g ive an e f fect l i ke speech or prose . Gerard Manley

Hopk ins makes extens ive use of th i s type of rhythm in h i s poetr y.


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Lyr i c poem: A shor t poem where in the poet expresses an emot ion or

i l luminates some l i fe pr inc ip le .

Metaphor : A f igure of speech where in a compar i son i s made between

two normal ly d i ss imi lar quant i t ies , wi thout the use of the words ‘ l i ke ’ or

‘as ’ , e .g . ‘He i s l ion-hear ted .’ Most of the poets on your cour se employ a

metaphor in at least one of the i r poems .

Metaphys ica l poetr y : The term ‘metaphys ica l ’ i s used to des ignate the

wor k of a group of 17th-centur y wr i ter s who were us ing s imi lar

methods and who turned the i r backs on many of the romant ic

convent ions of E l i zabethan love poetr y. In 1692 , the Eng l i sh poet John

Dr yden launched an at tack on the poetr y of John Donne . In th i s a t tack ,

he c la imed that Donne’s poetr y introduced ‘metaphys ics ’ or theoret ica l

assumpt ions in a manner that was des igned to ‘Perp lexe the minds of

the fa i r sex ’ . Dr yden was , o f cour se , mock ing Donne , but the labe l s tuck

and was eventua l ly app l ied to the group of 17th-centur y poets that

inc luded John Donne , George Herber t , Andrew Mar ve l l , Thomas Carew,

Henr y Vaughan and R ichard Crawshaw. Metaphys ica l poems tend to be

shor t , dr aw the i r sub ject matter f rom the concerns of the i r t ime and

appea l to the inte l lect as much as to the emot ions . They tend to use

conce i ts or h idden , extended a l lus ions and conta in s t r ik ing , innovat ive

imager y.

Metonymy : A f igure of speech which occur s when some s ign i f i cant aspect

or deta i l o f an exper ience i s used to represent the whole exper ience .

For example , in a herd of 50 cows , the herd might be re fer red to as ‘50

head of cat t le ’ . The word ‘head ’ i s used to represent the herd or, for

example , the ‘g i lded beak ’ to represent a b i rd .


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Metre : A regu lar pat tern of unstressed and stressed sy l l ables in a l ine or

l ines of poetr y.

Monologue : An extended speech uttered by one speaker.

Monosy l lab ic : A word conta in ing on ly one sy l lable .

Mood : The atmosphere or fee l ing created by a l i ter ar y wor k , par t ly by a

descr ipt ion of the objects or by the s ty le of the descr ipt ions . A wor k

may conta in a mood of lone l iness , loss , exc i tement or ch i ld l i ke wonder,

to name a few.

Mot i f : A s i tuat ion , idea or image that i s repeated in a poem. Th is i s

somet imes known as a le i tmot i f .

Myth/mytho logy : An unver i f i able ta le , o f ten based on re l ig ious or quas i -

re l ig ious be l ie f s . The char acter s of myths are gods and goddesses , or the

ch i ldren of the pa i r ing of gods or goddesses and humans . Some myths

deta i l the creat ion of the wor ld , whi le other s may be about love ,

journeys , dece i t or revenge . In a l l cases , i t i s the gods and goddesses

who contro l events , whi le humans may be a ided or v ic t imised . Most

commentator s be l ieve that mythology i s the means by which anc ient

man at tempted to account for natur a l or h i s tor ica l occur rences . Many of

the poems in th i s anthology dr aw on mythology for the i r insp i r at ion .

Neolog i sms : The pr act ice of co in ing new words or phr ases or of

extending the meaning of ex i s t ing words or phr ases . Patr ick Kavanagh

regu lar ly employs neolog i sms in order to he ighten the impact of h i s

poetr y. For example , in the poem ‘L ines Wr i t ten on a Seat on the Grand

Cana l , Dubl in ’ , he changes the ad ject ive ‘green ’ into the noun ‘greeny ’ .


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Octave : A group of e ight l ines of ver se , espec ia l ly the f i r s t e ight l ines of

a sonnet , or a poem that cons i s ts o f e ight l ines .

Ode : An ode i s a d ign i f ied and e laborate ly s t r uctured lyr ic poem pra i s ing

and g lor i fy ing an ind iv idua l , commemorat ing an event , an intense

emot iona l s tate or descr ib ing nature . Perhaps the greatest odes of the

19th centur y were wr i t ten by Keats . Af ter Keats , there have been few

major odes in Eng l i sh .

Onomatopoe ia : A l i ter ar y dev ice where in the sound of a word echoes

the sound i t represents . The words ‘ sp lash ’ , ‘wa l lop ’ and ‘gur g le ’ are

examples .

Parab le : A shor t , s imple s tor y or nar r at ive intended to i l lus t r ate a mora l

or re l ig ious lesson .

Paradox : A s i tuat ion or a s tatement that seems to contr ad ict i t se l f .

Para l le l i sm : The de l iber ate repet i t ion of par t icu lar words or sentence

s t r uctures for e f fect .

Pastora l : F rom pastor, Lat in for ‘ shepherd ’ , ‘pastor a l ’ re fer s to a l i ter ar y

wor k dea l ing wi th shepherds and r ur a l l i fe . Poems that present an

idea l i sed depict ion of the countr ys ide are of ten descr ibed as be ing

pastor a l s .

Pathet i c fa l lac y : When an author suggests that non-human phenomena

act f rom human fee l ings , i t i s descr ibed as pathet ic fa l l acy. In th i s type of

l i ter ar y dev ice , someth ing nonhuman found in nature – an an imal , a


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plant , a s t ream, the weather, etc . – per forms as though i t were act ing

f rom human fee l ings or mot ivat ion .

Per iphras i s : An express ion that s tates someth ing ind i rect ly or in an

over ly poet ic fash ion . A phr ase of poetr y that i s wr i t ten in th i s manner

i s termed as be ing per iphr ast ic .

Per sona : An assumed ident i ty or f i c t iona l per sona l i ty taken on by the

speaker in a poem.

Per son i f i cat ion : A f igure of speech in which someth ing non-human i s

g iven human char acter i s t ics .

Petrarchan : Wr i t ing that imi tates the I ta l i an poet Fr ancesco Petr arca , or

Petr arch (1304–74) . Many of Petr arch ’s poems were addressed to an

idea l i sed woman ca l led Laur a .

Petrarchan sonnet : The Petr archan sonnet cons i s ts o f an octave , or e ight-

l ine s tanza , and a sestet , or s ix- l ine s tanza . The octave has two

quatr a ins . These rhyme in the fo l lowing manner : abba , abba . In th i s type

of sonnet , the f i r s t quatr a in puts forward the theme of the poem and

the second deve lops i t . The sestet i s usua l ly bu i l t on two or three types

of rhyming schemes , ar r anged cdecde or cdcdcd or cdedce ; the f i r s t

three l ines i l lus t r ate or re f lect on the theme , and the las t three l ines

br ing the whole poem to a un i f ied c lose .

P luper fec t : A past tense that denotes an act ion that happened before

another past act ion .

Pref igur ing : Th is occur s when a poem h ints at , or suggests in advance , an

idea that i s deve loped la ter in the poem.


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Present par t i c ip le : The ‘ - ing ’ par t of the verb. For example , ‘ go ing ’ , ‘do ing ’

and ‘ see ing ’ are a l l in the present par t ic ip le .

Protagon is t : The centr a l f i gure in a wor k of l i ter ature .

Pun : A p lay on words where in a word i s used to convey two meanings at

the same t ime .

Quatra in : A four- l ine s tanza , which may be rhymed or unrhymed. A

hero ic quatr a in i s a four- l ine s tanza rhymed abab.

Rena issance : The term ‘ rena i ssance ’ means rev iva l or reb i r th . I t i s the

term g iven to the cu l tur a l rev iva l that occur red in I ta ly in the 13th

centur y. Dur ing th i s per iod in European h i s tor y, there was a reb i r th in

interest in Greek and Roman ar ts and cu l ture .

Rhetor i ca l quest ion : A quest ion asked for e f fect that ne i ther expects nor

requ i res an answer.

Rhyme : In poetr y, a pat tern of repeated sounds . In end rhyme , the rhyme

i s a t the end of the l ine . When one of the rhyming words occur s in a

p lace in the l ine other than at the end , i t i s ca l led interna l rhyme . Eye

rhyme i s a form of rhyme where in the look , r ather than the sound, i s

impor tant . ‘Cough ’ and ‘ tough ’ do not sound enough a l ike to const i tute a

rhyme . However, i f these two words appeared at the end of success ive

l ines of poetr y, they would be cons idered eye rhyme . Ha l f - rhyme occur s

when the f ina l consonants rhyme .

Rhythm : Recur rences of s t ressed and unstressed sy l l ables at equa l

inter va l s , s imi lar to metre . These recur rences lead to a wave- l i ke


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repet i t ion of mot ion or sound. Al though two l ines may be of the same

metre , the rhythms of the l ines may be d i f ferent . Whi le the metre of a

l ine i s ident i f ied by the pattern wi th in each foot , the rhythm is

accounted for by lar ger movements wi th in the poem or ind iv idua l l ine .

Romant ic : The term used to descr ibe the movement in la te 18th- and

ear ly 19th-centur y mus ic , l i ter ature and ar t that depar ted f rom the

c l a s s i c i sm and fo r ma l i t y o f p rev iou s movemen t s . The Roman t i c s

emphas i sed sens ib i l i ty, the f ree express ion of fee l ings , nature and the

exot ic . Th is f reedom of express ion was not confined to the ar ts . Many

of the Romant ics were committed to revolut ionar y pol i t i cs .

Ronde l : A poem of 11 l ines , employ ing on ly two rhymes in i t s three

s tanzas .

Run-on l ine : See En jambment .

Sardon ic : Forced or b i t ter laughter. The term can be appl ied to the tone

of a poem. I f the tone i s intent iona l ly b i t ter or mock ing , i t may be ca l led

sardonic .

Sat i re : A type of poem that r id icu les the at t i tudes of soc iety or

ind iv idua l s .

Second per son s ingu lar : The second per son s ingu lar i s the ‘you ’ par t

(archa ic thou) of the verb, as in ‘you are ’ .

Sestet : S ix l ines of poetr y that form the second par t of a sonnet .

S ib i lance : S ib i l ance i s ach ieved by produc ing a recur r ing h i ss ing sound

l i ke that of s or sh .


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S imi le : A compar i son invo lv ing the words ‘ l i ke ’ or ‘as ’ .

S lant rhyme: A lso ca l led near rhyme , obl ique rhyme , of f rhyme or

imper fect rhyme , th i s type of rhyme occur s when two words that sound

approx imate ly the same are p laced c lose ly together wi th in a poem.

Emi ly Dick inson makes much use of s lant rhyme in her poems .

Sonnet : A sonnet i s a lyr ic poem cons i s t ing of 14 l ines of rough ly equa l

length . I t i s usua l ly wr i t ten in iambic pentameter. There are two bas ic

types of sonnet . The I ta l i an or Petr archan sonnet i s made up of e ight

l ines ca l led an octave , which i s broken into two four- l ine sect ions ca l led

quatr a ins . A s ix- l ine sect ion ca l led a sestet fo l lows th i s octave . The

movement f rom the octave to the sestet i s usua l ly mar ked by a change

in the tone or mood of the poem. Th is change i s o f ten known as a turn

or a vo l ta . The second type of sonnet i s known as a Shakespearean

sonnet . Th is type of sonnet compr ises three quatr a ins (a grouping of

four l ines) and a rhyming couplet . Usua l ly, in the Shakespearean sonnet ,

the change in the tone and mood of the poem occur s in the f ina l

couplet .

Sprung rhythm : A f lex ible metre that resembles pat terns of natur a l

speech . By combin ing s t ressed and unstressed sy l l ables , the ener gy,

rhythm and cadence of ever yday speech are incorporated into l ines of

poetr y. The term was co ined by Gerard Manley Hopk ins but can be

obser ved in the wor ks of many author s , inc lud ing Shakespeare . Hopk ins

never c la imed to have invented i t , on ly to have d i scovered the concept

and enfr anch ised th i s as a regu lar and permanent pr inc ip le of scans ion .

Stanza : A group of ver se l ines that make up a sect ion of a poem.

Stanzas usua l ly have the same length and metr ica l pat tern . Somet imes


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s tanzas are re fer red to as ver ses . However, s t r ic t ly speak ing , a ver se i s a

s ing le l ine of poetr y.

Symbo l : Someth ing that represents someth ing e l se by assoc ia t ion ,

resemblance or convent ion . Normal ly in poetr y, mater ia l ob jects are

used to represent someth ing inv i s ible or abstr act .

Symbol i sm : Symbol i sm i s a la te 19th-centur y ar t movement of French

and Be lg ian or ig in in poetr y and other ar ts . The movement was lar ge ly a

react ion to other movements , such as Natur a l i sm and Rea l i sm, which

had a t tempted to desc r ibe na tu re i n rea l i s t i c te r ms . Symbo l i s t s

at tempted to represent rea l i ty in terms of sp i r i tua l i ty, the imag inat ion

and dreams . The Symbol i s t movement in l i ter ature has i t s roots in Les

F leur s du Mal by Char les Baudela i re . I t was deve loped and re f ined by

other French wr i ter s , such as Stéphane Mal larmé and Pau l Ver la ine . At

the beg inn ing of the 19th centur y, Eng l i sh-speak ing wr i ter s such as Ezr a

Pound, T.E . Hulme and T.S . E l iot were heav i ly in f luenced by the French

Symbol i s t movement .

Synaesthes ia : The descr ipt ion of a sense impress ion in terms more

appropr iate to another sense .

Syncopat ion : Syncopat ion , or syncopated rhythm, i s any rhythm that puts

an emphas i s on a beat , or a subdiv i s ion of a beat , that i s not usua l ly

emphas i sed . One of the most obv ious features of Western mus ic , to be

heard in most ever yth ing f rom Bach to blues , i s a s t rong , s teady beat

that can eas i ly be grouped into even measures . T.S . E l iot re l ies heav i ly

on syncopated rhythms in h i s poems . In a l ine f rom ‘A Game of Chess ’ ,

E l iot bor rows f rom a popular r agt ime song by Gene Buck and Herman

Ruby. Not ice how the rhythm of these l ines i s syncopated :


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O O O O that Shakespeher ian Rag—

I t ’s so e legant

So inte l l i gent

Synecdoche : A f igure of speech in which the word for par t o f someth ing

i s used to mean the whole , e .g . ‘ I have just bought a new set of wheels

[ c a r ] ’ o r ‘ 10 Down ing S t ree t [ the B r i t i s h gove r nment ] ha s j u s t

announced a new f inanc ia l package ’ .

Syntax : The order in which words appear on the page .

Tercet : A group of three l ines in a poem.

Terza r ima : An inter lock ing rhyming scheme with the pat tern aba bcb

cdc , etc .

Theme : The most impor tant idea that i s apparent in a poem.

Tone : Tone expresses the author ’s at t i tude toward h i s or her sub ject . The

concept of tone embraces the idea of emot iona l co lour ing or the

emot iona l mean ing of a poem.

Transcendenta l i sm : The word used to descr ibe the appear ance of

r ad ica l ly new ideas in l i ter ature , re l ig ion , cu l ture and ph i losophy that

emerged in New Eng land in the ear ly to midd le 19th centur y. I t i s

somet imes ca l led Amer ican Tr anscendenta l i sm to d i s t ingu ish i t f rom

other uses of the word ‘ t r anscendenta l ’ .

Transfer red ep i thet : The tr ans fer red ep i thet occur s when the ad ject ive

cannot normal ly be appl ied to the noun that i t i s descr ib ing , but where


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i t s use becomes just i f ied by the added ef fect i t ach ieves . The fo l lowing

are examples of t r ans fer red ep i thets : a happy one , the angr y sea .

Trans i t i ve verb : A verb that can take a d i rect ob ject . For example , in the

sentence ‘ the car h i t the wal l ’ , ‘ the car ’ i s the sub ject and ‘ the wal l ’ i s the

object . The verb ‘ to h i t ’ i s a t r ans i t ive verb because i t can take an

object . (See a l so Intr ans i t ive verb. )

Tr ip le t : Three l ines of poetr y that share the same rhyme .

Tr iptych : A wor k of ar t or l i ter ature that appear s in three p ieces .

Michae l Long ley ’s poem ‘Wreaths ’ cons i s ts o f three poems that are

l inked in the i r exp lor at ion of v io lence .

Under s tatement : A s tatement that lessens or min imises the impor tance

of what i s be ing sa id . The oppos i te to under statement i s hyperbole . (See

a l so Hyperbole . )

Vi l lane l le : A 19- l ine poem of f ixed form, cons i s t ing of f i ve tercets and a

f ina l quatr a in . Perhaps the best-known v i l l ane l le i s ‘Do Not Go Gent le

into That Good Night ’ by Dylan Thomas .

Vol ta : The techn ica l term for the change or turn that occur s in a sonnet .


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