POETRY TERMSby: Ashlee Miller

~antimetabole~the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in transposed grammatical order

ex. "I know what I like, and I like what I know."

a similarity in spelling between words that are pronounced differently and hence, not an auditory rhyme

ex. the pair slaughter and laughter.

~eye rhyme~

~identical rhyme~the use of the same words as a "rhymed" pair

ex. putting the words stone/ stone or time/ time at the concluding positions in two lines.

a pair of lines of meter in poetry; it usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter

ex. "So, till the judgment that yourself arise,/You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes."

~couplet~

~blank verse~poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter;

ex. By this still hearth, among these barren crags

Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole

Unequal laws unto a savage race ,

That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.

from 'Ulysses' by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

~heroic couplet~

refers to poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter lines; the rhyme is always masculine

ex. Nor let him then enjoy supreme command;

But fall, untimely, by some hostile hand,

And lie unburied on the barren sand!

Triplet (ll. 890-892)

by unknown

~tercet~composed of three lines of poetry, forming a stanza or a complete poem

ex. I would lie down drunk

on a bed of stone covered

with soft pinks blooming.

by unknown

~terza rima~a rhyming verse stanza form that consists of an

interlocking three-line rhyme scheme

ex. Midway on our life's journey, I found myself

In dark woods, the right road lost. To tell

about those woods is hard--so tangled and rough

And savage that thinking of it now, I feel

The old fear stirring: death is hardly more bitter.

And yet, to treat the good I found there as well

I'll tell what I saw, thought how I came to enter

I cannot well say, being so full of sleep

Whatever moment it was I began to blunder

Off the true

path....

~villanelle~ nineteen lines long, consisting of five tercets

and one concluding quatrain Mad Girl’s Love Song, Sylvia Plath (1932-

1963) http://www.webexhibits.org/poetry/explore_class

ic_villanelle_examples.html

a stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines of verse

ex. AAAA, AABB, or ABAB

~quatrain~

~lyric~expresses personal and emotional feelings

ex. I heard a fly buzz when I died;

The stillness round my form

Was like the stillness in the air

Between the heaves of storm.

by Emily Dickinson

~ode~an elaborately structured poem praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally

ex. My Ode To Love

Twirling

Falling aimlessly

My ode to love was inaudible

Whirling against the breath and sigh

Of yesterdays

by Dorothy Alves Holmes

~epigram~a brief, interesting, usually memorable and sometimes surprising statement

ex. "I am not young enough to know everything." (Oscar Wilde)

a descriptive term (word or phrase) accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage

ex. Ivan the Terrible

~epithet~

~free verse~a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern

ex. Fog

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

by Carl Sandburg

~prose poems~a piece of writing in prose whose poetic qualities, including intensity, compactness, prominent rhythms, and imagery, are self-evident

ex. PSALM 93

The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the

world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.

Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.

The floods have lifted up, Oh Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.

The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.

Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, forever.

~aphorism~a concise statement of a scientific principle, typically by an ancient classical author

ex. "All men should strive to learn before they die, what they are running from, and to, and why.(James Thurber)

a poem of lament (extreme sorrow, such as caused by death)

ex. "Bitter constraint, and sad occasion dear,/Compels me to disturb your season due:/For Lycidas is dead, dead ere his prime,/Young Lycidas, and hath not left his peer“

"Lycidas" by John Milton

~elegy~

~pastoral~a work of literature portraying an idealized

version of country life

ex. The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

Come live with me and be my Love,

And we will all the pleasures prove

That hills and valleys, dale and field,

And all the craggy mountains yield.

There will we sit upon the rocks

And see the shepherds feed their flocks,

By shallow rivers, to whose falls

Melodious birds sing madrigals.

by Christopher Marlowe

~ballad~a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzasex. Jack and Diane by John Mellencamphttp://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/john+mellencamp/jack+dia

ne_20223645.html

a sonnet consisting of an octave with the rhyme pattern a b b a, a b b a, followed by a sestet with the rhyme pattern c d c d c d, c d d c d c, c d e c d e, c d e c e d, c d c e d c.

ex. “London, 1802” by Wordsworthhttp://www.sonnets.org/basicforms.htm

~italian sonnet~

~spenserian sonnet~a sonnet consisting of three quatrains and a concluding

couplet in iambic pentameter with the rhyme pattern a b a b, b c b d, c d c d e e

ex. "Sonnet LIV"http://www.sonnets.org/basicforms.htm

a sonnet consisting three quatrains and a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter with the rhyme pattern a b a b, c d c d, e f e f, g g

ex. "Sonnet LXXIII“http://www.sonnets.org/basicforms.htm

~shakespearian sonnet~

~volta~a sudden change in thought, direction, or emotion near the conclusion of a sonnet

ex. “London, 1802” by Wordsworthhttp://www.sonnets.org/basicforms.htm

~dramatic monologue~a poem in the form of a speech or narrative by an imagined person, in which the speaker inadvertently reveals aspects of their character while describing a particular situation or series of events

“CORIOLANUS” A monologue from the play by William Shakespeare

http://www.monologuearchive.com/s/shakespeare_015.html

~imagery~visually descriptive or figurative language, esp. in a literary work: "Tennyson uses imagery to create a lyrical emotion

ex. “Preludes” by T. S. Eliothttp://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-imager

y-poems.html

the aspect of someone's character that is presented to or perceived by others

ex. “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browninghttp://www.types-of-poetry.org.uk/79-persona-literary-te

rm.htm

~persona~

~anaphora~is a rhetorical device that consists of repeating a sequence of words at the beginnings of neighboring clauses, thereby lending them emphasis

ex. In time the savage bull sustains the yoke,

In time all haggard hawks will stoop to lure,

In time small wedges cleave the hardest oak,

In time the flint is pierced with softest shower.

~metonymy~another form of metaphor, very similar to synecdoche (and, in fact, some rhetoricians do not distinguish between the two), in which the thing chosen for the metaphorical image is closely associated with (but not an actual part of) the subject with which it is to be compared

ex. The orders came directly from the White House

a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true

ex. a wise fool

~paradox~

~paronomasia~a play on words; a punex. “That was so punny.”

consists of omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses. In a list of items, asyndeton gives the effect of unpremeditated multiplicity, of an extemporaneous rather than a labored account

ex. “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Julius Ceaser

~asyndeton~

~antithesis~establishes a clear, contrasting relationship between two ideas by joining them together or juxtaposing them, often in parallel structure

.ex. To err is human; to forgive, divine. Alexander Pope

~conceit~a fanciful expression in writing or speech; an elaborate metaphor

ex. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,And summer's lease hath all too short a date.

“Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?” by William Shakespeare

~synecdoche~a type of metaphor in which the part stands for the whole, the whole for a part, the genus for the species, the species for the genus, the material for the thing made, or in short, any portion, section, or main quality for the whole or the thing itself (or vice versa)

ex. Farmer Jones has two hundred head of cattle and three hired hands.

~synesthesia~the poetic description of a sense impression in terms of another sense

ex.“a loud perfume.”

a particular form of understatement, is generated by denying the opposite or contrary of the word which otherwise would be used

ex. Heat waves are common in the summer.

Heat waves are not rare in the summer.

~litote~

~assonance~ the repetition of vowel sounds within a short passage of

verse

ex. “Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far.” Carl Sandburg

a stylistic device, or literary technique, in which successive words (more strictly, stressed syllables) begin with the same consonant sound or letter

ex. Mike’s microphone made much music.

~alliteration~

~consonance~the recurrence of similar sounds, esp. consonants, in close proximity (chiefly as used in prosody)

ex. Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Eveningby

Robert Frost (1874-1963)

~caesura~the pausing or stopping within a line of poetry caused by needed punctuation

ex. Living, breathing apathy

Saps energy, will, interest,

Leaving no desire to win.

All that’s left are ashes,

Cinders of what might have been.

~end-stopped~a feature in poetry where the syntactic unit (phrase, clause, or sentence) corresponds in length to the line

ex. The Winter's Tale by Shakespeare

I am not prone to weeping, as our sexCommonly are; the want of which vain dewPerchance shall dry your pities; but I have

That honorable grief lodged here which burnsWorse than tears drown.

~enjambment~the breaking of a syntactic unit (a phrase, clause, or sentence) by the end of a line or between two verses; its opposite is end-stopping, where each linguistic unit corresponds with a single line

ex. Looking through the eyes

Of wonder, of delight,

Children view their world

With trust, with hope

That only life will change.

~euphony~the quality of being pleasing to the ear, esp. through a harmonious combination of words

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

“To Autumn” by John Keats

~cacophony~a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds: "a cacophony of deafening alarm bells"; "a cacophony of architectural styles”

ex. 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll

~exact rhyme~is when the later part of the word or phrase is identical sounding to another

ex. dig/pig

also called middle rhyme, a rhyme occurring within the line. The rhyme may be with words within the line but not at the line end, or with a word within the line and a word at the end of the line

ex. "The light of day, The bright of noon"

~internal rhyme~

~cliché rhyme~rhymes that are considered trite or predictable

ex. love and dove

a lightly stressed syllable followed by a heavily stressed syllable

ex. "The cúrfew tólls the knéll of párting dáy.“ by Thomas Gray

~iambic rhyme~

~inexact rhyme~rhymes created out of words with similar but not identical sounds. In most of these instances, either the vowel segments are different while the consonants are identical, or vice versa

ex. Heart-smitten with emotion I sink downMy heart recovering with covered eyes;

Wherever I had looked I had looked uponMy permanent or impermanent images.

~closed rhyme~written in a specific or traditional pattern according to the required rhyme, meter, line length, line groupings, and number of lines within a genre of poetry.

ex. haikus and sonnets

an address to a person absent or dead or to an abstract entity

ex. "Blue Moon, you saw me standing aloneWithout a dream in my heartWithout a love of my own.""Blue Moon“ by Lorenz Hart

~apostrophe~

~Sonnet X~

For shame! deny that thou bear'st love to any, AWho for thy self art so unprovident.B

Grant, if thou wilt, thou art belov'd of many,ABut that thou none lov'st is most evident: B

For thou art so possess'd with murderous hate, CThat 'gainst thy self thou stick'st not to conspire, D

Seeking that beauteous roof to ruinate CWhich to repair should be thy chief desire.D

O! change thy thought, that I may change my mind: EShall hate be fairer lodg'd than gentle love? FBe, as thy presence is, gracious and kind, EOr to thyself at least kind-hearted prove: F     Make thee another self for love of me, G

     That beauty still may live in thine or thee. G

~Sonnet X~ Is a Shakespearian sonnet It contains iambic pentameter, end-stopped, imagery, closed-rhyme,

and caesura The persona displayed is that of a young man lost in one’s image and

self love

Sonnet 10 suggests that the youth really loves no one. Clearly, the poet does not seriously believe the young man to be incapable of affection, for then there would be no point in the poet's trying to maintain a relationship with him. However, underneath the tone the poet suggests that the youth's self-love is wasted. The youth's absorption with his own image is really an attachment to nobody. He therefore loses the power of returning the creative force of love in a relationship. The poet considers the youth's unwillingness to marry a form of murder against his potential offspring. This can be seen through these lines; "For thou art so possessed with murdrous hate/ that 'gainst thyself thou stick'st not to conspire." Here, Sonnet 10 creates the image of marriage as a house with a roof falling in decay that the youth should seek to repair, but the poet uses the house imagery less to indicate marriage than instead of suggesting that the youth's beauty would reside in his offspring which is shown through these lines "Make thee another self for love of me,/ That beauty still may live in thine or thee.“

~Sonnet XX~

A woman's face with nature's own hand painted, AHast thou, the master mistress of my passion; BA woman's gentle heart, but not acquainted A

With shifting change, as is false women's fashion: BAn eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling, C

Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth; DA man in hue all 'hues' in his controlling, C

Which steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth. DAnd for a woman wert thou first created; E

Till Nature, as she wrought thee, fell a-doting, FAnd by addition me of thee defeated, E

By adding one thing to my purpose nothing. F     But since she prick'd thee out for women's pleasure, G

     Mine be thy love and thy love's use their treasure.G

~Sonnet XX~ Is a Shakespearian sonnet Contains caesura, end-stopped, imagery, iambic pentameter, and closed

rhyme The persona is displayed through a feminine male showing that things are not

always what they seem and leading the reader to be deceived. The tone is inspiring and inquisitive. In this crucial, sensual sonnet, the young man becomes the "master-mistress"

of the poet's passion. The young man's double nature and character, however, present a problem of description: Although to the poet he possesses a woman's gentleness and charm, the youth has a penis, and though he resembles a woman, the young man is not indecisive or flirtatious in character. The youth's double sexuality emphasizes the youth's challenge for the poet. As a man with the beauty of a woman, he is supposed to be with women, however he attracts men as well. The poet's interest is to discover the nature of the relationship. Yet even as the poet acknowledges an erotic attraction to the youth, he does not entertain the possibility of love or a functional relationship. Ambiguity characterizes his feelings but not his language. The poet does not want to possess the youth physically. The theme of this sonnet is though often things do not seem as if they are meant to be, love overcomes all.

~Sonnet XXX~

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought AI summon up remembrance of things past, B

I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought, AAnd with old woes new wail my dear time's waste: B

Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,CFor precious friends hid in death's dateless night, DAnd weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe, CAnd moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight: D

Then can I grieve at grievances foregone, EAnd heavily from woe to woe tell o'er F

The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan, EWhich I new pay as if not paid before. F

     But if the while I think on thee, dear friend, G     All losses are restor'd and sorrows end. G

~Sonnet XXX~Is a Shakespearean sonnetContains alliteration, assonance, iambic pentameter, imagery, caesura, end-stopped,

and closed rhyme.The persona is displayed through a sorrow filled youth.The tone is somewhat sorrowfulThe theme is that memories of the youth are priceless compensations and show not

only disappointments and unrealized hopes but also the loss of earlier friends: "But if the while I think on thee, dear friend, / All losses are restored and sorrows end." This sonnet corresponds with sonnet 29. This sonnet is one of the most exquisitely crafted in the entire sequence dealing with the poet's depression over the youth's separation. It includes an extraordinary complexity of sound patterns, and uses alliteration, for example both the "s" and "t" sounds in "sessions of sweet silent thought."Rhyme, of course, is another device for doing this. It also displays assonance for example, the short "e" sound in the phrases "When sessions" and "remembrance". In this case, the short "e" sound helps unify the sonnet, for the assonant sound both begins "When" and concludes "end" the sonnet.Contributing to the distinctive rhythm of Sonnet 30's lines is the variation of accents in the normally iambic pentameter lines. For example, line 7 has no obvious alternation of short and long syllables. Equal stress is placed on "weep afresh love's long," with only slightly less stress on "since," which follows this phrase. In line 6, "friends hid" and "death's dateless night" are equally stressed.

~Sonnet XL~

Take all my loves, my love, yea take them all; AWhat hast thou then more than thou hadst before? B

No love, my love, that thou mayst true love call; AAll mine was thine, before thou hadst this more. B

Then, if for my love, thou my love receivest, CI cannot blame thee, for my love thou usest; DBut yet be blam'd, if thou thy self deceivest C

By wilful taste of what thyself refusest. DI do forgive thy robbery, gentle thief, E

Although thou steal thee all my poverty: FAnd yet, love knows it is a greater grief E

To bear love's wrong, than hate's known injury. F     Lascivious grace, in whom all ill well shows, G     Kill me with spites yet we must not be foes. G

~Sonnet XL~A Shakespearean sonnetThe theme is love and forgivenessThe tone is apathetic and timidContains caesura, end-stopped, iambic pentameter, imagery,

closed-rhymeThe word love is used often in this sonnet and has multiple

meanings. Two of these meanings are addressed in the first line, "Take all my loves, my love, yea, take them all." In this line, "my loves" refers to the poet's possessions, both physical and emotional. Following this, the phrase "my love," set off by commas, refers to the young man himself. In a timid voice, the poet wavers between anger and forgiveness of the young man. In lines 11 and 12, the mood shifts again, but now the poet waxes philosophically about the contrasts between love and hate: ". . . it is a greater grief / To bear love's wrong than hate's known injury." And finally, even while angry over the affair, the poet forgives the youth's lustful nature.

~Sonnet L~How heavy do I journey on the way, A

When what I seek, my weary travel's end, BDoth teach that ease and that repose to say, A

'Thus far the miles are measured from thy friend!‘ BThe beast that bears me, tired with my woe, C

Plods dully on, to bear that weight in me, DAs if by some instinct the wretch did know C

His rider lov'd not speed, being made from thee: DThe bloody spur cannot provoke him on, E

That sometimes anger thrusts into his hide, FWhich heavily he answers with a groan, E

More sharp to me than spurring to his side; F     For that same groan doth put this in my mind, G

     My grief lies onward, and my joy behind. G

~Sonnet L~Is a Shakespearean sonnetContains end-stopped, imagery, iambic pentameter, closed-rhyme, caesuraThe tone is sorrowfulThe theme is leaving the past “behind”, and travelling “forward” into the

future.All that is known in this sonnet is that the poet is on an unnamed journey

away from the young man. The poet's allusion to solitude has no definite time frame, and the journey may be brief. However, the youth is the standard against whom the poet measures everything, so it is not surprising when the poet says, "Thus far the miles are measured from thy friend."

The poet draws an analogy between himself and the beast on which he rides: "The beast that bears me, tired with my woe, / Plods dully on, to bear that weight in me," as though the non-physical weight of the poet's sadness factors into the burden that the beast must carry. Here, "onward" means physically forward, but it also means into the future. Because this future doesn't involve the young man, the poet is grieved. Likewise, "behind" means from where the poet physically has traveled, but it also means the past, which was joyful because the poet had the affections of the youth.

~Sonnet LX~Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, A

So do our minutes hasten to their end; BEach changing place with that which goes before, A

In sequent toil all forwards do contend. BNativity, once in the main of light, C

Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd, DCrooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight, C

And Time that gave doth now his gift confound. DTime doth transfix the flourish set on youth EAnd delves the parallels in beauty's brow, F

Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth, EAnd nothing stands but for his scythe to mow: F

     And yet to times in hope, my verse shall stand. G     Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand. G

~Sonnet LX~ Is a Shakespearean sonnet Contains end-stopped, iambic pentameter, closed-rhyme, imagery, caesura,

metaphorThe tone is sorrowful The persona is displayed through an aging youth In the sonnet, time is symbolized by concrete images. For example, the

opening two lines present a metaphor, pebbled shore, / So do our minutes hasten to their end"; here, death is "the pebbled shore.” In the second quatrain, the poet cries how unfair time is. A child is born and, over time, matures to adulthood, and yet the adult now dreads the maturation process as he grows increasingly older and thus reaches the point of death. Time, which gives life, now takes it away: "And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.“ The antithesis in lines 9 through 12 is between the aging poet and the youth's good looks. The poet warns, "Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth / And delves the parallels in beauty's brow." In other words, the young man currently is beautiful, but "parallels" wrinkles will eventually appear, as they have on the poet. Even more, the "scythe" in line 12 recalls Sonnet 12's concluding couplet: "And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defense / Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence." Clearly the poet is no longer concerned that the young man has a child to ensure the immortality of his beauty. Now, the poet's own sonnets are the only security the youth needs to gain eternal worth.

~Sonnet LXX~That thou art blam'd shall not be thy defect, A

For slander's mark was ever yet the fair; BThe ornament of beauty is suspect, A

A crow that flies in heaven's sweetest air. BSo thou be good, slander doth but approve CThy worth the greater being woo'd of time; D

For canker vice the sweetest buds doth love, CAnd thou present'st a pure unstained prime. D

Thou hast passed by the ambush of young days EEither not assail'd, or victor being charg'd; FYet this thy praise cannot be so thy praise, E

To tie up envy, evermore enlarg'd, F     If some suspect of ill mask'd not thy show, G

     Then thou alone kingdoms of hearts shouldst owe. G

~Sonnet LXX~Is a Shakespearean sonnetContains end-stopped, caesura, imagery, closed-rhyme, iambic

pentameterThe persona is that of a youth and his innocence The theme is to ignore jealousy and live with the riches god has

granted you, and to never apologize for such gifts.In sonnet 70 the poet is unable to maintain his disapproval of the

young man, but he forgives without forgetting. The youth can blame only himself for the malicious rumors about him. The poet notes that the slander pays an unintended tribute to the youth's innocence, charm, and beauty: "For canker vice the sweetest buds doth love, / And thou present'st a pure unstained prime." According to the poet, the youth's real problem is that his morally uncertain nature leaves him vulnerable to insult; his honorable beauty masks a potential for brutal habits: "If some suspect of ill masked not thy show, / Then thou alone kingdoms of hearts shouldst owe." The poet intentionally appeals to the youth's vanity in the hopes of encouraging upright behavior.

~Sonnet LXXX~O! how I faint when I of you do write, A

Knowing a better spirit doth use your name, BAnd in the praise thereof spends all his might, A

To make me tongue-tied speaking of your fame! BBut since your worth — wide as the ocean is, — C

The humble as the proudest sail doth bear, DMy saucy bark, inferior far to his, C

On your broad main doth wilfully appear. DYour shallowest help will hold me up afloat, E

Whilst he upon your soundless deep doth ride; FOr, being wrack'd, I am a worthless boat, EHe of tall building, and of goodly pride: F     Then if he thrive and I be cast away, G

     The worst was this, — my love was my decay. G

~Sonnet LXXX~ Is a Shakespearean sonnet Contains end-stopped, imagery, closed-rhyme, caesura, and end-

stopped The tone is serious The theme is the loss of loveFeeling discouraged by the superiority of the "better spirit" of the

rival poet, whom he describes throughout the sonnet using imagery, the poet complains of being "tongue-tied," unable to compete with his rival's exalted verse. The poet's phrasing is courteous, but the exaggerated language indicates a serious mood. One detects an ironic purpose in the poet's devotion in the face of rejection when he sarcastically compares his verse to the rival poet's as "My saucy bark, inferior far to his." He forgives his own behavior with the excuse that love for the young man is the only reason for him living and the only reason for his destruction: "Then if he thrive, and I be cast away, / The worst was this: my love was my decay."

~THE END~

p.s. NONE OF THIS MATTERED!!!