"Discover the language of poetry, from alliteration to zeugma."
Showing 273 poetry terms
| Term | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Lament | A passionate expression of grief or sorrow, often in poetic form. | "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." |
| Lament | A passionate expression of grief or sorrow, often in a song or poem. | Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" is a lament. |
| Light Verse | Poetry intended to entertain or amuse, often with a playful or humorous tone. | Ogden Nash's poetry is a good example of light verse. |
| Limerick | A humorous five-line poem with a rhyme scheme of AABBA. | "There was an Old Man with a beard, Who said, 'It is just as I feared.'" |
| Litotes | A figure of speech that employs understatement by using double negatives or, in other words, positive statement is expressed by negating its opposite expressions. | "Not bad" as a litotes for "good." |
| Metaphor | A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. | The world is a stage. |
| Meter | The rhythm of a piece of poetry, determined by the number and length of feet in a line. | Iambic pentameter, often used by Shakespeare, is a type of meter. |
| Metonymy | A figure of speech in which a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. | "The White House issued a statement" where "The White House" refers to the U.S. President or administration. |
| Mock Epic | A poem that parodies the epic by treating a trivial subject in a grand style. | Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock" is a famous mock epic. |
| Monometer | A line of verse consisting of a single metrical foot. | "Thus I Pass by, And die: As one, Unknown, And gone." |
Our comprehensive Poetry Glossary, designed for students, teachers, and poetry enthusiasts alike. Whether you're delving into poetic forms, exploring rhyme schemes, or understanding the nuances of metrical feet, our glossary is an essential resource to enhance your study of poetry.
Our glossary covers a wide range of poetry terms, from alliteration, the repetition of initial consonant sounds, to the structure of free verse, which flows without a fixed metrical pattern. Learn about how stressed and unstressed syllables form the foundation of metrical feet, or explore how a rhyme scheme organizes the pattern of sounds at the end of lines in a poem.
Use the search function to quickly find terms like group of lines in a stanza or the repetition of sounds in a poem or section. Whether you're looking to understand how a series of words creates rhythmic patterns or how the number of syllables affects the flow of a line of poetry, our glossary has the definitions and examples you need.
Finding terms is easy:
Tip: Try searching for "rhyme," "meter," or "sonnet" to get started!
Every entry includes three key parts:
Iambic Pentameter: A rhythm pattern of 10 syllables per line, alternating unstressed-stressed.
Example: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" (Shakespeare)
Note: Most common meter in English sonnets.
Our examples help you see poetry terms in action:
Our glossary covers all major areas of poetry:
Rhyme schemes, meter, alliteration, assonance
Metaphor, simile, personification, symbolism
Sonnets, haikus, villanelles, free verse
Stanzas, lines, caesura, enjambment
Sonnets are one of poetry's most beloved forms. Here's how to explore them:
Structure: 3 quatrains + 1 couplet
Rhyme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
Famous: "Shall I compare thee..."
Structure: 1 octave + 1 sestet
Rhyme: ABBAABBA CDECDE
Origin: Italian tradition
• Click "S" in the alphabetical menu
• Search "sonnet" to see all types
• Look for related terms like "quatrain" and "couplet"