Poetry Glossary - Understand Poetry Terms

Term	Definition	Example
Gloss	A brief notation or explanation of a difficult or obscure word or phrase, often found in the margins of a text.	The scholar provided a gloss for each archaic term, making the ancient poem accessible to modern readers.
Gnomic Poetry	Poetry that expresses general truths or moral teachings in a concise, memorable way.	Much of ancient Greek and early English poetry is gnomic in nature.
Gnomic Verse	Poetry that expresses general truths or moral maxims, often in a concise and aphoristic manner.	The poet’s gnomic verse offered wisdom in few words, each line a lesson to ponder.
Gongorism	A highly elaborate and ornate style of writing associated with the Spanish poet Luis de Góngora, characterized by complex metaphors, intricate syntax, and a focus on form over content.	The poet’s gongorism made his work challenging but rewarding for those who took the time to unravel its complexities.
Gothic	A style of writing that is characterized by elements of fear, horror, death, and gloom, as well as romantic elements, such as nature, individuality, and very high emotion.	The poet’s gothic verses painted a dark and eerie landscape, where shadows whispered secrets of the past.
Gothic Revival	A movement that began in the late 18th century, characterized by a fascination with medieval Gothic architecture and an emphasis on romanticism, also reflected in literature and poetry.	The poet’s work was influenced by the Gothic Revival, with dark, brooding themes and a sense of the sublime.
Gradatio	A rhetorical device in which successive phrases or sentences are constructed in such a way that the last word of one clause is the first word of the next, creating a chain-like effect.	The poet used gradatio to build intensity, each line leading inexorably to the next.
Graveyard Poetry	A genre of 18th-century poetry characterized by a somber tone, meditations on mortality, and a focus on death and the afterlife.	The poet’s graveyard poetry reflected on the inevitability of death, with imagery of tombstones and overgrown graves.
Grisaille	A term used in visual arts to refer to a painting executed entirely in shades of gray or another neutral grayish color, often to imitate sculpture, but in poetry, it can refer to monochromatic imagery or themes.	The poet’s grisaille verse depicted a world devoid of color, where shadows reigned supreme.
Gutter	The space between the panels of a comic or the margin between the edge of a printed page and the main text block, but in poetry, it can refer to the visual or conceptual space between stanzas or verses.	The poet used the gutter between stanzas to create a pause, allowing the reader to reflect on the words just read.

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.