The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds especially in words that are together
Assonance
Poetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme scheme
Free Verse
Deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work
Ambiguity
In poetry, a type of rhetorical balance in which the second part is syntactically balanced against the first, but with the parts reversed.
Chiasmus
Sentence which uses a conjunction with NO commas to separate the items in a series.
Polysyndeton
Poetry written without rhymes, but which retains a set metrical pattern, usually iambic pentameter
Blank verse
Rhyme within a line of poetry instead of at the end
Internal Rhyme
Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row
Anaphora
Any artificial device or coincidence used to bring about a convenient and simple solution to a plot
Deus ex machina
Harmony or beauty of sound which provides a pleasing effect to the ear, usually sought-for in poetry for effect
Euphony
Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry
couplet
words at the very ends of lines in a poem or song rhyme with each other
External Rhyme
Calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing, or a personified abstract idea
Apostrophe
The continuation of the sense and, therefore, the grammatical construction of a sentence beyond the end of a line of poetry
Emjambment
A figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing, is referred to by something closely associated with it.
Metonymy
In poetry, when words appearing at the ends of two or more verses have similar final consonant sounds but have final vowel sounds that differ
consonance
The repetition of sound patterns that creates a rhythm in poetry
Meter
Unpleasant sounds in the jarring juxtaposition of harsh letters or syllables which are grating to the ear, usually inadvertent, but sometimes deliberately used in poetry for effect
Cacophony
A quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of the theme.
Epigraph
A form of understatement in which the positive form is emphasized through the negation of a negative form
Litotes
A way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of the inhabitants of a certain geographical area
Dialect
a poem consisting of four lines, or four lines of a poem that can be considered as a unit
Quatrain
A sudden emotional breakdown or climax that consists of overwhelming feelings of great pity, sorrow, laughter, or any extreme change in emotion
Catharsis
Device of repetition in which the same expression (single word or phrase) is repeated at the end of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences
Epistrophe
A compound poetic phrase substituted for the usual name of a person or thing
Kenning