Terms
Alliteration
repeating initial consonant sound in a series of words
Simile
A figurative comparison between two things using “like” or “as”
Narrative poem
A poem that tells a story (usually includes the five elements of the dramatic arc: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution)
list 2 themes in shadow bride/man
love
unity and separation
But once a year when caverns yawn
And hidden things awake,
They dance together till dawn
And a single shadow make.
shadow bride, tolkein
imagery
Vivid descriptions in a poem that employ one of the five senses
free verse
Poetry that has no consistent pattern of rhyme or meter
volta
Italian word meaning “turn”, Signals a turn in thought, is usually begun with words such as: but, yet, or and yet
list 2 themes in sonnet 130
love and beauty
realistic vs unattainable beauty standards
"Yet do thy worst, old Time! Despite thy wrong
My love shall in my verse ever live young."
sonnet 19, shakespeare
symbol
An object or element in a poem that has both a literal and an abstract meaning
stanza
A section of “paragraph” of a poem that deals with a distinct idea
end rhyme scheme
The pattern of rhyming sounds at the end of the lines of a poem
list 4 themes in In Flanders Field
war and responsibility
life and death
nature
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
sonnet 130, shakespeare
iambic pentameter
a type of meter in which one line consisting of ten syllables contains 5 iambs, meaning an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable
Onomatopoeia
“Sound words” associated with the sound of a thing they name
Ex: Splat, Click, Bang
mood
The atmosphere created for the reader
list 2 themes in my last duchess
objectification of women
greed/wealth
selfishness/pride
A motley procession with many a fleck of foam and many fragments,
Following the stately and rapid ship, in the wake following.
after the sea-ship, walt whitman
motif
A recurrent word, phrase, object, image, or action in a poem that has symbolic significance
meter
The pattern (rhythm) of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of a poem
assonance
The repetition of vowel sounds in non-rhyming words
Ex: Breezes as we meet by the sea
list 4 themes in Sonnet 19
time and decay
love and beauty
art and immortality
She had
A heart—how shall I say?— too soon made glad,
Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er
She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.
my last duchess, robert browning