Glossary of poetry terms

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Poetic diction
Imagery • Figures of speech Metaphor • Simile Homeric simile Personification • Pathetic fallacy Synecdoche  • Metonymy Conceit • Extended metaphor Allegory • Motif • Symbol Pun • Double entendre Ambiguity • Idiom
Sound
Alliteration • Assonance Consonance • Rhyme Repetition • Refrain Onomatopoeia
Prosody
Line • Enjambment • Caesura Foot • Meter • Verse • Stanza
Verse forms
Epic • Narrative • Lyric • Ode Dramatic monologue • Ballad Blank verse • Heroic couplets Sestina • Sonnet • Villanelle List of poetic forms
Modern poetry
Free verse • Prose poetry Haiku in English • Tanka
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A

Abecedarius | Acatalectic | Acatalexis: Acatalectic | Accent | Accentual verse | Accentual-syllabic verse | Acephalous: Headless verse | Acrostic | Action poetry | Adonic | Aestheticism | Alcaics | Alexandrian Pleiad | Alexandrine | Allegory | Alliteration | Allusion | Alternate rhyme | Ambiguity | Amphibrach | Amphimacer: Cretic | Amplification | Anachronism | Anacoluthon | Anadiplosis | Anacreontic verse | Anacrucis: Anacrusis | Anadiplosis | Anagram | Analepsis: Flashback | Analogue | Anapaest: Anapest | Anaphora | Anthropomorphism | Antibacchic: Antibacchius | Antidactyl: Anapest | Antiphon | Antispast | Antistrophe | Antithesis | Antonomasia | Antonymy | Aphaeresis: Apheresis | Aphesis: Apheresis | Aphorism | Apocope | Aporia | Aposiopesis | Apostrophe | Archaism | Archetype | Asclepiad | Assonance | Asyndeton | Atmosphere | Aubade | Auditor | Augustan | Aureation? | Awit

B

Bacchic: Bacchius | Balassi stanza | Ballad | Ballade | Ballad stanza | Balliol rhyme | Bard | Bathos | Beat poets | Black Arts Movement | Black Mountain poets | Blank verse | Blues | Bob | Bombast | Bouts rimés | Breton lai: Breton lay | Broadside ballads | Broken rhyme | Bucolic: Pastoral | Burden | Burlesque | Burns stanza | Bush ballad

C

Cacophony: Dissonance | Cadence | Caesura | Cairo poets | Calligram | Canon | Canto | Canzone | Carmen figuratum | Carol | Caroline verse | Carpe diem | Castalian Band | Catachresis | Catalectic | Catalexis: Catalectic | Catalogue verse | Caudate sonnet | Cavalier poets | Celtic revival | Cento | Chanson | Chant Royal | Chiasmus | Choka | Choliamb | Choree:Trochee | Choreus: Trochee | Choriamb | Cinquain | Circumlocution | Clerihew | Closed couplet | Cockney School | Common measure: Common meter | Complaint | Conceit | Concrete poetry | Confederation Poets | Confessional poetry | Connotation | Consonance | Content words | Contrast | Convention | Corona: Crown of sonnets | Counting-out rhymes | Country house poem | Couplet | Cretic | Cross rhyme | Crown of sonnets | Curtal sonnet | Cyclic Poets

D

Dactyl | Dalit | Deixis | Denotation | Diamante | Didactic verse | Dimeter | Dirge | Dissonance | Distich | Dithyramb | Dizain | Doggerel | Double dactyl | Double Iamb: Ionic | Dramatic monologue | Dream vision | Duplet | Dymock poets

E

Ear poetry | Echoism | Eclogue | Ekphrasis | Elegiac couplet | Elegiac stanza | Elegy | Elision | Ellipsis | Elliptical poetry | End-stopped | English sestet | Englyn | Enjambment | Envoi | Epic | Epic simile | Epigram | Epigraph | Epistle | Epistrophe | Epitaph | Epithalamion | Epitrite | Epizeuxis | Epode | Euphony | Exemplum | Expansive Poetry | Extended metaphor | Eye rhyme

F

Fabliau | Feminine ending | Feminine rhyme | Figure of speech | Fixed and unfixed forms | Flarf | Flashback | Fleshly School | Flyting | Folk song | Foot | Formula | Found poetry | Fourteener: Quatorzain | Free verse | Fugitives

G

Georgian poets | Georgics | Ghazal | Glosa | Glyconic | Gnomic poetry | Gogyoka | Goliards | Graveyard poets | Grooks

H

Standard Habbie | Haiku | Hainteny | Half-line: Hemistich | Headless verse | Heiti | Hemistich | Hendecasyllable | Hendiadys | Heptameter | Heroic couplet | Hexameter | Hokku | Homeric simile | Horatian Ode | Hovering stress | Hudibrastic | Hungry Generation | Hymn | Hyperbaton | Hyperbole | Hypercatalectic | Hypermetric

I

Iamb | Iambic pentameter | Iambic tetrameter | Iambic trimeter | Iambus: Iamb | Ictus | Idyll | Image | Imagism | Incipit | In Memoriam stanza | Interlocking rhyme | Internal rhyme | Ionic | Irony | Isochronous Meter | Isocolon | Italian sestet | Italian sonnet: Petrarchan sonnet

J

Jintishi

K

Kenning | Kigo | Kireji | Knittelvers | Kyrielle

L

Lai: Lay | Lanterne | Lay | Light verse | Limerick | Line | Litotes | Little Willy | Liverpool poets | Lune | Lushi | Lyric

M

Macaronic verse | Madrigal | Makar | Maker | Martian poetry | Masculine ending | Masculine rhyme | Masculine rhyme | Metaphor | Metaphysical poets | Metonymy | Meter | Metre: meter | Miltonic sonnet | Minnesang | Mock epic | Mock-heroic | Molossus | Monody | Monometer | Motif | The Movement | Muses

N

Naga-uta | Negative capability | Neoclassicism | Neologism | Nonet | Nonnet |Nonsense verse

O

Objectification | Objective correlative | Objectivist poets | Occasional poetry | Occasional rhyme | Occasional verse: Occasional poetry | Octave | Octameter | Octosyllabic | Ode | Onomatopeia: Onomatopoeia | Ottava rima | Overstatement: Hyperbole | Oxymoron

P

Paeon | Palindrome | Palinode | Panegyric | Pantoum | Pantun | Paradelle | Paradox | Paralipsis | Parallelism | Parataxis | Parody | Paronomasia: Pun | Pastiche | Pastoral | Pastourelle | Pathetic fallacy | Pattern poetry | PEN | Pentameter | Pentina | Periphrasis | Persona | Personification | Petrarchan sonnet | Pherecratean | Phonemic alphabet | Phonolexis | Pindaric ode | Pleonasm | Poem | Poesy | Poet | Poetaster | Poetic diction | Poetic justice | Poetic license | Poet laureate | Poetry | Poets' Corner | Polyptoton | Polysyndeton | Portmanteau word | Poulter's Measure | Prizes for poetry: Poetry awards | Proceleus maticus | Prolepsis | Prose poem | Prosody | Prosopopoeia | Prothalamion | Pun | Pure poetry | Purple passage: Purple prose | Pyrrhic | Pythiambic

Q

Qualitative meter | Quantitative meter | Quaternion |Quatrain | Quatorzain | Quintain | Quinzaine

R

Refrain | Renga | Reverdie | Rhetorical question | Rhyme | Rhyme royal, rime royale | Rhythm | Rime couée | Rhopalic verse | Romanticism | Rondeau | Rondel | Rondelet |Roundel | Roundelay | Ruba'i | Rubaiyat quatrain

S

Sapphic verse | Scansion | Scheme | scop | Septet | Sestet | Sestina | Sextain | Shakespearean sonnet | Sicilian sestet | Sick verse | Sijo | Silent stress | Simile | Singlet | Skeltonic verse | Slack | Sonnet | Sonnet cycle | Sonnet redouble | Spanish sestet | Spasmodic School | Spectrism | Spenserian sonnet | Spenserian stanza | Spondee | Sprung rhythm | Stanza | Stave stanza | Stichomythia | Stress | Strophe | Sublime | Syllabic verse | Syllable | Symbol | Symbolist Movement | Synaloepha: Synaeresis | Syncope | Synecdoche | Synesthesia | Syzygy

T

Tanaga | Tanka | Tautology | Telestich | Tercet | Terzain: Tercet | Terzanelle | Terza rima | Terzet: Tercet | Tetrameter |  Tetrasyllable | Theme | Threnody | Tone | Topographical poetry | Tornada | Travesty | Tribrach | Trimeter | Triolet | Triplet | Trochaic: trochee | Trochaic inversion | Trochee | Trope | Twiplet

U

Ubi sunt | Umbra poets | Understatement | Unvoiced, not voiced

V

Venus and Adonis stanza | Vers de société | Verse | Verse paragraph | Vers libre: Free verse | Viator | Victorian verse | Villancico | Villanelle | Virelai: Virelay | Voice | Voiced and unvoiced | Volta

W

Waka | Wheel

Y

Yoik

Z

Zappai | Zeugma

External links

• Glossary of Poetic Terms from Bob's Byway.
• Glossary terms from the Poetry Foundation.
• Glossary from Representative Poetry Online .
• Glossary of terms from The Poetry Archive

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