1. POETRY Terms to Know

2. FORM Physical arrangement of the words on the page. Includes the length and placement of the lines and the way they are grouped into stanzas

3. Ode a single, unified strain of exalted lyrical verse, directed to a single purpose, and dealing with one theme.

4. Elegy a sustained and formal poem setting forth meditations on death or another solemn theme

5. Lyric a brief subjective poem strongly marked by imagination, melody, and emotion, and creating a single, unified impression.

6. Ballad a form of verse to be sung or recited and characterized by its presentation of a dramatic episode in simple narrative form.

7. Sonnet a poem invariably of fourteen lines and following one of several set rhyme schemes. The two basic types are the Italian or Petrarchan and the English or Shakespearean.

8. Verse a unit of poetry and as a name given generally to metrical composition.

9. FREE VERSE Poetry that does not have any strict formal pattern

10. STANZA A “paragraph” in poetry

11. Types of Stanzas Couplet: two line stanza Tercet: three line stanza Quatrain: four line stanza Quintet: five line stanza Sestet: six line stanza Octave: eight line stanza

12. Sound Devices Elements of poetry that emphasize SOUND. Often the sounds the words make can be used for emphasis or to enhance meaning or to help the rhythm of the poem in general.

13. RHYME Repetition of final sounds in two or more words – “A stray gray tray”

14. RHYME SCHEME The pattern formed by the rhymes at the end of the lines Roses are red, A Violets are blue, B Sugar is sweet, A And so are you! B

15. METER When the rhythm is repeated throughout the poem

16. Iambic Pentameter Sonnets are generally written with this meter and it the rhythm mimics normal speech Scansion: Determining the rhythm of a poem usually using “u” and “/” symbols

17. ONOMATOPOEIA Use of words – like snort, clank and hiss – that sound like what they refer to

18. Alliteration: the repetition of the same beginning consonant sound in words that are close together. (e.g.: Sally sells seashells by the seashore)

19. ASSONANCE Repetition of vowel sounds within words – “A greed as deep as the sea”

20. CONSONANCE Repetition of consonant sounds within or at the end of words – “Of fleet foot and sound mind”