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Definition |
Example |
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idyll |
poetic term |
A short poem depicting a peaceful, idealized country scene. |
The Solitary Reaper by William Wordsworth |
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sestet |
poetic term |
A poetic stanza of six lines, usually forming one part of an Italian sonnet. |
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dirge |
poetic term |
A song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person. |
Autumn: A Dirge by Percy Bysshe Shelley |
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iamb |
poetic term |
A foot of verse having two syllables, the first unstressed and the second unstressed. |
"My mistress eyes…" from sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare. |
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accent |
poetic term |
The stress given to a syllable in a line of poetry. |
In the line, "And fired the shot heard round the world," the stressed syllables are: fired, shot, round, and world. |
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alexandrine |
poetic term |
A line of poetry made up of twelve syllables. The form is common in French and German poetry, but quite rare in English. |
Alexander Pope wrote:
"A needless alexandrine ends the song / that like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along"
to illustrate the use of an alexandrine line. |
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ballade |
poetic term |
A type of poem, usually with three stanzas of seven, eight, or ten lines and a shorter final stanza (or envoy) of four or five lines. Each stanza ends with the same one-line refrain. |
Probably the most famouse ballade is from the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. In Act I, Cyrano composes an impromtu ballade during a duel. Each stanza ends with the line, "At the envoi's end, I touch." |
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prosody |
poetic term |
Study of versification, such as meter, rhyme scheme, and poetic forms. |
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haiku |
poetic term |
A Japanese poetic form composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. Nature is very often the subject of the poem. |
Summer, a haiku by Anonymous:
First caressing Spring,
Summer rushes on toward Fall,
Next vanishes—Poof! |
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epithalamion |
poetic term |
A poem in honor of a bride and bridegroom. |
Epithalamion by Edmund Spenser provides the best example in English. |
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limerick |
poetic term |
A humorous poem of five lines with a specific meter and rhyme scheme. |
"There was a young lady from Hyde, / Who ate a green apple and died. / While her lover lamented, / The apple fermented, / And made cider inside her inside." Anonymous |
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litotes |
poetic term |
Understatement for rhetorical effect, especially that in which an affirmative statement is made by negating its opposite.
See: meiosis. Compare: hyperbole. |
"That [sword] was not useless / to the warrior now." From Beowulf.
Or, "Not bad at all." |
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stanza |
poetic term |
A group of lines forming a division of a poem having a set pattern of meter and rhyme. |
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iambic pentameter |
poetic term |
A line of verse containing five iambic feet. This meter is very popular in poetry in English because it seems to imitate the natural rhythm of English speech. |
"Remember me when I am gone away" from Remember by Christina Rossetti |
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periphrasis |
poetic term |
Circumlocution to avoid commonplace terms through a more elegant substitution. |
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terza rima |
poetic term |
A type of poetry consisting of 10- or 11-syllable lines arranged in three-line tercets with the rhyme scheme aba bcb cdc, etc. |
Ode to the West Wind by Percy Bysshe Shelley is written in terza rima. |
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ballad |
poetic term |
A narrative poem with stanzas of two or four lines, often including a refrain. |
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. |
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chanson de geste |
poetic term |
An epic poem of the 11th to the 14th century, written in Old French, which details the exploits of a historical or legendary figure. |
The Song of Roland |
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rondeau |
poetic term |
A poetic form having 15 lines divided into three stanzas, with only two rhymes (e.g., aabbaab, etc.). |
In Flanders Fields by John McCrae |
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refrain |
poetic term |
A group of words repeated in a poem, usually, but not always, at the end of a stanza. |
The word "Nevermore" is a refrain in Poe's The Raven. |
