Alliteration:
Repetition of the same or similar sounds (usually consonants) at the beginning of words. It can be used to highlight the feeling of sound and movement or draw attention to a particular group of words in order to emphasise meaning, e.g:
All felled, felled, are all felled
Of a fresh and following folded rank
Binsey Poplars Gerard Manley Hopkins
Ambiguity:
The possibility of more than one meaning
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Assonance:
Repetition of the same vowel sounds in words which follow each other, especially when the vowel is stressed, e.g:
That dandled a sandalled
Shadow that swam or sank
Binsey Poplars Gerard Manley Hopkins
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Ballad:
A narrative poem often composed to be sung. A ballad normally had a regular stanza form, a regular rhyme scheme and used repetition. Each verse is made up of four lines, with the second and fourth lines rhyming, e.g. Helen of Kirconnell.
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Consonance:
Repetition, at close intervals, of the final consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words, e.g:
Curst be the heart that thought the thought
Helen of Kirconnell
Couplet:
Two consecutive lines of poetry which are paired in length or rhyme
Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in their dust
Death the Leveller James Shirley
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Dramatic Monologue:
A poetic form used to narrate and dramatise Victorian concerns and in which the character, not the poet, speaks directly to the audience. Conventionally a dramatic monologue should include a fictional speaker/audience, a symbolic setting and emphasis on the speaker’s subjectivity, e.g. My Last Duchess Robert Browning
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Elegy:
A poem or song which is a lament, perhaps for someone or something which has died
Enjambement:
A line ending in which the syntax, rhythm and thought are continued and completed in the next line, e.g:
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home
Than oars divide the ocean
A Bird Came Down the Walk Emily Dickinson
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Figurative language:
Use of a metaphor or simile to create a particular impression or mood
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Imagery:
refers to the use of description, figures of speech and pictures to create ideas and feelings
Irony:
Words implying meaning opposite to their normal meaning, e.g. My Last Duchess Robert Browning
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Lyric:
Originally poetry meant to be sung, accompanied by lyre or lute. The term now refers to poems that are short, concentrated in expression, personal in its subject matter, and songlike in quality, e.g. Remembrance
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Metre:
The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem
Metaphor:
Similar to a simile in that a metaphor compares two things. A simile says one thing is like another, the metaphor strengthens the comparison, e.g:
Thou pretty opening rose!
A Parental Ode to My Son, Aged Three Years and Five Months Thomas Hood
Monologue:
Text spoken by a lone speaker
Mood:
Atmosphere, for example, “sombre”, “tragic”, “comic”,” romantic”. This is different from the tone of a poem which refers to the poet’s attitude e.g. “bitter”, “angry”, “resentful”, “ironic”, “mocking.”
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Narrative poem:
A poem which tells a story, often a ballad
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Ode:
A lyric poem form usually rhymed and in the form of an address; usually associated with a serious subject, e.g. Ode to Autumn
Onomatopoeia:
Words which actually convey the sound being made, e.g:
When we delve or hew
Hack and rack the growing green
Binsey Poplars Gerard Manley Hopkins
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Pace:
The speed at which it seems appropriate to read a poem. Poets vary the pace to suit the mood or subject matter of a poem
Personification:
Presentation of inanimate objects as being human, e.g:
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run; Ode to Autumn John Keats
Pun:
A comic effect suggesting two meanings from one word or phrase
Punctuation:
Punctuation helps to establish the pace for reading the poem. It can help to reflect mood or atmosphere, e.g. Tommy Rudyard Kipling
Repetition:
A poet may repeat words or ideas to emphasise thoughts and feelings, e.g:
Rural scene, a rural scene
Sweet especial rural scene
Binsey Poplars Gerard Manley Hopkins
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Refrain:
A phrase that recurs at the end of a verse
Rhyme:
The use of words with matching sounds, usually at the end of each line, e.g.
Perishing gloomily
Spurr’d by contumely,
Cold inhumanity,
Burning insanity
The Bridge of Sighs Thomas Hood
Rhythm:
Refers to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables
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Satire:
The use of wit or humour to attack something
Sonnet: (Italian)
14 lines divided into 8 lines (octave) and 6 lines (sestet). This formation is shown in the content and in the rhyme scheme. There are 5 beats in each line (pentameter) and a consistent iambic rhythm, e.g. Remember Christina Rossetti
Sonnet: (Shakespearean)
14 lines divided into 3 four line groups (quatrains) and a rhyming couplet. This is made clear by the rhyme scheme as well as by the sense, e.g. Shall I Compare thee to a Summer’s Day William Shakespeare
Similes:
a comparison which uses the words: “like”, or “as”, e.g:
I wondered lonely as a cloud
The Daffodils William Wordsworth
Stanza:
A verse or set of lines of poetry, the pattern of which is repeated throughout the poem
Structure:
The organisation of a poem. The arrangement of parts of a poem(e.g. length of lines, use of stanzas, progression of ideas)
Syllable:
Each pronounced part of a word is a syllable. Words with only one syllable are called monosyllabic. Words with more than one syllable are called polysyllabic
Symbol:
When a word, phrase or image 'stands for' a complex set of ideas, the meaning of which is determined by the surrounding context
Syntax:
Refers to the order in which words are placed. A change in natural syntax may highlight a particular group of words or phrases
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Tone:
The tone of someone’s voice could be described as aggressive or cheerful. We also expect someone’s voice to change according to mood. These can be conveyed by a poet’s choice of words or by the poem’s rhythm. Tone helps to create the overall impact of a piece of writing. The tone of the poet needs to be thought of separately from the tone given to characters in the poem (poetic personae)