Post by anirbas on May 18, 2008 19:03:48 GMT -6
ABC poem
An ABC poem has 5 lines that create a mood, picture, or feeling. Lines 1 through 4 are made up of words, phrases or clauses - and the first word of each line is in alphabetical order from the first word. Line 5 is one sentence, beginning with any letter.
Ballad
A poem that tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend and often has a repeated refrain.
Ballade
A type of poem, usually with three stanzas of seven, eight, or ten lines and a shorter final stanza of four or five lines. All stanzas end with the same one-line refrain.
Blank verse
Poetry that is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. Blank verse is often unobtrusive and the iambic pentameter form often resembles the rhythms of ordinary speech. Shakespeare wrote most of his plays in blank verse.
Burlesque
Burlesque is a story, play, or essay, that treats a serious subject ridiculously, or is simply a trivial story
Canzone
A medieval Italian lyric poem, with five or six stanzas and a shorter concluding stanza (or envoy). The poet Patriarch was a master of the canzone.
Carpe diem
A Latin expression that means "seize the day." Carpe diem poems have the theme of living for today.
Cinquain
A cinquain has five lines.
Line 1 is one word (the title)
Line 2 is two words that describe the title.
Line 3 is three words that tell the action
Line 4 is four words that express the feeling
Line 5 is one word that recalls the title
Classicism
The principles and ideals of beauty that are characteristic of Greek and Roman art, architecture, and literature. Examples of classicism in poetry can be found in the works of John Dryden and Alexander Pope, which are characterized by their formality, simplicity, and emotional restraint.
Couplet
A couplet has rhyming stanzas each made up of two lines. Shakespearean sonnets usually end in a couplet.
Elegy
A sad and thoughtful poem lamenting the death of a person. An example of this type of poem is Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard."
Epic
A long, serious poem that tells the story of a heroic figure. Two of the most famous epic poems are the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer and the epic poem of Hiawatha.
Epigram
A very short, satirical and witty poem usually written as a brief couplet or quatrain. The term epigram is derived from the Greek word epigramma, meaning inscription.
The epigram was cultivated in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by poets like Ben Jonson and John Donne
Epitaph
An epitaph is a commemorative inscription on a tomb or mortuary monument written in praise of a deceased person.
Epithalamium (or Epithalamion)
A wedding poem written in honour of a bride and bridegroom.
Free verse (also vers libre)
Poetry composed of either rhymed or unrhymed lines that have no set fixed metrical pattern or expectation.
Haiku
A Japanese poem composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. Haiku reflects on some aspect of nature.
Idyll, or Idyl
Either a short poem depicting a peaceful, idealized country scene, or a long poem that tells a story about heroes of a bye gone age.
Lay
A lay is a long narrative poem, especially one that was sung by medieval minstrels called trouvères.
Limerick
A short sometimes bawdy, humorous poem of consisting of five anapaestic lines. Lines 1, 2, and 5 of a Limerick have seven to ten syllables and rhyme with one another. Lines 3 and 4 have five to seven syllables and also rhyme with each other. Need to find out more about Limericks ?
Lyric
A poem, such as a sonnet or an ode, that expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet. The term lyric is now generally referred to as the words to a song.
Name Poem
A name poem tells about the word. It uses the letters of the word for the first letter of each line.
Narrative Poetry
Ballads, epics, and lays are different kinds of narrative poems.
Ode
John Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is probably the most famous example of this type of poem which is long and serious in nature written to a set structure.
Pastoral
A poem that depicts rural life in a peaceful, idealized way for example of shepherds or country life.
Quatrain
A stanza or poem of four lines.
Lines 2 and 4 must rhyme.
Lines 1 and 3 may or may not rhyme.
Rhyming lines should have a similar number of syllables.
Rhyme
A rhyme has the repetition of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or more words most often at the ends of lines. There are several derivatives of this term which include double rhyme, Triple rhyme, rising rhyme, falling rhyme, Perfect and imperfect rhymes.
Rhyme royal
A type of poetry introduced by Geoffrey Chaucer consisting of stanzas of seven lines in iambic pentameter.
Romanticism
Nature and love were a major themes of Romanticism favoured by 18th and 19th century poets such as Byron, Shelley, and Keats. Emphasis was placed on the personal experiences of the individual.
Senryu
A short Japanese poem that is similar to a haiku in structure but treats human beings rather than nature, often in a humorous or satiric way.
Tanka
A Japanese poem of five lines, the first and third composed of five syllables and the rest of seven.
Terza rima
A type of poetry consisting of 10 or 11 syllable lines arranged in three-line "tercets". The poet Dante is credited with inventing terza rima and it has been used by many English poets including Chaucer, Milton, Shelley, and Auden.
Sonnet
English (or Shakespearean) sonnets are lyric poems that are 14 lines long falling into three coordinate quatrains and a concluding couplet. Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnets are divided into two quatrains and a six-line sestet.
Verse
A single metrical line of poetry, or poetry in general (as opposed to prose).
« Last Edit: Jun 20, 2007, 3:39pm by anirbas » Link to Post - Back to Top 152.163.101.18
assonance--as·so·nance (ăs'ə-nəns)
n.
1. Resemblance of sound, especially of the vowel sounds in words, as in: “that dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea” (William Butler Yeats).
2. The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, especially in stressed syllables, with changes in the intervening consonants, as in the phrase tilting at windmills.
3. Rough similarity; approximate agreement.
[French, from Latin assonāre, to respond to : ad-, ad- + sonāre, to sound.]
assonant as'so·nant adj. & n.
assonantal as'so·nan'tal (-năn'tl) adj.
Dissonance--
Dissonance in poetry is the deliberate avoidance of assonance, i.e. patterns of repeated vowel sounds. The opposite of assonance is dissonance, the usage of repeated consonant sounds; or a combination of sounds that is displeasing to the ear.
automatic writing--a practice in which the poet attempts to write but without conscious control. The aim is to give the subconscious freer rein, to loosen up the way the poet normally writes, producing (everyone hopes) new associations and new, unpredictable situations. Automatic writing is a practice central to the poetry of many Surrealist, Symbolist, and chance poets.
comedy-- a genre in which people mess up a lot but come out all right in the end. Comedy is really a celebration of how human beings, despite their foibles, manage to keep going in this crazy world.
conceit--a kind of metaphor in which two things thought to be very dissimilar are compared--as, for example, democracy and a wrecking crane. In Renaissance poetry, such as that of John Donne, conceits were often elaborated or extended.
concrete poetry--poetry written to resemble the physical shape of its subject, as in a
Coke-bottle-shaped poem about a Coke bottle.
convention--a widespread general agreement on how to do something. Poetry is full of such things. You could call rhyme a convention.
diction--groups of words of the same social register, as in high diction (extremely formal or pretentious language) or low diction (slang or informal language). This term is also used to mean "word choice" in general.
dramatic monologue--a passage of verse written as if meant to be spoken by a single speaker on a stage. During a dramatic monologue, the speaker usually narrates events in his real or psychic life, thereby implying or revealing secrets about his viewpoint or psychological makeup. Also called a soliloquy.
dramatic poetry--poetry that's either meant to be put on as a play with actors, or poetry that could potentially be performed that way. Dramatic poetry has all the hallmarks of the drama, including plot, setting, character, and dialogue.
elegy--a poem of lamentation or sorrow. Poems that have these elements in them are often called elegiac.
enjambment--the practice of running a phrase or sentence over the end of one line and into the next without a punctuated pause. [Pegesus does wonderful pieces in this manner]
epic poetry--traditionally, poetry on a grand scale, which tells the story of the establishment of a nation or community, with an epic hero who carries that community's values into battle against anything that threatens it. The hero may descend into hell, battle monsters, or contend with evil forces.
epitaphy--a poem either written on a tombstone or gravesite or written as though it were meant for such a place.
extended metaphor--a single, detailed, dominating metaphor that continues for a considerable way through a passage of poetry.
------------------------------------------------------------
figure of speech--any special use of language, including metaphor, simile, analogy, or pun. Figures of speech usually are not meant to be taken literally but imply more and other than what they say on the surface.
inversion--in poetry, inversion is the practice of writing phrases or sentences out of their normal syntactical order. Compare "He isn't Leonardo DiCaprio" to "Leonardo DiCaprio heisn't." The second sentence is an inversion. Older poetry accepted inversion as a normal part of poetic expression. More recent poets use inversions for the sake of emphasis and surprise.
irony--two kinds of irony are referred to most often. Verbal irony is the practice of saying one thing when you mean another. Such forms of irony include understatement, overstatement, litotes (created by negating a negative), and sarcasm. A second kind of irony is situational irony, which refers to events that happen at variance with or contrary to your expectations.
light verse--poetry that is playful or humorous and usually ryhmed. Ogden Nash and Dorothy Parker are two poets who wrote excellent light verse.
lyric poetry--short, usually songlike or personal poetry, as contrasted with the longer, communal poetry of the epic.
lyrics--the words to a song. Song lyrics have been one of the major soureces of world poetry.
metonymy--the practice of replacing the name of the thing with the name of something associated with it, as when we say "the suits" when we mean "the executives."
[thanks to on-line sources for definitions and the book, Poetry for Dummies, my poetical bible, per se...LOL]
An ABC poem has 5 lines that create a mood, picture, or feeling. Lines 1 through 4 are made up of words, phrases or clauses - and the first word of each line is in alphabetical order from the first word. Line 5 is one sentence, beginning with any letter.
Ballad
A poem that tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend and often has a repeated refrain.
Ballade
A type of poem, usually with three stanzas of seven, eight, or ten lines and a shorter final stanza of four or five lines. All stanzas end with the same one-line refrain.
Blank verse
Poetry that is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. Blank verse is often unobtrusive and the iambic pentameter form often resembles the rhythms of ordinary speech. Shakespeare wrote most of his plays in blank verse.
Burlesque
Burlesque is a story, play, or essay, that treats a serious subject ridiculously, or is simply a trivial story
Canzone
A medieval Italian lyric poem, with five or six stanzas and a shorter concluding stanza (or envoy). The poet Patriarch was a master of the canzone.
Carpe diem
A Latin expression that means "seize the day." Carpe diem poems have the theme of living for today.
Cinquain
A cinquain has five lines.
Line 1 is one word (the title)
Line 2 is two words that describe the title.
Line 3 is three words that tell the action
Line 4 is four words that express the feeling
Line 5 is one word that recalls the title
Classicism
The principles and ideals of beauty that are characteristic of Greek and Roman art, architecture, and literature. Examples of classicism in poetry can be found in the works of John Dryden and Alexander Pope, which are characterized by their formality, simplicity, and emotional restraint.
Couplet
A couplet has rhyming stanzas each made up of two lines. Shakespearean sonnets usually end in a couplet.
Elegy
A sad and thoughtful poem lamenting the death of a person. An example of this type of poem is Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard."
Epic
A long, serious poem that tells the story of a heroic figure. Two of the most famous epic poems are the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer and the epic poem of Hiawatha.
Epigram
A very short, satirical and witty poem usually written as a brief couplet or quatrain. The term epigram is derived from the Greek word epigramma, meaning inscription.
The epigram was cultivated in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by poets like Ben Jonson and John Donne
Epitaph
An epitaph is a commemorative inscription on a tomb or mortuary monument written in praise of a deceased person.
Epithalamium (or Epithalamion)
A wedding poem written in honour of a bride and bridegroom.
Free verse (also vers libre)
Poetry composed of either rhymed or unrhymed lines that have no set fixed metrical pattern or expectation.
Haiku
A Japanese poem composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. Haiku reflects on some aspect of nature.
Idyll, or Idyl
Either a short poem depicting a peaceful, idealized country scene, or a long poem that tells a story about heroes of a bye gone age.
Lay
A lay is a long narrative poem, especially one that was sung by medieval minstrels called trouvères.
Limerick
A short sometimes bawdy, humorous poem of consisting of five anapaestic lines. Lines 1, 2, and 5 of a Limerick have seven to ten syllables and rhyme with one another. Lines 3 and 4 have five to seven syllables and also rhyme with each other. Need to find out more about Limericks ?
Lyric
A poem, such as a sonnet or an ode, that expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet. The term lyric is now generally referred to as the words to a song.
Name Poem
A name poem tells about the word. It uses the letters of the word for the first letter of each line.
Narrative Poetry
Ballads, epics, and lays are different kinds of narrative poems.
Ode
John Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is probably the most famous example of this type of poem which is long and serious in nature written to a set structure.
Pastoral
A poem that depicts rural life in a peaceful, idealized way for example of shepherds or country life.
Quatrain
A stanza or poem of four lines.
Lines 2 and 4 must rhyme.
Lines 1 and 3 may or may not rhyme.
Rhyming lines should have a similar number of syllables.
Rhyme
A rhyme has the repetition of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or more words most often at the ends of lines. There are several derivatives of this term which include double rhyme, Triple rhyme, rising rhyme, falling rhyme, Perfect and imperfect rhymes.
Rhyme royal
A type of poetry introduced by Geoffrey Chaucer consisting of stanzas of seven lines in iambic pentameter.
Romanticism
Nature and love were a major themes of Romanticism favoured by 18th and 19th century poets such as Byron, Shelley, and Keats. Emphasis was placed on the personal experiences of the individual.
Senryu
A short Japanese poem that is similar to a haiku in structure but treats human beings rather than nature, often in a humorous or satiric way.
Tanka
A Japanese poem of five lines, the first and third composed of five syllables and the rest of seven.
Terza rima
A type of poetry consisting of 10 or 11 syllable lines arranged in three-line "tercets". The poet Dante is credited with inventing terza rima and it has been used by many English poets including Chaucer, Milton, Shelley, and Auden.
Sonnet
English (or Shakespearean) sonnets are lyric poems that are 14 lines long falling into three coordinate quatrains and a concluding couplet. Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnets are divided into two quatrains and a six-line sestet.
Verse
A single metrical line of poetry, or poetry in general (as opposed to prose).
« Last Edit: Jun 20, 2007, 3:39pm by anirbas » Link to Post - Back to Top 152.163.101.18
assonance--as·so·nance (ăs'ə-nəns)
n.
1. Resemblance of sound, especially of the vowel sounds in words, as in: “that dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea” (William Butler Yeats).
2. The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, especially in stressed syllables, with changes in the intervening consonants, as in the phrase tilting at windmills.
3. Rough similarity; approximate agreement.
[French, from Latin assonāre, to respond to : ad-, ad- + sonāre, to sound.]
assonant as'so·nant adj. & n.
assonantal as'so·nan'tal (-năn'tl) adj.
Dissonance--
Dissonance in poetry is the deliberate avoidance of assonance, i.e. patterns of repeated vowel sounds. The opposite of assonance is dissonance, the usage of repeated consonant sounds; or a combination of sounds that is displeasing to the ear.
automatic writing--a practice in which the poet attempts to write but without conscious control. The aim is to give the subconscious freer rein, to loosen up the way the poet normally writes, producing (everyone hopes) new associations and new, unpredictable situations. Automatic writing is a practice central to the poetry of many Surrealist, Symbolist, and chance poets.
comedy-- a genre in which people mess up a lot but come out all right in the end. Comedy is really a celebration of how human beings, despite their foibles, manage to keep going in this crazy world.
conceit--a kind of metaphor in which two things thought to be very dissimilar are compared--as, for example, democracy and a wrecking crane. In Renaissance poetry, such as that of John Donne, conceits were often elaborated or extended.
concrete poetry--poetry written to resemble the physical shape of its subject, as in a
Coke-bottle-shaped poem about a Coke bottle.
convention--a widespread general agreement on how to do something. Poetry is full of such things. You could call rhyme a convention.
diction--groups of words of the same social register, as in high diction (extremely formal or pretentious language) or low diction (slang or informal language). This term is also used to mean "word choice" in general.
dramatic monologue--a passage of verse written as if meant to be spoken by a single speaker on a stage. During a dramatic monologue, the speaker usually narrates events in his real or psychic life, thereby implying or revealing secrets about his viewpoint or psychological makeup. Also called a soliloquy.
dramatic poetry--poetry that's either meant to be put on as a play with actors, or poetry that could potentially be performed that way. Dramatic poetry has all the hallmarks of the drama, including plot, setting, character, and dialogue.
elegy--a poem of lamentation or sorrow. Poems that have these elements in them are often called elegiac.
enjambment--the practice of running a phrase or sentence over the end of one line and into the next without a punctuated pause. [Pegesus does wonderful pieces in this manner]
epic poetry--traditionally, poetry on a grand scale, which tells the story of the establishment of a nation or community, with an epic hero who carries that community's values into battle against anything that threatens it. The hero may descend into hell, battle monsters, or contend with evil forces.
epitaphy--a poem either written on a tombstone or gravesite or written as though it were meant for such a place.
extended metaphor--a single, detailed, dominating metaphor that continues for a considerable way through a passage of poetry.
------------------------------------------------------------
figure of speech--any special use of language, including metaphor, simile, analogy, or pun. Figures of speech usually are not meant to be taken literally but imply more and other than what they say on the surface.
inversion--in poetry, inversion is the practice of writing phrases or sentences out of their normal syntactical order. Compare "He isn't Leonardo DiCaprio" to "Leonardo DiCaprio heisn't." The second sentence is an inversion. Older poetry accepted inversion as a normal part of poetic expression. More recent poets use inversions for the sake of emphasis and surprise.
irony--two kinds of irony are referred to most often. Verbal irony is the practice of saying one thing when you mean another. Such forms of irony include understatement, overstatement, litotes (created by negating a negative), and sarcasm. A second kind of irony is situational irony, which refers to events that happen at variance with or contrary to your expectations.
light verse--poetry that is playful or humorous and usually ryhmed. Ogden Nash and Dorothy Parker are two poets who wrote excellent light verse.
lyric poetry--short, usually songlike or personal poetry, as contrasted with the longer, communal poetry of the epic.
lyrics--the words to a song. Song lyrics have been one of the major soureces of world poetry.
metonymy--the practice of replacing the name of the thing with the name of something associated with it, as when we say "the suits" when we mean "the executives."
[thanks to on-line sources for definitions and the book, Poetry for Dummies, my poetical bible, per se...LOL]