The H's Matching "H" terms. Tools A B Hagiography writing about saints Haiku Japanese poetry consisting of three lines of five, seven, and five syllables Half Rhyme imperfect rhyme; i.e. consonance as in "word" "lord" etc. Hamartia bad judgment or misstep through which the fortunes of the hero are reversed Hapax Legomenon Greek for "something said only onece"; a word that occurs only once Harangue a vehement speech Harlequinade a play featuring a "harequin" or buffoon Head Rhyme the repetition of initial identical consonant sounds or any vowel sounds; i.e. "The fair breeze blew..." Headless Rhyme a line from which an unstressed syllable has been dropped at the beginning Hebraism the belief that only ethical conduct and ethical purpose count in life Hedonism the belief that pleasure is the chief good in life Hegelianism founded by G. Hegel who believed that whatever is real is rational Hellenism the belief in intellect and beauty Hemstich a half-line of verse Hendacasyllabic Verse a line of eleven syllables Heptameter a line of seven feet Heptastich a seven-line stanza Hermeneutic Circle a belief that the reader cannot understand any part of a text until the whole is understoood Hermeneutics the theory of interpretation Heroic Couplet iambic pentameter lines rhymed in pairs Heroic Drama a tragedy characterized by spectacle, violent conflicts, and bombastic dialogue Heroic Line iambic pentameter Heroic Quatrain four lines of iambic pentameter Heroic Verse poetry composed in heroic couplets Heteroglossia "different tongues" or "different speech"; more than one voice or language in a given narrative Heteromerous Rhyme multiple rhyme where one word is forced into a rhyme with two or more words Hexameter a line of six feet Hexastich a stanza of six lines Hiatus a pause or break between two vowel sound not separated by a consonant Hieriatic Style "priestly"; a formal and elaborate style of writing Hieronymy any special name for persons, places, gods, days, months, etc. High Comedy pure or serious comedy Higher Criticism study of biblical texts Historical Criticism criticism of social, cultural, and historical texts Historical Fiction fiction whose setting is in some time other than when it was written Historical Novel a novel that reconstructs a past age History Play any drama whose setting is earlier than when it was written Hollywood Novel a novel set in Hollywood or about the film industry Holograph something completely handwritten Holy Grail the cup from which Christ drank Homeric Epithet a phrase that is repeated so often it becomes part of the name; "swift-footed Achilles" Homily religious instruction drawn from a religious text Homoeoteleuton consecutive words that end in a same or similar way; "relatively easily" "shadow window" Homostrophic stanzas of the same patterns (stropes) Horatian Ode informal poems written in a single stanzaic form about a single subject; "Ode to a Grecian Urn" Horatian Satire satire which is tolerant, indulgent, and witty Hornbook a primer (study book) Hovering Stress when two adjacent (side by side) share the "ictus" so that the stress seems to hover over both syllables; i.e. "night storm" and "swift steps" Howler a small error that begins in ignorance and ends in potential embarrassment; i.e. "prostrate" instead of "prostate" Hubris pride or insolence that results in tragedy for the protagonist Hudibrastic Verse iambic tetrameter in rhyming couplets Humours classification of characters Hymn a poem expressing religious emotion Hymnody (Hymnology) the study of hymns Hypallage an epithet is moved from the porximate to the less proximate in a group of nouns Example of a hypallage "the trumpet's Tuscan bare" instead of "the Tuscan trumpet's blare" Hyperbaton when normal sentence order is tranposed or rearranged Hyperbole exaggeration Hypercatalectic (Hypermetrical) a line with an extra syllable at the end Hysteron Proteron a figure of speech in which what would logically come last comes first; i.e. "trick or treat" instead of "treat or trick"