| A | B |
|---|
| line | the poetic line is measured by the number of feet it contains |
| scansion | the process of analyzing poetry's rhythm by looking at meter and feet |
| foot | basic building block of poetry composed of a pattern of syllables |
| meter | defined by the predominant type of foot and the number of feet within the lines of a poem |
| iamb | 2 syllables; unstressed stressed |
| trochee | 2 syllables; stressed unstressed |
| spondee | 2 syllables; stressed stressed |
| pyrrhic | 2 syllables; unstressed unstressed |
| anapest | three syllables; unstressed unstressed stressed |
| dactyl | 3 syllables; stressed unstressed unstressed |
| monometer | line of poetry consisting of one foot |
| dimeter | line of poetry consisting of two feet |
| trimeter | line of poetry consisting of three feet |
| tetrameter | line of poetry consisting of four feet |
| pentameter | line of poetry consisting of five feet |
| hexameter | line of poetry consisting of six feet |
| heptameter | line of poetry consisting of seven feet |
| octameter | line of poetry consisting of eight feet |
| nonometer | line of poetry consisting of nine feet |
| iambic pentameter | line of poetry consisting of 5 feet; each foot consists of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable |
| dactylic trimeter | line of poetry consisting of 3 feet; each foot consists of 3 syllables, one stressed followed by two unstressed syllables |
| anapestic dimeter | line of poetry consisting of 2 feet; each foot consists of 3 syllables, two unstressed followed by one stressed syllable |
| spondaic monometer | a line of poetry consisting of one foot; each foot consists of two stressed syllables |
| trochaic tetrameter | a line of poetry consisting of 4 feet; each foot consists of two syllables with one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable |
| stanza | a group of lines in the formal pattern of a poem |
| couplet | the simplest stanza, consisting of two rhymed lines |
| tercet | three lines, usually having the same rhyme |
| quatrain | four lines |
| cinquain | five lines |
| sestet | six lines |
| octave | eight lines |
| rhyme | a similarity of accented sounds between two words, such as sad/mad; rhymes can be masculine or feminine |
| masculine rhyme | rhyme sound is the last syllable of the line, eg. profound/bound |
| feminine rhyme | accented syllable is followed by an unaccented syllable eg. banding/landing |
| internal rhyme | a rhyme occurring within a line of poetry |
| internal rhyme example | Once upon a midnight DREARY, while I pondered,/weak and WEARY,.../While I nodded, nearly NAPPING, suddenly there came/a TAPPING,/As of some one gently RAPPING, RAPPING at my chamber door. |
| end rhyme | a rhyme that comes at the end of lines of poetry |
| end rhyme example | Her voice, soft and lovely when she SINGS,/Came to me last night in a DREAM./In my head her voice still RINGS/,How pleasant last night must SEEM. |
| blank verse | poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter; Shakespeare wrote most of his plays in blank verse; Christopher Marlowe first used blank verse |
