| A | B |
|---|
| anapest | A foot of three syllables, the third of which takes the metrical ictus |
| aphorism | a brief and pointed statement alleging a truth, a proverb |
| Apollonian and Dionysian | Apollonian is often associated with classicism, and Dionysian with romanticism |
| Apostrophe | As used in literature it refers to a form of direct invocation of a person or force not present within the terms of the discourse |
| Archetype | THe original pattern or model after which a thing is made. In literature frequently associated with such themes as the passing of time |
| Archaism | A word or phrase no longer in actual speech |
| Arsis | That part of the foot which receives the metrical ictus( stress mark) |
| Assonance | Likeness of vowel sounds |
| Aubade | A dawn song. Dawn is a traditional subject for the lyric verse |
| Autotelic | a work which contains its ultimate purpose within itself |
| Ballad | A story told or implied in song, passed down by word of mouth from singer to singer |
| Ballade | A French lyric form |
| Ballad Metre | A quatrain of alternate four-foot and three-foot lines, mostly iambic in character but with free substitution |
| Baroque | A style of artistic expression marked in literature by complexity of form and bizarre,ingenious, and often ambiguous imagery |
| Bathos | A sudden shift in a statement from the elevated to the trite |
| Blank Verse | any verse without rhyme |
