| A | B |
|---|
| ANAPEST | a metrical pattern of two unaccented syllables followed by an accented syllable. |
| APOSTROPHE | direct address in poetry |
| ASIDE | words spoken by an actor intended to be heard by the audience but not by other characters on stage. |
| AUBADE | a love poem set at dawn which bids farewell to the beloved. |
| BALLAD | a simple narrative poem, often incorporating dialogue that is written in quatrains, generally with a rhyme scheme of a b c d. |
| BLANK VERSE | unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| CAESURA | a break or pause within a line of poetry indicated by punctuation and used to emphasize meaning |
| CATHARSIS | according to Aristotle, the release of emotion that the audience of a tragedy experiences. |
| CONVENTION | a traditional aspect of a literary work, such as a soliloquy in a Shakespearean play or a tragic hero in a Greek tragedy. |
| COUPLET | two lines of rhyming poetry; often used by Shakespeare to conclude a scene or an important passage. |
| DACTYL | a foot of poetry consisted of a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables. |
| DEUS EX MACHINA | A Greek invention, literally "the god from the machine" who appears at the last moment and resolves the loose ends of a play. Today, the term refers to anyone, usually of some stature, who untangles, resolves, or reveals the key to the plot of a work. |
| DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE | a type of poem that presents a conversation between a speaker and an implied listener. |
| ELEGY | a poem that laments the dead or a loss. |
| ENJAMBMENT | a technique in poetry that involves the running on of a line or stanza. It enables the poem to move and to develop coherence as well as directing the reader with regard to form and meaning. |
| EPIC | a lengthy, elevated poem that celebrates the exploits of a hero. |
| EPIGRAM | a brief witty poem. |
| FABLE | a simple, symbolic story, usually employing animals as characters. |
| FOOT | a metrical unit in poetry; a syllabic measure of a line: iamb, trochere, anapest, dactyl, and spondee. |
| FREE VERSE | poetry without a defined form, meter, or rhyme scheme. |
