| A | B |
|---|
| Macabre | A combination of farce and tragedy |
| Macaroni Verse | Verse that has two or more languages |
| Macedoine | A series of verbage-like sentences that make a point in grammar but make no sense |
| Madrigal | A song designed for several voices |
| Maggot | A piece of whimsey |
| Magnum Opus | A great work or masterpiece |
| Malapropism | Inappropriate or incorrect speech; i.e. "confidence" for "conference" |
| Maladiction | A curse |
| Marchen | German fairy tales |
| Marginalla | Material written in the margins of books |
| Matin | A mourning song |
| Masculine Rhyme | A single one syllable rhyme, like "thron/scorn" |
| Maxim | A short statement |
| Meditative Poetry | Stream of consciousness poetry. |
| Meiosis | A figure of speech which contains an understatement for emphasis |
| Melic Poetry | Greek for "song" |
| Meliorism | A belief that society has the innate ability to improve itself |
| Melodrama | Song+drama |
| Meloposia | Greek term, coinded by Ezra Pound, to describe a range of poetry |
| Memoir | An account of a person's life written by himself |
| Mesostich | An acrostic poem in which the middle letters form a word |
| Metacriticism | The study of criticism itself |
| Metafiction | A work of fiction about fiction |
| Metalepsis | Adding one trope (elaborate language) to another |
| Metaphor | A figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of another |
| Manifesto | A public declaration on political, religious, or philosophical matters |
| Manuscript | A book or document written by hand |
| Maxim | A short statement which contains a general truth |
| Measure | Another word for meter |
| Melic Poetry | Lyric poetry to be sung and danced to |
| Metanoia | A statement is made, then lessened; "I'll murder you/you will be punished" |
| Metaphysical Conceit | Metaphysical thought |
| Metaphysical Poetry | Bold, imaginary and psychological poetry written about life, death, love, etc. |
| Metastasis | Glossing over a matter as if it had no importance |
| Metathesis | Changing the position of sounds in words; i.e. "perty" for "pretty" |
| Metonymy | When the name of a person or thing is substituted for the thing itself; "The Crown" for monarchy |
| Miles Gloriosus | A braggart soldier |
| Minnesinger | A German lyric poet |
| Miracle Play | Dramatizes the lives of the saints |
| Mixed Metaphor | When there is a vast disparity between two comparisons; i.e. "blind mouths" |
| Monody | An ode sung by a single actor in a tragedy or a funeral poem |
| Monometer | A line of verse that contains one metrical foot |
| Monorhyme | A poem, or part of a poem, where all the lines have the same end-rhyme |
| Morpheme | The smallest linguistic unit |
| Motif | A pattern of recurrent images or phrases |
| Motivation | The effect that environment and personality has on a character |
| Mummery | A simple dramatic performance |
| Mummings | Masked folk processions |
| Mystery Play | Religious play that dramatizes Biblical scripture |
| Myth | An anonymous tale with unkown origins |
| Mythopoeia | Creating myths |
| Monsemy | Has a single meaning |
