Poetry Vocabulary Flashcards

Poetry Vocabulary Words

• Alliteration: Repetition of the same initial consonant sounds in closely placed words.
• Allusion: A subtle reference to another literary work or character, enhancing meaning.
• Anapest: A metrical foot comprising two weak syllables followed by one strong syllable.
• Apostrophe: Directly addressing an absent person or abstract idea, often found in poetic forms.
• Assonance: Repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds within a passage, enriching musical quality.
• Blank Verse: Unrhymed poetry typically written in iambic pentameter; provides a natural rhythm.
• Connotation: The emotional or cultural associations a word carries, beyond its literal definition.
• Consonance: Pattern of consonant sounds repeated with varying intervening vowels, contributing to rhythm.
• Couplet: A pair of successive rhyming lines, often in iambic pentameter, establishing closure or emphasis.
• Dactyl: A metrical foot consisting of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.
• Denotation: The explicit dictionary meaning of a word, devoid of any associated emotions.
• Diction: The specific choice and use of words in speech or writing, influencing tone and style.
• Dramatic Monologue: A speech revealing a character's emotions or thoughts, delivered to an audience or another character.
• Enjambment: Continuation of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the next without a pause.
• Euphemism: A milder term used in place of a harsher or more direct one, softening the impact of the statement.
• Exaggeration/Understatement: Techniques used to either amplify or downplay a statement for effect.
• Figurative Language: Use of expressions that convey meanings beyond the literal interpretation to evoke emotions.
• Foot: The basic unit of measurement in poetry; consists of a combination of stressed and unstressed syllables.
• Free Verse: Poetry without regular rhythm or rhyme, mimicking conversational speech while utilizing sound effects.
• Hyperbole: An intentional exaggeration for emphasis or effect.
• Iamb: A metrical foot containing one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable.
• Imagery: Vivid descriptive language that creates sensory experiences through visual, auditory, or tactile references.
• Irony: A discrepancy between expectations and reality, enhancing themes and engagement.
• Dramatic Irony: A situation where the audience possesses greater knowledge than the characters, creating tension.
• Situational Irony: A contrast between anticipated outcomes and actual results, often highlighting unexpected turns.
• Verbal Irony: A figure of speech where the intended meaning differs from the literal meaning, often sarcastic.
• Lyric Poem: A short poem expressing personal emotions or thoughts, rather than narrating a story.
• Metaphor: A figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two unlike things, asserting they are the same.
• Meter: The structured rhythm in poetry, measured in feet, yielding regular patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables.
• Metonymy: A figure of speech where a thing is referred to by the name of something associated with it.
• Octave: The first eight lines of a sonnet, setting up themes or arguments.
• Onomatopoeia: Words that mimic natural sounds, enhancing the auditory experience.
• Oxymoron: A figure of speech that juxtaposes contradictory terms, revealing paradoxes.
• Persona: The character or narrator in a poem created by the author, distinct from the author's true self.
• Quatrain: A stanza or verse of four lines, commonly found in sonnets, typically containing alternating rhyme.
• Repetition: The recurrence of words, phrases, or sounds to emphasize a theme or idea.

Enhance your understanding of poetry with this quiz on important vocabulary words. Each flashcard covers key terms like alliteration, allusion, anapest, and apostrophe, providing definitions to help you grasp their meanings and usages in literature.