Glossary of poetry terms
Encyclopedia
Types of metre
Below, "short/long" definitions of a syllableSyllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
of classical languages correspond to "unstressed/stressed" of English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
- AmphibrachAmphibrachAn amphibrach is a metrical foot used in Latin and Greek prosody. It consists of a long syllable between two short syllables. The word comes from the Greek αμφίβραχυς, amphíbrakhys, "short on both sides"....
: short-long-short - Amphimacer or creticCreticA cretic is a metrical foot containing three syllables: long, short, long. In Greek poetry, the cretic was usually a form of paeonic or aeolic verse. However, any line mixing iambs and trochees could employ a cretic foot as a transition...
: long-short-long - AnapaestAnapaestAn anapaest is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. In classical quantitative meters it consists of two short syllables followed by a long one; in accentual stress meters it consists of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable. It may be seen as a reversed dactyl...
or antivdactylus: short-short-long - Choreus, choree same as TrocheeTrocheeA trochee or choree, choreus, is a metrical foot used in formal poetry consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one...
: long-short - Dactyl: long-short-short
- Iamb: short-long
- MolossusMolossus (poetry)A molossus is a metrical foot used in Greek and Latin poetry. It consists of three long syllables. Examples of Latin words constituting molossi are audiri, cantabant, virtutem....
: long-long-long - Pyrrhic or dibrach: short-short
- SpondeeSpondeeIn poetry, a spondee is a metrical foot consisting of two long syllables, as determined by syllable weight in classical meters, or two stressed syllables, as determined by stress in modern meters...
: long-long - Tribrach: short-short-short
- TrocheeTrocheeA trochee or choree, choreus, is a metrical foot used in formal poetry consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one...
: long-short
Tetrasyllables
- tetrabrach or proceleusmatic: short-short-short-short
- quartus paeonPaeon (prosody)In prosody a paeon is a metrical foot used in both poetry, or prose. It consists of four syllables, with one of the syllables being long and the other three short. Paeons were often used in the traditional Greek hymn to Apollo called paeans. Its use in English poetry is rare...
: short-short-short-long - tertius paeon: short-short-long-short
- minor ionic, or double iamb: short-short-long-long
- secundus paeon: short-long-short-short
- diamb: short-long-short-long
- antispast: short-long-long-short
- first epitrite: short-long-long-long
- primus paeon: long-short-short-short
- choriambChoriambIn Greek and Latin poetry, a choriamb is a metron consisting of four syllables in the pattern long-short-short-long , that is, a trochee alternating with an iamb. Choriambs are one of the two basic metra that do not occur in spoken verse, as distinguished from true lyric or sung verse...
: long-short-short-long - ditrochee: long-short-long-short
- second epitrite: long-short-long-long
- major ionic: long-long-short-short
- third epitrite: long-long-short-long
- fourth epitrite: long-long-long-short
- dispondee: long-long-long-long
Verse forms
- 'a Gra' Reformata' Ten stanza's of ABA CD ABA CD ABA CD ABA CD ABA CD ABAC. Following the rhyme sheme of the 'Villanelle', but with five extra couplets just after each tercet.
- BalladeBalladeThe ballade is a form of French poetry. It was one of the three formes fixes and one of the verse forms in France most commonly set to music between the late 13th and the 15th centuries....
: Three stanzas of "ababbcbC" followed by a refrainRefrainA refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
of "bcbC". The last line of each, indicated by the capital letter, is repeated verbatim. - Chant royalChant royalThe Chant Royal is a poetic form that is a variation of the ballad form and consists of five eleven-line stanzas with a rhyme scheme a-b-a-b-c-c-d-d-e-d-E and a five-line envoi rhyming d-d-e-d-E or a seven-line envoi c-c-d-d-e-d-E...
: Five stanzas of "ababccddedE" followed by either "ddedE" or "ccddedE". (The capital letters indicate a line repeated verbatim.) - CinquainCinquainCinquain is a class of poetic forms that employ a 5-line pattern. Earlier used to describe any five-line form, it now refers to one of several forms that are defined by specific rules and guidelines.-Crapsey cinquain:...
: "ababb". - ClerihewClerihewA clerihew is a whimsical, four-line biographical poem invented by Edmund Clerihew Bentley. One of his best known is this :* It is biographical and usually whimsical, showing the subject from an unusual point of view; it pokes fun at mostly famous people...
: "aabb". - CoupletCoupletA couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.While traditionally couplets rhyme, not all do. A poem may use white space to mark out couplets if they do not rhyme. Couplets with a meter of iambic pentameter are called heroic...
: "aa", but usually occurs as "aa bb cc dd ...". - Enclosed rhymeEnclosed rhymeEnclosed rhyme is the rhyme scheme "abba"...
(or enclosing rhyme): "abba". - GhazalGhazalThe ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century...
: "aa ba ca da ...". - LimerickLimerick (poetry)A limerick is a kind of a witty, humorous, or nonsense poem, especially one in five-line or meter with a strict rhyme scheme , which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent. The form can be found in England as of the early years of the 18th century...
: "aabba". - MonorhymeMonorhymeMonorhyme is a rhyme scheme in which each line has an identical rhyme. This is common in Arabic, Latin, and Welsh works, such as The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, e.g. Qasida and its derivative Kafi. Monorhyme is also used in the third verse of American rapper Jay-Z's song Already Home....
: "aaaaa...", an identical rhyme on every line, common in Latin and Arabic - Ottava rimaOttava rimaOttava rima is a rhyming stanza form of Italian origin. Originally used for long poems on heroic themes, it later came to be popular in the writing of mock-heroic works. Its earliest known use is in the writings of Giovanni Boccaccio....
: "abababcc". - Rhyme royalRhyme royalRhyme royal is a rhyming stanza form that was introduced into English poetry by Geoffrey Chaucer.-Form:The rhyme royal stanza consists of seven lines, usually in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is a-b-a-b-b-c-c. In practice, the stanza can be constructed either as a terza rima and two couplets...
: "ababbcc". - RondeletRondeletThe Rondelet is a brief French form of poetry. It consists of one stanza, made up of seven lines. It contains a refrain, a strict rhyme scheme and a distinct meter pattern....
: "AbAabbA". - RubaiyatRubaiyat"Rubāʿī" is Arabic for "quatrain", and is used to describe a Persian quatrain, or its derivative form in English and other languages. The plural form of the word, rubāʿiyāt ,often anglicised rubaiyat , is used to describe a collection of such quatrains.There are a number of possible rhyme schemes...
: "aaba". - SapphicsSapphic stanzaThe Sapphic stanza, named after Sappho, is an Aeolic verse form spanning four lines ....
- Petrarchan sonnet: "abba abba cde cde" or "abba abba cdc cdc".
- Shakespearean sonnet: "abab cdcd efef gg".
- Simple 4-lineSimple 4-lineSimple 4-line rhymes are usually characterized by having a simple system of abcb repeated throughout the entire sonnet. Though usually simplistic looking, the songs can be very complex and are widely used today in most poetry and songs....
: "abcb" - Spenserian sonnet: "abab bcbc cdcd ee".
- Onegin stanzaOnegin stanzaOnegin stanza refers to the verse form invented by Alexander Pushkin for his interpersonal epic Eugene Onegin...
s: "aBaBccDDeFFeGG" with the lowercase letters representing * TanagaTanaga__NoTOC__The Tanaga is a type of Filipino poem, consisting of four lines with seven syllables each with the same rhyme at the end of each line --- that is to say a 7-7-7-7 Syllabic verse, with an AABB rhyme scheme as in this example:...
- Spenserian stanzaSpenserian stanzaThe Spenserian stanza is a fixed verse form invented by Edmund Spenser for his epic poem The Faerie Queene. Each stanza contains nine lines in total: eight lines in iambic pentameter followed by a single 'Alexandrine' line in iambic hexameter. The rhyme scheme of these lines is...
: "ababbcbcc". - TanagaTanaga__NoTOC__The Tanaga is a type of Filipino poem, consisting of four lines with seven syllables each with the same rhyme at the end of each line --- that is to say a 7-7-7-7 Syllabic verse, with an AABB rhyme scheme as in this example:...
: traditional TagalogTagalog languageTagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
tanaga is aaaa - Terza rimaTerza rimaTerza rima is a rhyming verse stanza form that consists of an interlocking three-line rhyme scheme. It was first used by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri.-Form:Terza rima is a three-line stanza using chain rhyme in the pattern A-B-A, B-C-B, C-D-C, D-E-D...
: "aba bcb cdc ...", ending on "yzy z" or "yzy zz". - TripletTercetA tercet is composed of three lines of poetry, forming a stanza or a complete poem. English-language haiku is an example of an unrhymed tercet poem...
: "aaa", often repeating like the couplet. - VillanelleVillanelleA villanelle is a poetic form that entered English-language poetry in the 19th century from the imitation of French models. The word derives from the Italian villanella from Latin villanus . A villanelle has only two rhyme sounds...
: A1bA2 abA1 abA2 abA1 abA2 abA1A2, where A1 and A2 are lines repeated exactly which rhyme with the a lines.
See also
- Main list: List of basic poetry topics
- List of literary terms
- LiteratureLiteratureLiterature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
- PoetPoetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
- PoetryPoetryPoetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...