An Introduction to Poetry -- The Sounds of Words

Alliteration – the repetition of the same sounding letters

Initial Alliteration – the first letter is repeated, and the letter is a consonant

Assonance – the repetition of vowel sounds within a phrase

Onomatopoeia – using a word that “sounds” like the noise it describes (e.g. buzz)

Rhyme – a similarity of sound

Eye Rhyme – two words look as though they should sound alike (e.g. tough and though)

Perfect Rhyme – the sound of the two words is exactly alike (e.g. dream and scheme)

Near or Slant Rhyme – the sound of the two words is close but not exact (e.g. ball and bell)

End Rhyme – the words at the end of the lines rhyme

Accent – the strong syllable pronounced in a word

Masculine Rhyme – the accent on the rhyming words is on a final strong syllable (e.g. bells and foretells)

Feminine Rhyme – the accent on the rhyming words is on a weak syllable (e.g. season and reason)

Internal Rhyme – using rhyme in the middle of a line as well as the end

End-Stopped Line – the meaning of a line comes to a definite end

Enjambed Line – the meaning does not end but continues on to the next line

Enjambment – (noun) the running of one line into another line

Rhythm – “the rhythm of a poem is built on the sound of words”

Free Verse – poetry which appears free of the restrictions of traditional poetry

Open Form – an alternative term for “free verse”

Closed Form – the term given to traditional verse techniques

Accent – the strong syllable or syllables in a word / the part of a word we emphasize with breath and tone

Strong Accent – all words with more than one syllable will have at least one strong accent

Weak Accent – other syllables in a word

Stressed – a term used in place of “strong accent” / the emphasized sound(s) in a word

Unstressed – a term used in place of “weak accent” / the unemphasized sound(s) in a word

Scansion – a method of analyzing a poem by marking the pattern of accents in a line of poetry

Meter – the pattern set up by the regular rhythm of words in a poem

Foot – one unit of the rhythmic pattern that makes up the meter

Iamb – one weak and one strong syllable

Iambic Meter – the rhythm based on the iambic foot

Trochee – one strong and one weak syllable

Trochaic Meter – the rhythm based on the trochaic foot

Anapest – two weak syllables followed by a strong syllable

Anapestic Meter – the rhythm based on the anapestic foot

Dactyl – a strong syllable followed by two weak syllables

Dactylic Meter – the rhythm based on the dactylic foot

Caesura – a break in the meter (often punctuated with a period, colon, semicolon, or possibly a comma)

Anacrusis – an unstressed syllable at the beginning of a line that does not affect the overall meter

Monometer – a line of one (1) foot

Dimeter – a line of two (2) feet

Trimeter – a line of three (3) feet

Tetrameter – a line of four (4) feet

Pentameter – a line with five (5) feet

Hexameter – a line with six (6) feet

Heptameter – a line with seven (7) feet

Octameter – a line with eight (8) feet

Spondee – two strong accents together

Pyrrhus – two weak accents together

Rising Meter – used for the two feet that begin with a weak syllable: iambic and anapestic

Falling Meter – used for the two feet that begin with a strong syllable: trochaic and dactylic

Blank Verse – a poetic form that utilizes the oratorical style of a long line in regular meter, but without the confines of rhyme; the meter is iambic pentameter

(Taken from Chapter 8 – “The Elements of Poetry: A Poet’s Means” – in Literature and Its Writers: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama – by Ann Charters and Samuel Charters, Compact 2^nd edition, Boston: Bedford-St. Martin’s, 2001, pp. 609-626)