Glossary of Poetry Terms
Glossary of Poetry Terms
Glossary of Poetry Terms
alexandrine
A line of poetry that has 12 syllables. The name probably comes from a medieval romance
about Alexander the Great that was written in 12-syllable lines.
foot
Two or more syllables that together make up the smallest unit of rhythm in a poem. For
example, an iamb is a foot that has two syllables, one unstressed followed by one stressed. An
anapest has three syllables, two unstressed followed by one stressed.
iamb
A metrical foot of two syllables, one short (or unstressed) and one long (or stressed). There are
four iambs in the line Come live/ with me/ and be/ my love, from a poem by Christopher
Marlowe. (The stressed syllables are in bold.) The iamb is the reverse of the trochee.
iambic pentameter
A type of meter in poetry, in which there are five iambs to a line. (The prefix penta- means
five, as in pentagon, a geometrical figure with five sides. Meter refers to rhythmic units. In a
line of iambic pentameter, there are five rhythmic units that are iambs.) Shakespeare's plays
were written mostly in iambic pentameter, which is the most common type of meter in English
poetry. An example of an iambic pentameter line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is But
soft!/ What light/ through yon/der win/dow breaks? Another, from Richard III, is A horse!/ A
horse!/ My king/dom for/ a horse! (The stressed syllables are in bold.)
metaphor
A figure of speech in which two things are compared, usually by saying one thing is another, or
by substituting a more descriptive word for the more common or usual word that would be
expected. Some examples of metaphors: the world's a stage, he was a lion in battle, drowning
in debt, and a sea of troubles.
meter
The arrangement of a line of poetry by the number of syllables and the rhythm of accented (or
stressed) syllables.
pentameter
A line of poetry that has five metrical feet.
quatrain
A stanza or poem of four lines.
simile
A figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word like or as. An example
of a simile using like occurs in Langston Hughes's poem Harlem: What happens to a dream
deferred?/ Does it dry up/ like a raisin in the sun?
sonnet
A lyric poem that is 14 lines long. Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnets are divided into two quatrains
and a six-line sestet, with the rhyme scheme abba abba cdecde (or cdcdcd). English (or
Shakespearean) sonnets are composed of three quatrains and a final couplet, with a rhyme
scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. English sonnets are written generally in iambic pentameter.
stanza