Poetry Terms

an epic poem written in imitation of an earlier epic; aka secondary epic

seven metrical feet; no longer common in English poetry

ABAB rhyme scheme; suitable for choirs & hymns, i.e., Amazing Grace

a ballad with more elaborate stanzas, i.e., Rime of the Ancient Mariner

A foot consisting of a strongly stressed syllable followed by a weakly stressed syllable

a foot consisting of two unstressed syllables followed by a stress, as in "The Destruction of Sennacherib" by Byron: "The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold"

a foot of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables: merrily, happily

a kind or type of poetry that conforms to certain conventions & expectations

a line of verse consisting of two metrical feet

a line of verse in which a logical or rhetorical pause occurs at the end of the line, usually marked with a period, comma, or semicolon

a pause or break in the middle of a line, may be marked by a comma

a rhythmic pattern based on a regular count of both the syllables and the accents in a line, as in Cantebury Tales

the science or study of poetic meters and versification

act of determining what meter a given line has, if any

an iambic line in which the first (unstressed) syllable is omitted; allows the poet to vary meter in a subtle way; also known an asacephalous:

To An Athlete Dying Young

by AE Housman

• The time you won your town the race
• We chaired you through the market-place;
• Man and boy stood cheering by

anonymous medieval word-of-mouth poems

anything that represents or stands in for some larger idea or concept

arose on the border of Scotland & England when a lot of skirmishes took place

as opposed to figurative; considering the obvious meaning of words & phrases

classic epics that became foundational texts for later writers