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Browse this list of poetic terms, including literary devices, poetic forms and techniques, and schools and movements. Many of these brief definitions link to a longer page including a more detailed definition, example poems, related essays, and other resources.
This is a list of terms for describing texts, with an emphasis on terms that apply specifically to poetry, that appear most frequently in literary criticism, or for which dictionary definitions tend to be unenlightening.
- Abecedarian. Related to acrostic, a poem in which the first letter of each line or stanza follows sequentially through the alphabet. See Jessica Greenbaum, “A Poem for S.”
- Accentual verse. Verse whose meter is determined by the number of stressed (accented) syllables—regardless of the total number of syllables—in each line.
- Accentual-syllabic verse. Verse whose meter is determined by the number and alternation of its stressed and unstressed syllables, organized into feet. From line to line, the number of stresses (accents) may vary, but the total number of syllables within each line is fixed.
- Acmeism. An early 20th-century Russian school of poetry that rejected the vagueness and emotionality of Symbolism in favor of Imagist clarity and texture.
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds—particularly the sound of a word’s initial consonant—for aural effect.
- Anapest: An anapest is a metrical foot of poetry that consists of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable. Anapest is used in meter such as anapestic tetrameter (four anapests per line of poetry).
- Anaphora: In poetry, anaphora refers to a repeated word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines. As it comes at the beginning of a line, anaphora does not affect a poem’s pattern of rhyme.
- Apostrophe: An apostrophe is a poetic phrase addressed to a subject who is either dead or absent, or to an inanimate object or abstract idea.
Mar 13, 2017 · Find the definitions of 37 common poetry terms and their definitions, including stanza lengths, metrical feet, line lengths, alliteration, assonance, consonance, enjambment, refrain, and more!
Oct 15, 2023 · DragonImages via Canva Pro. The Complete Poetic Glossary. This glossary contains all the common poetic terms you can expect to find in English poetry, plus some of the more obscure ones. Students, poets and readers of poetry should be able to find just what they're looking for here.
Nov 30, 2023 · By R. R. Noall / November 30, 2023. Browse our glossary of poetic terms, which include poetic terms, forms, and literary devices. Use this list to find inspiration, try out new styles of poetry, or to brush up on your knowledge.
