Glossary of Poetry and Literary Terms

refers to the repetition of a particular sound in the first syllables of a series of words or phrases.

a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication.

the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming within phrases or sentences, and together with alliteration and consonance[1] serves as one of the building blocks of verse. For example, in the phrase "Do you like blue?", the /uː/ ("o"/"ou"/"ue" sound) is repeated within the sentence and is assonant.

a form of verse, often a narrative set to music.

poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

a phrase from a Latin poem by Horace (see "Source" section below) that has become an aphorism. It is popularly translated as "seize the day". Carpe literally means "to pick, pluck, pluck off, cull, crop, gather", but Ovid used the word in the sense of, "to enjoy, seize, use, make use of".

involve analogy to similar concepts or other contexts, and may involve exaggerations.

the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally

in a literary text, occurs when an author uses an object that is not really there, in order to create a comparison between one that is, usually evoking a more meaningful visual experience for the reader

the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning

a set of words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses

a literary figure of speech that describes a subject by asserting that it is, on some point of comparison, the same as another otherwise unrelated object. Metaphor is a type of analogy and is closely related to other rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via association, comparison or resemblance including allegory, hyperbole, and simile.

the arrangement of a line of poetry by the number syllables and the rhythm of accented (or stressed) syllables.