Poetry Terminology Flashcards Preview

da Vinci English Literature Poetry Higher > Poetry Terminology > Flashcards

Flashcards in Poetry Terminology Deck (8)
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1
Q

What is a couplet?

A

A two line rhyme, or stanza.

2
Q

What is a quatrain?

A

A four line rhyming stanza.

3
Q

What is a sestet?

A

A six line rhyming stanza.

4
Q

What is an octave?

A

An eight line rhyming stanza.

5
Q

What is a caesura?

A

A pause near the middle of a line. Caesuras are often used to slow down the reading of a poem, and to emphasise a word or idea.

E.g. ‘Then, and only then, did I come close’ (‘The Manhunt’).

6
Q

What is enjambment?

A

The continuation of a sentence beyond a line, or even across stanzas.

7
Q

What is iambic pentameter?

A

A line containing ten syllables of (more accurately, five metrical feet of stressed and unstressed syllables).

E.g. ‘How do I love thee? Let me count the ways’ (‘Sonnet 43’).

8
Q

What is a stanza?

A

A grouping of lines separated from others in a poem.

Stanzas are often used to show a change in tone, time, or thought.