Allegory A work in which the principal subject is described by another subject resembling it in its properties and circumstances. Each subject has both a literal meaning and a consistent metaphorical meaning, and the work proceeds on two levels at once.

Alliteration The repetition of sounds, especially consonant sounds, within a passage

Assonance The repetition of vowel sounds within a passage

Augustan The Augustan period is named for the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar, who ruled from 27 B.C.E. to 14 C.E. During his reign, Rome saw its greatest literary and cultural achievements (Virgil, Ovid, Horace). Sometimes the term Augustan is applied to the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries in England (Dryden, Swift, Pope and Defoe)

Blank verse is the technical name for unrhymed, iambic pentameter -- i.e., verse of five feet per line, with the stress on the second beat of each foot.

Caesura Is a pause somewhere in the middle of a verse

Cavalier Poetry An early seventeenth-century (mostly Caroline) movement, centred on Robert Herrick, Thomas Carew, John Suckling, Richard Lovelace, and Henry Vaughn. Most were admirers of Ben Jonson. Short, lyric poetry featuring elegant and, at times, erotic expressions of love are characteristic of this group- as well as carpe diem themes.

Classical Usually refers to Greek and Roman from the time of Homer to the end of the Roman empire

Couplet A verse form, rhyming aa bb cc

Elegy A type of lyric poem usually a formal lament for the dead

Figure of speech A non literal use of language for rhetorical purposes

Foot Regular unit of rhythm (or beat) which makes up the verse. Each foot consists of a combination of syllables which when repeated form the basis of the meter of the verse. Common feet include iamb, trochee, spondee, dactyl, anapaest and amphibrach.

Free verse Has no fixed metrical foot, and often no fixed number of feet per verse

Genre A type of literary work e.g. Novel, Poetry etc

Gothic Named after the Goths, a Germanic tribe that took part in the conquering of the Roman Empire. Often standing for medieval barbarism, and also representing the culture of the Middle Ages generally e.g.  Gothic architecture. Late in the eighteenth century, a new genre of novel represented these aspects of the Middle Ages: dark castles, secret passages, stormy nights, portentous gloom and terror.

Haiku Or hokku, is a Japanese lyric form which presents a vivid picture and presents the poet's impression, often with suggestions of spiritual insight. The traditional haiku is three lines long: the first of five syllables, the second of seven, and the third of five.

Irony The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning. An expression marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning. A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect.

Lyric Poetry Lyric poetry -- which takes its name from songs accompanied by the lyre. Most lyric poems are fairly short, often personal and representative of the subject's emotions. Examples include the elegy and the ode.

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