Metaphor A figure of speech. An implied comparison of two things

Metaphysical Poetry including the works of John Donne and George Herbert. Metaphysical poets often used elaborate imagery and complicated metaphors

Meter The rhythm of lines of regular verse made up of a number of metrical feet e.g. iambic pentameter

Modernism The deliberate departure from tradition and the use of innovative forms of expression that distinguish many styles in the arts and literature of the 20th century. Writers include James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, T S Eliot and Ezra Pound.

Narrative Is the recording of a succession of events

Ode Is a poem of celebration

Onomatopoeia Use words which, through their very sound, suggest their subject

Oxymoron The juxtaposition of two contradictory ideas

Parody is the imitation of either formal or thematic elements of one work in another for humorous purposes

Pastoral from the Latin pastor, "shepherd", is literally the poetry or songs of shepherds and represents an ideal of leisurely pursuits

Personification When something other than a human being (often an abstract quality) is treated as a human being

Post-modern Of or relating to art, architecture, or literature that reacts against earlier modernist principles, as by reintroducing traditional or classical elements of style or by carrying modernist styles or practices to extremes

Renaissance (French for "rebirth") Traditionally designates the centuries following the Middle Ages in Europe which saw a "rebirth" of interest  classical literature or, more specifically, Greek literature, since much of the literature of Rome was widely known during the Middle Ages

Rhetoric Is the art of persuasion, using language to convince or sway an audience- or the study of that art

Rhyme Is the similarity in sound of the ends of words

Rhythm The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of verse or (less often) prose. Regular rhythm is called meter

Romanticism An artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th century and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions. Traditionally the six major Romantic poets are  William Blake, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, John Keats, and Percy Bysshe Shelley

Satire Is the ridicule of some vice or imperfection -- an attack on someone or something by making it look ridiculous or worthy of scorn

Scan Examine a verse to determine its meter


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