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Elements of Poetry Handout
Elements of Poetry Handout
ENG 230
Meter: The pattern of repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry
Foot: The smallest repeated pattern of stressed or unstressed syllables in a poetic line;
usually contains one stressed syllable and at one unstressed syllabus. Standard feet in English
poetry include:
Iamb: An unstressed followed by a stressed syllable
Trochee: A stressed followed by an unstressed syllable
Spondee: Two stressed syllables
Dactyl: One strong stressed syllable followed by two weakly accented or
unaccented syllables
Anapest: Two weakly accented syllables followed by one strong stress
Verse: A metric line of poetry named for kind and number of feet it contains
Monometer: one foot Dimeter: two feet Trimeter: three feet
Tetrameter: four feet Pentameter: five feet Hexameter: six feet
Heptameter: seven feet Octometer: eight feet
Stanza: A division of poetry named for the number of lines it contains
Couplet: two lines Tercet/Triplet: three lines Quatrain: four lines
Quintet: five lines Sestet: six lines Septet: seven lines
Octave: eight lines
Caesura: A pause or sudden break in a line of poetry
Canto: A main division of a long poem
Heroic (or closed) couplet: Two successive rhyming lines that contain a complete thought
Enjambment: The running over of a sentence or thought from one line of poetry to another
Rhyme: The similarity or likeness of sound existing between two words
Internal rhyme: When rhyming words occur within the same line of poetry
End rhyme: Rhyming words that appear at the ends of two or more lines of
poetry
Rhymed verse: verse with end rhyme that usually has regular meter
Repetition: The repeating of a word, phrase, or sound in a poem to create a sense of rhythm
Refrain: The repetition of a line or phrase of a poem at regular intervals, especially at the
end of a stanza
Rhythm: The ordered, or free occurrences of sound in poetry. Ordered or regular rhythm is
called meter; free occurrence of sound is free verse
Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds without the repetition of consonants
Alliteration: The repetition of initial consonant sounds
Consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds; although similar to alliteration,
consonance is not limited to the first letters of words