Assignment # 1: Poetic Terminology

Assignment #1: Poetic Terminology 1. Alliteration- repetition of a particular sound or syllable two or more times in a group [EX: Elderly elephants egress elegantly] 2. Allusion- casual reference or implication of something [EX: Titles of books often allude to what the contents will hold, subtly or not. A book titled Little House on the Prairie implies that there will be a small house on a plain of grass.] 3. Analogy-two things that have something in common making them comparable [EX: ‘His resolve was that of a rock.’ Meaning his determination was hard, in similarity to the hardness of a rock.] 4. Anapest- two short syllables, or two unstressed syllables followed by one long, or stressed syllable [EX: A classic example is from
Elegy-a melancholy, or plaintive poem generally mourning someone who is dead. [EX: Walt Whitman’s O Captain! My Captain! “Here Captain! Dear father!/This arm is beneath your head;/It is some dream that on deck,/You’ve fallen cold and dead”] 17. Metaphor- figure of speech that describes something through comparison to something entirely unrelated otherwise. [EX: “feeling blue”, “broken heart” or “early bird” are all metaphors. You can’t feel a color, it just refers to a feeling of sadness. “Broken heart” doesn’t mean that a heart is physically broken, it just refers to a feeling of hurt feelings. “Early bird” doesn’t mean that someone is actually a bird, it just means they are an early riser.] 18. Epic- Traditionally long, it narrates the adventures or lives of heroes fighting their adversaries. [EX: The Illiad and the Odyssey by Homer are both examples of epics.] 19. Epigram- Satirical and memorable statement, that is brief and interesting. [EX: Oscar Wilde once said “I can resist everything but temptation.” This is an example of an epigram not found in poetry. Shakespeare wrote “So all my best is dressing old words new,/Spending again what is already spent;/For as the sun is daily new and old,/So is my love still telling what is