According to Foster, the sentence is the basic pattern in a poem. If you are having trouble understanding a poem, try writing it out or looking at it in sentences rather than the lines of verse.
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| 4131209784 | narrative | A narrative poem tells a story. In can be all of a story or part of a story. The odyssey is an example of a narrative poem. | 0 | |
| 4131210903 | lyric | A poem that deals with emotions, feelings, thoughts. This is a general category. Poems of all kinds can contain lyrical elements. | 1 | |
| 4131211495 | aubade | A poem about the separation of lovers. A very emotional moment or experience. Traditionally, the separation is at dawn. | 2 | |
| 4131212065 | ballad | A song, or a poem with song-like qualities. Ballads will oftentimes have refrains lines that repeat throughout the poem. | 3 | |
| 4131213034 | dramatic monologue | A poem that has a definite speaker who speaks to a particular person. The listener does not respond, but the listener can influence or have an effect on the speaker. | 4 | |
| 4131218646 | elegy | An elegy is a poem about death, mourning, or somber reflection. It is oftentimes about a particular person who has died. Another term for elegy is a dirge. | 5 | |
| 4131355526 | The epic | A long narrative poem told in a formal, elevated style that focuses on a serious subject and chronicles heroic deeds and events important to a culture or nation. | 6 | |
| 4131219448 | ode | A poem that celebrates. It can be a poem of praise for a person, an object, or an event. | 7 | |
| 4131220238 | pastoral | originally, a celebration of the simple, rustic life of shepherds. It has evolved to refer to any rural theme, idealizing the uncomplicated country life. Also can be referred to as idyllic. | 8 | |
| 4131221098 | sestina | a poem of six six-line stanzas (sestets) with an ending tercet(three-line stanza). There is an intricate repetition using the ending words in each sestet, changing the order in each successive sestet. Three of the ending words also are the ending words of the tercet. | 9 | |
| 4131356857 | Haiku | A style of lyric poetry borrowed from the Japanese that typically presents an intense emotion or vivid image of nature, which, traditionally, is designed to lead to a spiritual insight. Haiku is a fixed poetic form, consisting of seventeen syllables organized into three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. Today, however, many poets vary the syllabic count in their haiku. | 10 | |
| 4131225167 | sonnet | a fourteen-line poem. The two most recognized types of sonnets are the English (Shakespearean, Elizabethan) and Italian (Petrarchan) | 11 | |
| 4131226900 | The English sonnet | has 3 quatrains and an ending couplet. The rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd, efef, gg. The girst two quatrains set the theme or situation, answered or furthered by the third quatrain, and summarized or finalized by the ending couplet. | 12 | |
| 4131228592 | The Italian sonnet | is divided into an octave or octet (8 lines) and a sestet (six lines). The rhyme scheme differs, but a common pattern is abba, abba, cde, cde. The octave is more uniform in rhyme scheme than the sestet. The octave will present the theme, problem, or situation, which is then answered or resolved in the sestet. | 13 | |
| 4131244039 | Terza Rima | A series of three-line stanzas (tercets) with a defined, "interlocking" rhyme scheme (aba, bcb, cdc, etc.). Most are written in iambic pentameter but, whatever the meter, the established meter remains the same throughout the poem. Shorter poems written in terza rima can end in a couplet. | 14 | |
| 4131246524 | Villanelle | a nineteen-line poem with 5 three-line stanzas and an ending quatrain. The rhyme scheme is most often aba, aba, aba, aba, aba, abaa/ The villanelle also contains a refrain, the repetition of the first and third lines of the first stanza. | 15 | |
| 4131270040 | speaker | as in prose, the speaker in a poem can be first person or third person. First person speakers may be identified or simply referred to as "I". The third person speaker may be objective or may have some personality (persona). Do not assume that the speaker in a poem is the poet. | 16 | |
| 4131271085 | Audience | There may be an audience, a person or group, specified by the speaker. The audience may also be general | 17 | |
| 4131271633 | Subject | The subject matter of poems can be everything from the majestic to the trivial. Throughout the ages, poets have been concerned with the matters of the human condition: life's complexities, love, hate, despair, jealousy, courage, loneliness, etc. Generally, writers prior to the 19th century dealt with the existence of the individual in relation to a spiritual universe; from the 19th century on, concerns moved to the individual in relation to nature, science, the industrial world, society, psychology, and the loss of humanity. | 18 | |
| 4131274668 | Imagery | The use of figures of speech to create vivid images that appeal to one of the senses, a "picture in words" | 19 | |
| 4131275181 | Metaphor | A direct comparison of two dissimilar objects. A metaphor may be developed over more than one line. | 20 | |
| 4131275419 | Extended metaphor | a metaphor that is repeated or continuous through stanzas or the entire poem. depending on its use, an extended metaphor could also be considered a controlling image if it dominates the entire work | 21 | |
| 4131276999 | conceit | another name for an extended metaphor. A conceit is a "more-startling" metaphor (drop of dew and the human soul). The conceit can also be the controlling image. The conceit is prevalent in metaphysical poetry. | 22 | |
| 4131277892 | Simile | Using "like" or "as" predominately, a simile is the direct comparison of two dissimilar objects. A simile will be within one line. | 23 | |
| 4131278558 | symbol | a symbol differs from a metaphor in that it is that object plus more. A symbol may carry multiple meanings | 24 | |
| 4131279231 | irony | the incongruity between "what is" and "what is expected" | 25 | |
| 4131279404 | paradox | an apparent contradiction that contains some overriding truth (the one with the greatest perception is the blind man) | 26 | |
| 4131279772 | Hyperbole | obvious exaggeration or overstatement, not intended to be taken literally | 27 | |
| 4131280024 | Understatement | something is purposely represented as being far less important than it actually is. | 28 | |
| 4131280296 | Litote | Affirming with a negative (he is not unfriendly. She is no fool) | 29 | |
| 4131280431 | Allusion | A reference in the work to literature, history, mythology, famous people, characters, or events outside of the work. Adds depth by making a subtle or implicit connection. | 30 | |
| 4131280863 | Apostrophe | A direct address to an absent or dead person, or to an object, quality or idea that are oftentimes personified | 31 | |
| 4131281487 | Metonymy | using an attribute of something as an association of the entirety (Washington for the federal government) | 32 | |
| 4131281985 | Synecdoche | Using one part of an object to represent the entirety ("wheels" in reference to a car) | 33 | |
| 4131282274 | Personification | non-human objects having human characteristics | 34 | |
| 4131282459 | Pathetic fallacy | something in nature that has human emotions | 35 | |
| 4131282799 | synesthesia | using multiple sensory descriptions ("sweet sound") | 36 | |
| 4131283573 | Diction | An author's choice of words. Consider: clarity(literal or abstract), appropriateness (informal, formal, colloquial, etc.) to the character or occasion, connotative and denotative meanings, depth and complexity, tone and mood | 37 | |
| 4131284343 | tone | the attitude of the writer -- think "tone of voice" | 38 | |
| 4131285264 | mood | the prevailing emotional atmosphere in the poem, scene, or the entire literary work | 39 | |
| 4131285441 | repetition | words, sounds, phrases, lines, or elements of syntax that repeat. It can emphasize and it can also trivialize the intended meaning | 40 | |
| 4131286470 | alliteration | the repetition of initial sounds in consecutive or nearly consecutive words | 41 | |
| 4131286772 | assonance | the repetition of vowel sounds | 42 | |
| 4131286954 | consonance | the repetition of consonants | 43 | |
| 4131287052 | cacophony | harsh, clashing word sounds. It is also called dissonance. | 44 | |
| 4131287337 | euphony | pleasing, calm, melodious sounds | 45 | |
| 4131287578 | anaphora | the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences | 46 | |
| 4131287930 | inversion | changing the normal or grammatical sequence in a line. Inversion is used to place emphasis on a word or idea, or it is used for rhyme, rhythm, or meter. | 47 | |
| 4131292311 | Caesura | a pause in a line of poetry that is brought about by punctuation or the natural rhythm of the language | 48 | |
| 4131292695 | enjambment | the continuation of one line of a poem to the next line. It may continue the grammatical structure and/or the thought | 49 | |
| 4131293124 | onomatopoeia | a word formed from the imitation of natural sounds (boom, splat, whoosh) | 50 | |
| 4131334267 | Stanza | a section or division in a poem | 51 | |
| 4131334268 | couplet | 2 lines | 52 | |
| 4131334348 | tercet | 3 lines | 53 | |
| 4131334349 | quatrain | 4 lines | 54 | |
| 4131334412 | cinquain | 5 lines | 55 | |
| 4131334560 | sestet | 6 lines | 56 | |
| 4131334561 | heptet | 7 lines | 57 | |
| 4131334562 | octet (octave) | 8 lines | 58 | |
| 4131335076 | Free Verse/ Open Form | A poem "free of regular meter and rhyme". The poem may have irregular line lengths or fragments, and non-conventional uses of grammar, punctuation, and capitalization. It is "free of conventions, yet very deliberate in its use of words and form | 59 | |
| 4131335697 | Blank Verse | lines in unrhymed iambic pentameter | 60 | |
| 4131336187 | Rhyme | the repetition of like sounds | 61 | |
| 4131336304 | end rhyme | repetition of the same sound at the end of a line (despair, care) | 62 | |
| 4131336503 | masculine rhyme | repetition of the same sound on the last accented syllable (forlorn/torn) | 63 | |
| 4131336816 | Heroic couplet | couplets in iambic pentameter ending in masculine rhyme | 64 | |
| 4131337418 | feminine rhyme | repetition of the same sound on the last unaccented syllable (recieve, believe) | 65 | |
| 4131337677 | Off rhyme, slant rhyme, near rhyme | inexact, but close rhyme (ill, all) | 66 | |
| 4131482191 | internal rhyme | Rhyme that occurs within the line (the stars that shine because you're mine) | 67 | |
| 4131337987 | Initial rhyme | rhyme at the beginning of the line (fought, caught) | 68 | |
| 4131338117 | sight rhyme | words that look like they should rhyme, but don't (seen, been) | 69 | |
| 4131338321 | Rhyme Scheme | representation of the pattern of rhyme in a poem expressed with the use of the alphabet | 70 | |
| 4131339411 | meter | the patterned repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables | 71 | |
| 4131339522 | scansion | the analysis of the meter of a poem | 72 | |
| 4131339611 | Iamb | 1 unaccented syllable, 1 accented syllable (enough) | 73 | |
| 4131339736 | Trochee | 1 accented syllable, 1 unaccented syllable (lipstick) | 74 | |
| 4131339995 | Spondee | 2 accented syllables (fat cat) | 75 | |
| 4131340413 | Anapest | 2 unaccented syllables, 1 accented syllable (lemonade) | 76 | |
| 4131341541 | Dactyl | 1 accented syllable, 2 unaccented syllables (possible) | 77 | |
| 4131341887 | pyrrhic (not on list) | 2 unaccented syllables (borrow) | 78 | |
| 4131342115 | feet | building block of the metrical pattern in a poem | 79 | |
| 4131342259 | monometer | 1 foot | 80 | |
| 4131342260 | dimeter | 2 feet | 81 | |
| 4131342351 | trimeter | 3 feet | 82 | |
| 4131342352 | tetrameter | 4 feet | 83 | |
| 4131342469 | pentameter | 5 feet | 84 | |
| 4131342470 | hexameter | 6 feet | 85 | |
| 4131342554 | Heptameter | 7 feet | 86 | |
| 4131342555 | octameter | 8 feet | 87 | |
| 4131342817 | comma | continues the thought | 88 | |
| 4131342818 | Semi-colon | joining of two or more similar thoughts | 89 | |
| 4131343135 | colon | designates importance of what is to follow | 90 | |
| 4131343211 | dash | off sets for emphasis | 91 | |
| 4131343329 | ellipsis | a pause or an omission. Note: Also a rhetorical device wherein there is an omission of words, but they are understood (the other just as fair) | 92 | |
| 4131343593 | end mark | period (finality, separation, end), question mark, exclamation point | 93 |
