Terms and Definitions of the Poetry Unit Noah Goding and Doug DeAndrea
Apostrophe• In poetry, an apostrophe is a figure of speech in
which the poet addresses an absent person, an abstract idea, or a thing.
• Detaches himself from the reality and addresses an imaginary character in his speech.
• Example: “O cunning Love! With tears thou keep’st me blind, Lest eyes well-seeing thy foul faults should find.” -William Shakespeare
Conceit• A poetic conceit is an often unconventional,
logically complex, or surprising metaphor which is more intellectual than sensual.
• Example: “A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning”
Epic• An epic is a long narrative in verse form that
retells the heroic journey of someone or a group of people.
• Example: Homer’s The Illiad and the Odyssey, and Vergil’s Aeneid
Epigram• An epigram is a short and concise poem that is
usually ironic or witty.• Example: “Sir, I admit your general rule,That every poet is a fool,But you yourself may serve to show it,That every fool is not a poet.” – Sam Taylor Coleridge• More modern: “Candy is dandy, but liquor is
quicker.” –Ogden Nash
Carpe Diem• Directly from Latin Carpe Diem translates to
“Pluck the day”, but commonly referred to as “Seize the day”.
• Living for today• Example: “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time”
Metaphysical poetry
• Highly intellectualized poetry marked by bold and ingenious conceits, incongruous imagery, complexity and subtlety of thought, frequent use of paradox, and often by deliberate harshness or rigidity of expression.
• Example: “A Burnt Ship”
Paradox
• A statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory.
• Example: "What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young.” – George Bernard Shaw
Prose
• Written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure.
• Example: “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” 1984 - George Orwell
Sonnet
• A poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line.
• Example: “Sonnet I”
Symbol • A thing that represents or stands for something
else, especially a material object representing something abstract.
• Example: “My Heart Leads Up When I Behold”