Glossary of Poetry TermsAllegory : a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms / figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another (a parallel)Alliteration : words starting with the same letter. (Many mice might make a mess.)Ballad : sentimental or romantic popular songCouplet : a pair of successive lines in poetryElegy : sad or mournful musical composition (especially for a funeral)Figurative : metaphorical and not literalFoot : unit of meter in poetry consisting of a combination of stressed and unstressed syllablesFree verse : no rhythm or rhymeHyperbole : exaggerationIambic : syllable stress pattern, 1 light then 1 strong ( u / )Idiomatic : peculiar to or characteristic of a particular language or dialectImagery : formation of images or likeness of things related to the 5 senses.Internal rhyme : 2 or more words rhyming in a lineIrony : the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaningLitotes : understatementMetaphor : compares two things without using “like”Meter : type or number of feet/stressed syllables in a line of poetryMetonymy: figure of speech in which an attribute of a thing is substituted for the thng itself (e.g. “sweat” can mean hard labour, “”crown” can mean king or sovereign(ty)Ode : long stately elaborate lyrical verseOnomatopoeia : a word representing a sound (e.g. “click”, “swish”)Parody : a mocking imitationPersonification : treating an object as if it were a person (the tree reached its arms towards the sun)Pun : a play on wordsQuatrain : a stanza/verse/poem of four linesRhyme : 2 or more words with similar sounding final syllables ( “run” and “sun” or “loan” and “bone”)Rhythm : pulse/beat or variation of length and accent of a series of sounds Satire : using humour to say bad things as a way to change people’s thinking / the use of irony, sarcasm ridicule, or the like, to expose or denounce vice, folly etc.Setting : place, time or atmosphere in literature Stanza : group of lines of poetry forming a unitStress pattern : stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry -anapaestic - - / (to the beach) -dactylic / - - (frequently) -iambic - / (indeed) -spondaic / / (true blue) -trochaic / - (deadline)Symbolism : the use of symbols to represent ideasTone : quality in the voice/writing that expresses the speaker’s/writer’s feeling or thoughtsVerse : one of the parts that a song or poem is divided into