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”