Poetry - Definition

Terms Related to Defining Poetry

Prose –

the use of language in day-to-day situations including business settings and which generally follows conventional practices such as grammatical rules; non-poetic style of language

Text –

any written body of words; may be either prose or poetry

Poem –

non-prose use of words to express a feeling or idea usually associated with repetition of sounds, patterned sequences of words and/or lines, figurative language and other poetic devices, and has a highly focused purpose either to tell a story or express an emotion or idea.

Poetry –

use of language in non-everyday ways such as repetition of sounds and rhyme or focus on an observation or feeling using figures of speech and imagery and other devices to compress meaning resulting in more intense communication.

Form (poetic form) –

poetry has two forms: narrative which tells a story and lyric which expression an emotion or idea

Line –

a line of poetry is what is written on one line; not necessarily a sentence

Stanza –

a group of lines generally completing an idea

Closed form (fixed form) –

poetry which follows a pattern of sounds, rhyme, or meter

Iambic pentameter –

a common type of pattern of sounds and rhythm used in poetry created by pairing ten syllables for each line into five pairs. Commonly used by Shakespeare in his sonnets.

Common measure –

a ballad stanza generally rhyming in alternating pairs

Couplet –

a poem or stanza of two lines

Heroic couplet –

two lines of rhymed verse in iambic pentameter; generally used in epic poems

Tercet –

a three-line poem or stanza in a poem

Quatrain –

a poem or stanza of four lines

Octave–

a poem or stanza of eight lines in a poem

Ottava rima–

a poem or stanza of eight lines with a specific rhyme pattern: iambic pentameter with ab ab ab cc

Terza rima –

a poem or stanza in three lines with the first and third line rhyming: aba bcb cdc and so on

Blank verse –

unrhymed iambi pentameter

Prose poem –

an open-form of poetry that is presented as prose

Open form (free verse, vers libre) –

poetry that does not follow any specific pattern of form, rhyme, or meter

Poetic devices –

ways of using language such as imagery, figures of speech, irony, symbolism, allusion, fantasy, point of view, rhyme, rhythm, and theme; used in poetry to compress meaning into fewer words and more intense expression.

Ancient Poetry –

poetry created before the late 500s AD having roots in an oral tradition of creating and performing poetry verbally. Surviving poetry includes love poem from Ancient Sumeria, poetic verses in ancient religious texts including the Bible and Koran, and epics such as the Iliad and Odyssey.

Middle Ages –

an historic period from the late 500s AD to the middle of the 1400s.

Anglo-Saxon era –

poetry created from the beginning of the Middle Ages (late 500s AD) into the end of the Middle Ages (mid-1400s) usually associated with tales of heroic deeds and non-romantic love.

Troubadours –

traveling poets/performers from the Provencal region of France during the Middle Ages reciting lyric poetry about courtly love

Renaissance –

from the French for rebirth; a period ranging from the mid-1400s to the mid-1500s associated with a renewed interest in science, philosophy, and arts including literature. William Shakespeare wrote during this period.

Metaphysical poets –

a poetic movement during the 1600s characterized by analysis, complex form, and themes associated with intellect over emotions.

Romanticism –

a poetic movement beginning in the 1700s characterized by emotion and appreciation for nature and the supernatural and mysterious along with a return to using first-person lyric form.

Modernism –

a poetic movement beginning in the early 1900s spurred by the industrial age, a first World War I, and challenges to established Christianity which characterized by feelings of loss of “old ways” and an unknown, insecure future.

Imagism –

a poetic movement beginning in the early 1900s where poets began experimenting with open verse and focused on the poet’s response to a situation or object stressing concrete imagery.

Harlem Renaissance –

a movement during the 1920s starting in Harlem which focused on Black culture

Black Mountain poets –

a movement during the 1930s starting in Black Mountain, North Carolina which stressed the process of writing instead of the completed poem.

Beat poets –

a movement beginning in the late 1940s where poets turned to the use of psychogenic drugs for mind expansion and where social and political criticism was a common theme.

Confessional poems –

a movement beginning in the 1950s where the subject of poems were the very personal experiences of the poet beyond just a yearning for love or a specific emotional reaction.

Black Arts Movement –

a movement beginning in the 1960s where poets focused on social and political situation of African-Americans.

Slam poetry –

a movement characterized by the competitive art of performance poetry

Spoken word movement –

a movement starting in the 1990s to make poetry more popular and accessible to everyone; some consider rap an example of this movement

Poetic liberty –

taking the liberty for the purpose of creating an image, feeling, or idea to stray from standard language usage including spelling, definition, and grammar and even linear placement of letters or words; does not have to be only in a poem although that is the most frequent acceptable use.

Poetic license –

the term used to describe the justification for taking poetic liberty