Poetry - Sound and Rhythm | Writing Center

Terms Related to Poetry - Sound and Rhythm

alliteration –

the repetition of sounds in the beginnings of word; front rhyme

anaphora –

repetition of word or words at the beginning of lines or stanzas

approximate rhyme –

near rhyme

assonance –

use of vowel sounds for rhyming

cacophony –

unrhymed or discordant sounds

caesura –

a pause or stop in the middle of a verse

consonance –

use of consonants for rhyming

end-stopped line –

a pause at the end of a line of verse

enjambment/run-on line –

continuation of a thought or sentence onto a new line

euphony –

good or pleasing sound

eye rhyme –

a similarity in spelling between words that are pronounced differently

falling meter –

movement from stressed to unstressed meter

imperfect rhyme –

close but not exact rhyme; near rhyme; approximate rhyme

meter –

the recurring pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in lines of poetry of specific length

near rhyme –

approximate rhyme

onomatopoeia –

words that sound like the sound they mean: buzz

perfect rhyme –

when a sound in a word is the same as the sound in another word

rhyme –

the repetition of similar sounds

rhythm –

is the movement of sound in a recurrent pattern; the beat

rising meter –

movement from unstressed to stressed meter

run-on line/enjambment –

the continuation of a sentence or thought onto the next line

scansion –

a way of marking the metrical pattern in a poem

slant rhyme –