Literary Terms

A set of principles concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty, especially in art

Symbolic narrative in which the surface details imply a secondary meaning, often both generalized and moral

A reference to another literary text, another text, a myth, historical or contemporary event/person/ place

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row "O, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play! O, well for the sailor lad, That he sings in his boat on the bay!" -Break, Break, Break

An address to someone who is absent or to something nonhuman that cannot comprehend “On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!” -Break, Break, Break

A narrative poem written in quatrains, generally characterized by alternating 6 and 8 syllable lines and rhyme scheme of abcd "And the stately ships go on / To their haven under the hill; / But O for the touch of a vanish'd hand, / And the sound of a voice that is still!" -Break, Break, Break

Unrhymed iambic pentameter “About suffering they were never wrong” -Musee des Beaux Arts

An idea or expression that has become tired from overuse

Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry "He is meek and he is mild / He became a little child"

Author's word choice, which contributes to style, meaning, and/or theme

Poem of that laments or memorializes the dead

A poetic line that ends without punctuation and continues into the next line for its meaning “Traveling through the dark I found a deer/dead on the edge of the Wilson River road.” -Traveling through the Dark

Long narrative poem written in heightened language, which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society

Mild/indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh/blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing

A type of comedy in which ridiculous an soften stereotyped characters are involved in silly, far-fetched situations