Glossary
Alliteration: alliteration occurs when a series of words in close proximity carry the same first consonant sound.
Allegory: a literary work that uses at least two levels of meaning to teach readers a lesson or message. The literal
events, characters and settings on the surface symbolize deeper ideas.
Allusion: a reference to a person, event, place, or literary or artistic work, that the writer assumes the audience is
familiar with.
Analogy: a comparison between two things to show the similarities between them. Throughout The Rape of the Lock
Pope makes analogies to grand classical epics, to highlight the triviality of the situation he is describing.
Anaphora: the repetition of the same few words at the beginning of a series of lines or sentences. Elizabeth Barratt
employs anaphora in her sonnet “How Do I Love Thee?” when she repeats the words “I love thee”- eight times, in
fact!
Anti-Petrarchan: an attack on the conventions of Petrarchan poetry, such as in Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130: My
Mistress’ Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun.”
Antithesis: a rhetorical device that puts strongly contrasting words, phrases, and/or ideas side by side. This often
occurs in a Pope couplet. A noble idea is established in the first part of the couplet, and is then undercut in the
following line.
Aphorism: used interchangeably with ‘epigram’: short, witty, often paradoxical statements that make an observation
about human experience.
Apostrophe: no, not the squiggly piece of punctuation! The literary term apostrophe means a type of personification
in which something that is not human or not alive is spoken to by name.
Archaic language: language that was old fashioned even when it was first used.
Assonance: repetition of similar vowel sounds in close proximity, in the middle or end of words. In this line, the
gentle ‘o’ sound is repeated: “The lowing herd winds slowly o’er the lea.”
Atmosphere: the prevailing tone or mood in an artistic work. The bleak, desolate atmosphere of Keats’ “When I
Have Fears That I May Cease to Be” is immediately established by the title.
Ballad stanzas: four line stanzas- quatrains- that rhyme, usually between the second and fourth lines.
Beat: a heavy emphasis or accent in a line of poetry. The number of beats or stresses in a line determines the meter.
Blank verse: blank verse has an iambic rhythm but no rhyme. In iambic poetry there are ten syllables in each line,
split into five units of rhythm called feet.
Bob and wheel: A bob and wheel ends each verse of some Medieval poems, like Sir Gawain. The bob is a teeny line
of a few syllables, followed by a rhyming quatrain. The bob and wheel usually rhyme ABABA. The rest of the poem
does not rhyme.
Caesura: a significant pause in the middle of a line of poetry. (Memory trick: a caesura is where the line briefly
ceases.) Caesuras are indicated by punctuation or nothing at all. The poet assumes that it is obvious to the reader
where the brief pause in the line occurs.
Carpe diem: Latin for “seize the day”- live in the now!
Closed heroic couplets: heroic couplets occur when couples of lines written in iambic pentameter rhyme together.
Heroic couplets are called ‘closed’ when the two lines express a complete thought, rather than the idea flowing
openly on to the next couplet.
Conceit: a type of startling metaphor that compares two VERY unalike things. Metaphysical poets like Donne
frequently used them.
Connotation: the emotions and associations provoked by particular words. Some words possess few associations
beyond their literal meaning, whereas others carry a vast array of baggage.
Consonance: repetition of similar consonant sounds in close proximity, in the middle or end of words. In this line,
the ‘l’ sound is repeated: “glimmering landscape on the sight/ And all the air a solemn stillness holds.”
Denotation: the literal dictionary definition of a word, without any connotations attached.
Dialect: the language of a specific region or social class; it varies from the conventions of a language in
pronunciation, grammar, and in the use of certain distinctive expressions.
Diction: selection of vocabulary. In “To the Ladies,” Chudleigh picks an arsenal of negative words and phrases to
drive home her message about the dire state of the female condition. Marriage is described as a “fatal knot” and a
“wretched state.”
Didactic: teaches or preaches a message.
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Glossary
Dissonance: a combination of harsh, disagreeable sounds to help convey unpleasant content. In Owen’s “Dulce
et Decorum Est” the descriptor “Knock-kneed, coughing like hags” jars the reader’s ear, due mostly to the hard
consonant sounds, especially the ‘g.’
Dramatic monologue: this was a form much favoured by Victorians. A dramatic monologue is a speech delivered by
a single speaker and its main purpose is to reveal the thoughts (and thus the character) of that person.
Elegy: a formal poem mourning the death of one person or of many.
End-stopped lines: the name says it all! An end-stopped line is just what the term suggests; there is a break in
meaning at the end of a line, usually signalled by punctuation that makes the reader pause at the end of the line.
Epic: a long narrative poem about a hero who engages in a struggle of huge significance that demonstrates the
values of the society that produced it.
Epigrams: short, witty, often paradoxical statements that make an observation about human experience, usually in
poetry. The term can also refer to a complete short, witty poem.
Epigraph: the use of a quote to begin a literary work. The quote nearly always highlights an important theme that
will arise in the text.
Epitaph: an inscription on a gravestone.
Eulogy: an address of praise. This word usually applies to a speech delivered at a funeral in praise of the deceased,
but the word can have wider application than this. A eulogy occurs when someone speaks glowingly of another, thus
a eulogy could even be given at a wedding reception.
Euphemism: a mild, vague or indirect word replaces a harsher word that might upset or offend.
Euphony: the use of attractive sounds. This helps a poet to create a pleasant, positive scene. Soft vowels are
particularly useful for achieving this effect, such as in ‘hush.’
Eye rhyme: this occurs when the eye misleadingly suggests that words will rhyme. For example, we could assume
that “chill” and “tulle” in Dickinson’s ‘Because I Could Not Stop for Death” will rhyme, but they don’t. In eye
rhyme usually the consonants rhyme, but the vowels do not.
Feminine rhyming: two syllables rhyme with one another, as in ‘stibble’ and ‘nibble.’
Flashback: a scene out of chronological order that interrupts the action to show what happened earlier.
Figurative language: language not to be taken literally, including such devices as similes, and metaphors.
Foil: a minor character who contrasts with (generally) the protagonist, to highlight particular qualities of that
important figure.
Folk ballad: an anonymous narrative poem with a simple but dramatic plot and simple characters. It was originally
intended to be sung, and is written in ballad stanzas.
Foot: the foot is a unit or grouping of rhythm. The most common foot is the iambic foot- an unstressed syllable,
followed by a stressed (emphasized) syllable.
Frame: we are not told about an event directly but are distanced from it (as in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and
Shelley’s “Ozymandias”) by the tale being related to the narrator, who then tells it to the reader.
Free verse: this form is just what the label suggests: the rhyme and rhythm of the poem are free and do not conform
to any consistent pattern.
Genre: according to many dictionaries, a genre is exclusively a type or category in literature, but many people apply
it more widely than that, such as to types of music.
Heroic couplets: a couple of lines of iambic pentameter that rhyme together.
Hyperbole: exaggeration for the sake of effect.
Iambic pentameter: a line of five iambs. Iambs are rhythmic units that have an unstressed syllable followed by an
unstressed one.
Iambic tetrameter: iambic meter is used (a stressed syllable, followed by an unstressed one) with 8 syllables in each
line, as opposed to the more common iambic pentameter, which has 10.
Image: a word picture that appeals to one of the senses. The reference to the brook water bubbling as if it were
boiling in Sir Gawain is largely a visual image, but partly a tactile one too.
Imagery: descriptive language -word pictures- that re-create sensory experiences.
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Glossary
In medias res: readers are plunged into the middle of a tale and only learn later (through flashbacks) about what
occurred prior to the beginning of the story.
Internal rhyme: when a line rhymes within itself, as in Coleridge’s description of the ice in Rime of the Ancient
Mariner: “It cracked and growled, and roared and howled.”
Inversion: the inverting (turning around) of the normal word order (the syntax) of a sentence for effect.
Invocation: the opening of an epic that calls upon (invokes) a god or spirit for inspiration.
Juxtaposition: the deliberate side by side (or at least very close placement) of two similar things -such as two
characters, two symbols, two settings- in order to contrast them.
Kenning: a metaphor or compound word that replaces someone or something’s real name. For example, the
monster in Beowulf is referred to as “a sin-stained demon.”
Litotes: a form of understatement, expressed in the negative, that deliberately and ironically underplays a situation.
Litotes is employed in Beowulf when the narrator comments that the evil Grendel is of “no use /To anyone in
Denmark.”
Lyrical: a poem that does not have a narrative (a plot-line) but focuses instead on the emotions of the speaker.
Masculine rhyming: only one syllable rhymes, as in ‘thrave’ and ‘lave.’
Metaphor: a direct comparison between two things, without using any comparative words such as ‘like’ and ‘as’.
Metaphysical: defined by www.oxforddictionaries.com as “a group of 17th century poets whose work is
characterised by the use of complex and elaborate images or conceits, typically using an intellectual form of
argumentation to express emotion.”
Metonomy: a common association is used to represent all of something. When Hardy notes in “The Darkling
Thrush” that everyone but him has gone to their “household fires,” fires represent all of domestic comfort.
Mock-epic: a mock epic uses all of the principal conventions of an epic for humorous purposes. It uses a grand,
elevated style to describe a trivial subject.
Mood: the predominant feeling or atmosphere of a piece.
Narrative: a narrative poem tells a story. To put it simply: it has a plot with a beginning, middle and end.
Octave: a verse of 8 lines.
Ode: an ode is a formal lyrical poem upon a serious theme. A characteristic of the ode is that it is an emotional
address of respect to something, like an object or a season, or even a person.
Omniscient: an omniscient narrator is all knowing, capable of looking into the thoughts and feelings of several
characters.
Onomatopoeia: when the sound of a word echoes its meaning. Keats appeals to sound in the phrase “the
murmurous haunt of flies.”
Oxymoron: two words side by side that don’t seem compatible. “Darkness visible” (Paradise Lost) is one of the most
famous oxymorons in literature.
Parable: a short, succinct story that teaches a moral lesson. The term is most commonly used to describe didactic
stories in the Bible.
Paradox: a seeming contradiction, but one that upon close scrutiny can be seen to have some truth.
Parallelism: when sentences echo the structure and rhythm of other sentences in close proximity, usually to
emphasize similarities of subject matter between them. Often a few words are repeated exactly.
Parody: the humorous imitation of a work of literature, art, or even music, to poke fun and sometimes to convey a
message too.
Pastoral: a poem that idealizes the pleasures of country life, frequently featuring shepherds. (The word comes from
the Latin- pastor- meaning shepherd.)
Pathetic fallacy: this is the fallacy (incorrect idea) that nature responds to what occurs in the world of humanity. It
is, then, a type of personification.
Persona: the personality that the poet takes on. A poet could indeed, be writing autobiographically, but more often
the “I” pronoun is used just to make the poem sound more personal and compelling.
Personification: the giving of human qualities to non-human entities.
Prose: all types of writing that are not poetry.
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Glossary
Pun: a pun is a play on words, where one word with two different meanings creates (usually) humour, such as Dylan
Thomas’s use of ‘grave’ meaning both ‘serious’ and a burial grave.
Quatrains: stanzas of four lines.
Refrain: regularly repeated lines or groups of lines in a poem or song, such as “Little Lamb I’ll tell thee! Little Lamb
I’ll tell thee!” (“The Lamb,” by Blake.)
Reported speech: the dialogue of a character is summarized, rather than being given directly and enclosed by speech
marks.
Rhetorical question: a question asked for effect that does not require an answer.
Huh, rhetorical questions –who needs them?
Rhythm: the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables to create a pattern.
Romance: nothing directly to do with hearts and flowers! A medieval romance recounts the daring exploits of a
heroic knight who abides by the codes of chivalry, and is successful in a noble quest.
Romanticism: an artistic movement marked by characteristics such as the use of direct language (rather than
contrived poetic diction); the expression of intense, personal emotions; and of responses to nature that lead to a
deeper awareness of the soul and identity.
Run-on lines: also known as enjambement. Run-on lines in poetry are exactly what the term suggests: the meaning
does not stop at the end of a line but runs over into the following one.
Sestet: a verse of 6 lines.
Simile: a comparison between two things, using comparative words such as ‘like’ and ‘as.’
Sonnet: a 14 line poem, written in iambic pentameter, expressing a strong feeling, rather than telling a story.
Italian sonnet: the rhyme scheme divides the poem into an octave that always rhymes ABBAABBA (no, not the
Swedish 70’s pop group!), and a sestet that rhymes in various ways.
Shakepearean/English sonnet: instead of being divided into an octave and a sestet like the Italian/ Petrarchan
sonnet, the Shakey sonnet is divided into three quatrains, with a concluding couplet.
Stanzas: a group or unit of lines in a poem. Many poems are divided into stanzas that are separated by spaces.
Stanzas operate like paragraphs. The most common type of formal stanza is the quatrain.
Stream of consciousness: words flow out, with seemingly little arrangement, as though coming straight from
someone’s thoughts.
Symbol: an image, object, character or an action that stands for or represent something else, such as a feeling or an
abstract concept.
Synecdoche: when something that is physically part of something represents all of it. When Wordsworth declares
that “We have given our hearts away,” the heart represents all of a human being.
Syntax: the grammatical order of words in a sentence.
Tone: the writer’s attitude towards the subject they are writing about, and towards their readers too.
Tercet: a verse of three lines.
Terza rima: “Terza” is Italian for third. In each tercet, the lines interlock their rhymes, and the stanza ends with a
couplet. The rhyme scheme is ABA BCB CDC DED EE. The rhymes tumble over from one verse to the next.
Tetrameter: verse written in four foot lines.
Trimeter: verse written in three foot lines.
Trochaic rhythm: iambic rhythm occurs when an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed one. Trochaic rhythm
is the opposite; an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed one.
Verse: both the genre of poetry in general, and a segment (such as a quatrain) of a poem.
Villanelle: an old 19 line French form. Villanelles have 5 tercets (three line verses) with a concluding quatrain. Only
two rhymes are used throughout: ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA.
Voice: synonymous with persona.
Volta: Italian for ‘turn.’ The volta of an Italian sonnet is usually at the end of the eighth line. Not only does it signal
a split between the octave and sestet in structure, but it also often signals a division in content too.
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Acknowledgements
Imagery sources
•Original artwork identified on page citing artist (when known) and current location.
•Many of the images are from open source providers and numerous images are compilations,
or artist modifications, made by Derek Rowe to suit the context of the literary work and page
enrichment.
We would like to thank the following open source providers:
Pixabay
Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images
PDPhoto.org
Wikimedia
Morgue Files
A few images were purchased through on-line photo image providers:
Shutterstock
Stockfresh
We regret any omissions we might have made in attributing credit for photos or artwork.
These omissions certainly were not intentional, and will be gladly rectified in all subsequent
editions of Brilliantly LIT. All imagery is solely intended to enrich the experience of the
reader, and designed to stimulate creative understanding and thinking about the literary
works presented in this book.
For additional resources and updates go to
http://www.brilliantlylit.education
Copyright © 2015 by Julia Clarke & Derek Rowe
All rights reserved.
ISBN-10: 1511869429
ISBN-13: 978-1511869423