1. couplet - two rhyming lines in a row, usually stating an important thematic idea. Example below:

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. (Shakespeare, Sonnet 18)

2. sonnet - a 14-line poem which sets up a problem and offers a solution (There are two main types: the Italian or Petrarchan, named after Francesco Petrarca, AKA Petrarch, 1304-1374, an Italian poet, scholar, and humanist who is famous for Canzoniere, a collection of love lyrics in a certain sonnet form, and the English or Elizabethan, which was used by William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, English playwright and poet, whose body of works is considered the greatest in English literature. He composed about 154 sonnets, mostly in the 1590's. There are differences in the rhyme scheme and stanza structure between these two. An Italian [Petrarchan] sonnet contains an octave with the rhyme pattern abbaabba and a sestet of various rhyme patterns such as cdecde or cdcdcd. The sonnet form perfected by Shakespeare is composed of three quatrains and a terminal couplet in iambic pentameter with the rhyme pattern abab cdcd efef gg. There are some other variations to the sonnet form as well.) Ex.: any of Shakespeare's sonnets and Longfellow's "The Sound of the Sea" (page 624 in the new Lit Book)

3. rhyme scheme - the pattern of the rhymes in a poem. The example below is from "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Whose woods these are I think I know. a
His house is in the village though; a
He will not see me stopping here b
To watch his woods fill up with snow. a
My little horse must think it queer b
To stop without a farmhouse near b
Between the woods and frozen lake c
The darkest evening of the year. b
He gives his harness bells a shake c
To ask if there is some mistake. c
The only other sound's the sweep d
Of easy wind and downy flake. c

4. near rhyme - two or more words having almost the same ending sound. Ex.: push, rush

5. internal rhyme - rhyming words in the same line of poetry. Ex.: "I'm a lean dog, a keen dog, a wild dog, and lone," from "Lone Dog" by Irene McLeod

6. speaker - the voice of the poem, usually NOT the poet. Ex.: Emily Dickinson in her poem about "a narrow fellow in the grass" narrates the story as a young boy.

7. point of view - the personal opinion of the speaker. Example below is from "Point of View" which appeared in Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein:

Oh how I once loved tuna salad
Pork and lobsters, lamb chops too
Till I stopped and looked at dinner
From the dinner's point of view.

8. tone - the feelings the speaker has about the subject. Ex.: "…while I pondered weak and weary…" from "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe

9. mood - the feelings of the reader of a poem. Example is the poem "Days" by Karle Wilson Baker, in which certain details and sensory impressions evoke emotional responses among various readers ranging from detached empathy to curiosity to vicarious swings from dejection to elation.

Some days my thoughts are just cocoons--all cold, and dull and blind,
They hang from dripping branches in the grey woods of my mind;
And other days they drift and shine--such free and flying things!
I find the gold-dust in my hair, left by their brushing wings.

10. diction - the choice of words of the speaker. Ex.: the use of shark, whale, or tuna instead of just fish

11. monologue- a speech made by one character in a poem, usually of thematic significance. Especially consider a dramatic monologue, which could be acted out and is a form of drama, yet appears as a speech, either to oneself or to another. A dramatic monologue is written to reveal both the situation at hand and the speaking character's inner self. Example below is by Anna Cormorant:

Why am I standing here, alone,
When outside you are knocking, knocking?
I cannot come to you-
My feet are glued to the floor.
Forgive me, but I feared you!
Would that you could open the door,
But I have locked it!
Ah! What sorrow I have brought upon myself!
How you shout, how you plead for entrance
And how I want you to enter,
But you have not the strength to break the door.
Well, come on then! Find another way in!

12. irony - when the outcome is the opposite of what was expected. Ex.: the sinking of the Titanic

13. jargon - technical terms meaning a certain thing only in a certain situation. Ex.: scalpel (doctor jargon), touchdown (football jargon), writ of habeas corpus (lawyer jargon)

14. allusion - a reference to something the poet thinks everyone already knows. Ex.: "The Gift of the Magi"

15. connotation - the extra meaning associated with a word more than just its definition. Ex.: skinny, instead of just thin

16. theme - the generalization about life understood from experiencing any work of art. Ex.: Love is the greatest gift of all.

17. hyperbole - exaggeration for humorous or thematic effect. Ex.: more than all the stars in the night

18. symbol - an object which carries more meaning than simply its dictionary definition. Ex.: the flag of a nation

19. concrete poem - a poem which looks on the page like the subject it is about. Ex.: "The Kite"

20. ballad - a folk song, usually about love and/or adventure. Example below is from "Sir Patrick Spens."

The king sits in Dunfermline town,
Drinking the blude-red wine o:
"O whare will I get a skeely skipper
To sail this new ship of mine o?"

O up and spake an eldern-knight,
Sat at the king's right knee:
"Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor
That ever saild the sea."

Our king has written a braid letter,
And seald it with his hand,
And sent it to Sir Patrick Spens,
Was walking on the strand.

"To Noroway, to Noroway,
To Noroway oer the faem;
The king's daughter of Noroway,
'Tis thou maun bring her hame."

The first word that Sir Patrick read,
Sae loud, loud laughed he;
The neist word that Sir Patrick read,
The tear blinded his ee.

"O wha is this has done this deed,
And tauld the king o me,
To send us out, at this time of the year,
To sail upon the sea?"