409. Verse
See also 236. LANGUAGE ; 249. LITERATURE .
- acrosticism
- the art or skill of writing a poem in which the lines or stanzas begin with letters of the alphabet in regular order or one in which the first, middle, or final letters of the line spell a word or a phrase. — acrostic, n. , adj.
- Alexandrine
- an iambic hexameter, or iambic verse with six feet.
- anapest
- a foot of three syllables, the first two short or unstressed, the third long or stressed. — anapestic, adj.
- antibacchius
- 1. (in quantitative meter) two long syllables followed by a short.
- 2. (in accented meter) two stressed syllables followed by an unstressed. Cf. bacchius. — antibacchic, adj.
- antistrophe
- the second of two metrically related sections in a poem. Cf. strophe. See also 127. DRAMA . — antistrophic, antistrophal , adj.
- arsis
- the accented part of a foot of verse.
- bacchius
- 1. (in quantitative meter) a short syllable followed by two long.
- 2. (in accented meter) an unstressed syllable followed by two stressed. Cf. antibacchius . — bacchic , adj.
- bardism
- 1. the art or skill of one who composes and recites epic or heroic poetry, often to his own musical accompaniment.
- 2. membership in an ancient Celtic order of poets.
- canto
- one of the main (larger) divisions in a long poem.
- catalexis
- incompleteness of a foot, wherever it appears in a verse. — catalectic, adj.
- dactyl
- a foot of three syllables, the flrst long or accented, the following two short or unaccented. — dactylist, n. —dactylic, adj.
- diastole
- (in Greek and Latin verse) the lengthening of a short syllable. Cf. systole. — diastolic, adj.
- dipody
- a double foot; a pair of similar feet comprising a metrical unit. — dipodic, adj.
- distich
- a couplet or pair of verses or lines, usually read as a unit.
- ecthlipsis
- (in Latin prosody) the elision of the last syllable of a word ending in m when the following word begins with a vowel.
- heptameter
- a verse having seven metrical feet. — heptametrical, adj.
- heptapody
- a verse having seven metrical feet; a heptameter. — heptapodic, adj.
- hexameter
- a verse having six metrical feet. — hexametrical, adj.
- hexapody
- a verse having six metrical feet; a hexameter. — hexapodous, adj.
- iamb
- a foot of two syllables, the first short or unstressed, the second long or stressed. — iambic, adj.
- ictus
- the stress or accent that indicates the rhythm of a verse or piece of music. See also 284. MUSIC .
- lettrism
- a technique of poetic composition originated by Isidore Isou, characterized by strange or meaningless arrangements of letters.
- logaoedic
- a poem or verse composed of dactyls and trochees or anapests and iambs, resulting in a proselike rhythm. — logaoedic, adj.
- lyricism
- the practice of writing verse in song form rather than narrative form to embody the poet’s thoughts and emotions. Also lyrism. — lyricist, n. —lyrical, adj.
- lyrism
- lyricism. — lyrist, n.
- madrigal
- a lyric poem suitable for setting to music, usually with love as a theme. — madrigalist, n.
- metricism
- 1. any of various theories and techniques of metrical composition.
- 2. the study of metrics. — metricist, n.
- metrics
- 1. the science of meter. — metricist, n.
- 2. the art of composing metrical verse. — metrician, metrist, n.
- metromania
- an abnormal compulsion for writing verse.
- monopody
- a verse consisting of one foot. — monopodic, adj.
- octonary
- a stanza of eight lines; an octave. — octonary, adj.
- orthometry
- 1. the laws of versification.
- 2. the art or practice of applying these laws.
- pentameter
- a verse of five metrical feet.
- pentapody
- a line of verse containing five feet.
- poesy
- 1. Archaic. poetry.
- 2. Obsolete, a poem.
- poetastery
- poor or mediocre poetry.
- poeticism
- the qualities of bad poetry: trite subject matter, banal or archaic and poetical language, easy rhymes, jingling rhythms, sentimentality, etc; the standards of a poetaster.
- poetics
- 1. Lit. Crit. the nature and laws of poetry.
- 2. the study of prosody.
- 3. a treatise on poetry.
- 4. ( cap. ) a treatise or collection of lecture notes on aesthetics composed by Aristotle.
- proceleusmatic
- a metrical foot of four short syllables. — proceleusmatic, adj.
- prosody
- 1. the science or study of poetic meters and versification.
- 2. a particular or distinctive system of metrics and versification, as that of Dylan Thomas. — prosodist, n. — prosodie, prosodical, adj.
- pyrrhic
- a metrical foot composed of two short or unaccented syllables. — pyrrhic, adj.
- rhapsodism
- the professional recitation of epic poems. — rhapsodist, n.
- rhapsodomancy
- a form of divination involving verses.
- rhopalism
- 1. the art or skill of writing verse in which each successive word in a line is longer by one syllable than the preceding word or in which each line of verse is longer by a syllable or a metrical foot than the preceding line.
- 2. an instanceof rhopalicform. — rhopalist, n. — rhopalic, adj.
- rhymester
- a poetaster or poet of little worth; a mere versifier.
- scansion
- the analysis of verse into its metrical or rhythmic components.
- spondee
- a foot of two syllables, both long or stressed. — spondiac, adj.
- stanza
- a section of a poem containing a number of verses.
- stich
- a line of a poem; verse.
- stichomancy
- a form of divination involving lines of poetry or passages from books.
- strophe
- the first of two metrically related sections in a poem. Cf. antistrophe. See also 127. DRAMA .
- synonymous parallelism
- a term describing a couplet in which the second line repeats the idea or content of the first line, but in different terms, as by using different images, symbols, etc.
- systole
- the shortening of a syllable that is naturally long. Cf. diastole . — systolic, adj.
- tetrameter
- 1. a verse of four feet.
- 2. Classical Prosody. a verse consisting of four dipodies in trochaic, iambic, or anapestic meter. — tetrameter, adj.
- tetrapody
- a verse of other measure having four metrical feet.
- triadism
- the composition of poetic triads. — triadist, n.
- tribrach
- a foot composed of three short syllables. — tribrachic, adj.
- trimeter
- a verse having three metrical units.
- triplet
- 1. a stanza of three verses.
- 2. any set of three verses. See also 284. MUSIC ; 295. NUMBERS .
- tripody
- a verse or measure of three metrical feet.
- tristich
- a poem, strophe, or stanza of three lines. — tristichic, adj.
- trochee
- a foot of two syllables, the first long or stressed, the second short or unstressed. — trochaic, adj.
- truncation
- the omission of one or more unaccented syllables at the beginning or end of a verse. — truncated, adj.
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