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AP Prosody
Verse paragraphs: poems that are divided irregularly, such as those written in
blank verse or free verse, have sections called verse paragraphs.
Accent: is the emphasis placed on a syllable. There are three types of accents: word accent,
rhetorical accent, and metrical accent. Word accent refers to the standard pronunciation of a
word; rhetorical accent depends on the syntax (where the word is placed in a sentence).
Metrical accent, also known as stress, is the emphasis placed on a word due to its poetic meter.
Amphibrach: is a form of accentual poetical meter, consisting first of one unstressed, then one
stressed syllable, and a final unstressed syllable ( ~ / ~). Limericks use this meter: There was a /
young man from/ Nantucket….
Amphimacer: is a form of accentual poetical meter consisting first of one stressed syllable,
then one unstressed syllable, and then another stressed syllable ( /~/). This form of meter may
also be called cretic. For example, “deaf and dumb.”
Anapest: is a form of poetical meter consisting of three syllables: two unstressed and a final
stressed syllable ( ~ ~ /). For example, understand
Choriambus: is a form of accentual poetical meter consisting first of one stressed syllable, then
two unstressed syllables, and then one stressed syllable ( / ~ ~ /). For example, “go to the play.”
Dactyl: is a form of accentual poetical meter consisting of a beginning stressed syllable
followed by two unstressed syllables (/ ~ ~). For example, merrily
Euphony: refers to pleasing, harmonious sounds
Iamb: a form of poetical meter consisting of one unstressed and one stressed syllable ( ~ /) For
example, rehearse.
Pyrrhic: is a form of poetical meter consisting of two unstressed syllables ( ~ ~). This form of
meter may also be referred to as dibrach and is not used exclusively in any poem. For example,
“when the blood creeps and the nerves prick.”
Sibilance: is a type of alliteration that involves the repetition of a soft, hissing sound. For
example, “She sells seashells down by the seashore.”
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Stichic: refers to two different things: (1) Verse without discrete stanzas, and (2) poems
containing lines of the same metrical form throughout.
Caesura: is a break or pause in a line of poetry. This break s the result of natural speaking
rhythm and not the meter. Often, but not always, a caesura coincides with a mark of
punctuation.
Foot: is the subdivision of a line of metrical verse. Typically, a foot has one stressed syllable and
one or two unstressed syllables.
Heroic couplet: is a pair of rhymed lines written in iambic pentameter.
Metrical foot: is the rhythmic unit in which a line of verse is divided. The most common
metrical feet in English verse are iamb, trochee, anapest, dactyl, and spondee
Stanza: refers to a group of lines in a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line.
Alliteration: is repetition of the initial sound. Traditionally, alliteration referred only to initial
consonant sounds, but modern critics tend to consider the repetition of initial vowel sounds as
well as alliterative as well.
Assonance: is the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, often in stressed syllables,
followed by different consonant sounds. The vowel sounds in “sweet dreams” demonstrate
assonance.
Cacophony: refers to harsh sounds
Consonance: is the repetition of consonant sounds, following different vowel sounds. For
example, “pitter patter” and “stroke of luck”
Dissonance: refers to the use of harsh, discordant sounds in writing. Although often used
interchangeably with cacophony, cacophony refers to the sounds themselves, whereas
dissonance refers to the resulting use of cacophony for a desired effect.
Eye rhyme: is when two words have similar spellings but different pronunciations, such as
“love” and “prove,” or “what” and “that”
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Feminine rhyme: also known as double rhyme, is a rhyme on a pair of syllables when the first
one is stressed and the second is unstressed.
Half rhyme: also known as imperfect rhyme, approximating rhyme and slant rhyme, is a form
of consonance in which the final consonants of stressed syllables agree but the vowel sounds do
not match. For example, “hearse/horse” and “worm/warm.”
Hexameter: is a line of verse consisting of six metrical feet
Iambic pentameter: is the most common kind of English metrical verse, consisting of 10
syllables of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables
Internal rhyme: refers to rhyme that occurs within a line of verse
Masculine rhyme: refers to rhyming lines of verse that end with single-syllable words.
Meter: also spelled metre, refers to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.
Rhyme: is the repetition of identical vowel sounds
Rhythm: refers to the varying rate, intensity, pitch, and volume of speech
Spondee: is a form of poetical meter consisting of two stressed syllables ( / /). For example, true
blue
Stanzaic form: poems are divided into regular stanzas, or sections of lines of verse
Trochee: is a form of poetical meter consisting first of one stresses syllable, followed by one
unstressed syllable (/ ~). For example, barter
Versification: refers to both the art of composing verse as well as the form of verse used in a
particular poem. Sometimes versification is used to mean prosody, the study of rhythm, rhyme,
meter, and form in poetry