Structural Terminology
Below is an introduction to the most common structural terms.
Structural Terms
Caesura - A stop or pause in a metrical line, often marked by punctuation or by a grammatical boundary, such as a phrase or clause.
Canto - A long subsection of an epic or long narrative poem.
Chiasmus - Repetition of any group of verse elements (including rhyme and grammatical structure) in reverse order, such as the rhyme scheme ABBA. Examples can be found in Biblical scripture (“But many that are first / Shall be last, / And many that are last / Shall be first”; Matthew 19:30).
Couplet - A pair of successive rhyming lines, usually of the same length. A couplet is “closed” when the lines form a bounded grammatical unit like a sentence (see Dorothy Parker’s “Interview”: “The ladies men admire, I’ve heard, /Would shudder at a wicked word.”).
Ellipsis - In poetry, the omission from speech or writing of a word or words that are superfluous or able to be understood from contextual clues.
Enjambment - The running-over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation; the opposite of end-stopped.
Quatrain - A four-line stanza, rhyming ABAC or ABCB (known as unbounded or ballad quatrain), AABB (a double couplet),
ABAB (known as interlaced, alternate, or heroic), ABBA (known as envelope or enclosed), or AABA.
Refrain - A phrase or line repeated at intervals within a poem, especially at the end of a stanza.
Stanza - A grouping of lines separated from others in a poem. In modern free verse, the stanza, like a prose paragraph, can be used to mark a shift in mood, time, or thought.
Verse - As a mass noun, poetry in general; as a regular noun, a line of poetry. Typically used to refer to poetry that possesses more formal qualities.
Volta - Italian word for “turn.” In a sonnet, the volta is the turn of thought or argument.
Canto - A long subsection of an epic or long narrative poem.
Chiasmus - Repetition of any group of verse elements (including rhyme and grammatical structure) in reverse order, such as the rhyme scheme ABBA. Examples can be found in Biblical scripture (“But many that are first / Shall be last, / And many that are last / Shall be first”; Matthew 19:30).
Couplet - A pair of successive rhyming lines, usually of the same length. A couplet is “closed” when the lines form a bounded grammatical unit like a sentence (see Dorothy Parker’s “Interview”: “The ladies men admire, I’ve heard, /Would shudder at a wicked word.”).
Ellipsis - In poetry, the omission from speech or writing of a word or words that are superfluous or able to be understood from contextual clues.
Enjambment - The running-over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation; the opposite of end-stopped.
Quatrain - A four-line stanza, rhyming ABAC or ABCB (known as unbounded or ballad quatrain), AABB (a double couplet),
ABAB (known as interlaced, alternate, or heroic), ABBA (known as envelope or enclosed), or AABA.
Refrain - A phrase or line repeated at intervals within a poem, especially at the end of a stanza.
Stanza - A grouping of lines separated from others in a poem. In modern free verse, the stanza, like a prose paragraph, can be used to mark a shift in mood, time, or thought.
Verse - As a mass noun, poetry in general; as a regular noun, a line of poetry. Typically used to refer to poetry that possesses more formal qualities.
Volta - Italian word for “turn.” In a sonnet, the volta is the turn of thought or argument.