Ballad:originally a kind of folk song; also sung with music; now recorded in writing, and also regarded as literature/ poetry; originally, the ‘folk’ ballad was as a part of oral folklore; now, known poets also write ‘literary’ ballads by following the conventions of the folk ballad; Folk ballads are anonymous, that is, the composer is not known (eg: ‘The Demon Lover'); orally transmitted from generation to generation; modified in the course of time; some ballads are found in several versions (eg; “The Demon Lover”); the narrator of a folk ballad is a communal voice: he represents his community; the poem is a story of the society reflecting the life, experience and beliefs of the people (of the time); mostly about tragedy, violence, suffering and death; love is the most common subject; no directly stated theme or moral; the story has a theme or moral but the narrator doesn't moralize, comment or express his personal feelings; simple language; straightforward narration; events are in the same order of time (chronological order of events); dramatic elements are added to the narrative: use of dialogue, conflict, quick beginning and development of action, surprise and suspense (tension); gaps, stuns the reader…; simple four-lines stanzas; usual rhyme scheme of the pattern: abcb; first and third lines in iambic tetrameter; second and fourth lines in iambic trimeter; but ballads like "The Demon Lover" frequently break the rhythm; use of incremental repetition, or, repeating of half a line and increasing/ adding another half to it; short poems: usually 10 to 20 stanzas.

Blank verse: Blank verse refers to the poetic lines that use iambic pentameter without rhyming. Read More...

Classical Poetry:The classical or neo-classical poets of the eighteenth century had had made poetry more social than personal, more intellectual than emotional and imaginative, more rule-based than spontaneous. Read More...

Conceit: The conceit is a striking metaphor. It is so original and unconventional that it not only strikes the reader into attention, but sometimes shocks them, being even objectionable or absurd at first. Read More...

Denotation: It refers to the literal meaning of words. Words or sentences in a literary work may have clear or hidden meaning. Read More...

Elegy: The elegy was originally the form of poetry on the subject of sadness, especially ‘complaints about love’. Read More...

Epic: One the oldest of the poetic forms, the epic is a long narrative poem, majestic both in theme and style, dealing with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance, involving action of broad sweep and grandeur. Read More...

Epic Simile: The epic simile is a figurative device first popularized by Homer in his epics. It is a comparison that may be as long as a dozen lines. Read More...

Free verse: Free verse means poetry without rhyme-scheme and any standard or fixed rhythm. Read More...

Heroic couplet: Heroic couplet is a pair of lines with iambic pentameter; the lines must also rhyme together. Read More...

Iambic pentameter: Iambic pentameter means ‘five iambic feet in a line’. ‘Iambic’ means a unit of rhythm with two syllables where the first is not stressed (U) and the second is stressed (S). Read More...

Image: An image is considered to be a picture created in the mind by words. Generally images are divided as visual images and abstract images. Read More...

Imagery: Imagery is the general term for the use of ‘images’ in poetry. The use of all kinds of concrete, metaphoric and more abstract is called imagery. Read More...

Irony: Irony is an indirect way of criticizing things, and it can be done in several ways. The word ‘Irony’ comes from its Greek root ‘Eiron’, a dramatic character who spoke in ‘understatement’, pretending to be less intelligent. Read More...

Lyric: A lyric is a fairly short poem which is the expression of strong feelings (thoughts, or perceptions) of a single speaker in a meditative manner. Read More...

Metaphor:The term metaphor has two meanings. In its broad sense, it means any type of poetic comparison (also known as metaphorical language). Read More...

Meter: Meter is the quality of regular and conventional rhythm in poetic lines. Rhythm means any pattern, whether regular or not, and whether following any conventional pattern or not. Read More...

Nonsense Rhyme: A nonsense rhyme is a composition that by intention and often for the sake of humor. Separate from the common logic of language or thought. Read More...

Ode:Most simply, the Ode is known as a poem addressed to somebody or something. But, besides that one simple feature, the ode is characterized by a number of features of a special classical form of poetry, or poetic expression. Read More...