English Poetry Study Cards

Enhance Your Learning with English Poetry Flash Cards for quick revision



William Shakespeare

An English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.

Sonnet

A 14-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme, often exploring themes of love, beauty, and mortality.

Metaphor

A figure of speech that compares two unrelated things, often using the words 'is' or 'are'.

Emily Dickinson

An American poet known for her unique style and unconventional punctuation, exploring themes of death, nature, and the self.

Haiku

A traditional form of Japanese poetry consisting of three lines with a 5-7-5 syllable pattern, often capturing a moment in nature.

Alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in a series of words, often used for emphasis or to create musicality in poetry.

Robert Frost

An American poet known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his use of colloquial language, exploring themes of nature and human experiences.

Free Verse

A type of poetry that does not follow a specific rhyme scheme or meter, allowing for greater freedom and experimentation.

Imagery

Vivid and descriptive language that appeals to the senses, creating mental images and enhancing the reader's experience.

Langston Hughes

An American poet, social activist, and playwright, known for his powerful and influential works exploring the African American experience.

Ode

A lyrical poem expressing deep feelings of admiration, usually addressed to a person, object, or abstract concept.

Rhyme Scheme

The pattern of rhymes at the end of each line in a poem, often represented using letters to indicate different rhyme sounds.

Sylvia Plath

An American poet known for her confessional style and exploration of personal struggles, mental health, and female identity.

Ballad

A narrative poem that tells a story, often set to music and characterized by its simple language and repetitive structure.

Personification

A figure of speech in which human qualities or characteristics are attributed to inanimate objects, animals, or abstract concepts.

John Keats

An English Romantic poet known for his sensual imagery, exploration of beauty, and themes of love, nature, and mortality.

Elegy

A mournful and reflective poem, often written as a tribute to someone who has died or as a lament for something lost.

Simile

A figure of speech that compares two things using 'like' or 'as', often used to create vivid and imaginative descriptions.

Maya Angelou

An American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist, known for her powerful and inspiring works exploring themes of identity, race, and resilience.

Limerick

A humorous poem consisting of five lines with a specific rhyme scheme and rhythm, often containing a witty or nonsensical punchline.

Hyperbole

A figure of speech that involves exaggeration for emphasis or dramatic effect, often used to create humor or make a point.

Pablo Neruda

A Chilean poet and diplomat, known for his passionate and lyrical works exploring love, politics, and the beauty of everyday life.

Sestina

A complex poetic form consisting of six stanzas with six lines each, followed by a three-line envoy, using a specific pattern of end-words.

Onomatopoeia

The use of words that imitate or suggest the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to, creating auditory effects in poetry.

Walt Whitman

An American poet, essayist, and journalist, known for his groundbreaking collection 'Leaves of Grass' and his celebration of democracy, nature, and the individual.

Villanelle

A highly structured poetic form consisting of five tercets and a quatrain, with a specific pattern of repeated lines and rhyme scheme.

Enjambment

The continuation of a sentence or thought from one line of poetry to the next without a pause, creating a sense of flow and movement.

T.S. Eliot

An American-born British poet and playwright, known for his modernist works exploring themes of disillusionment, spirituality, and the human condition.

Epiphora

The repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses or sentences, creating emphasis and rhetorical effect in poetry.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

An English poet of the Victorian era, known for her passionate and introspective works, including the famous 'Sonnet 43' ('How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.').

Terza Rima

A poetic form consisting of tercets with a specific rhyme scheme, often used in longer poems and famously employed by Dante in 'The Divine Comedy'.

Caesura

A pause or break within a line of poetry, often marked by punctuation or a natural pause in speech, creating rhythm and emphasis.

Rumi

A 13th-century Persian poet, Islamic jurist, and theologian, known for his mystical and spiritual works exploring love, devotion, and the nature of existence.

Pantoum

A poetic form originating from Malaysia, consisting of quatrains with a specific pattern of repeated lines, creating a circular and interlocking structure.

Anaphora

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences, creating emphasis and rhetorical effect in poetry.

Sapphic Stanza

A poetic form consisting of three lines followed by an adonic line, with a specific pattern of syllables and stresses, named after the Greek poet Sappho.

E.E. Cummings

An American poet, painter, and playwright, known for his innovative and experimental use of language, typography, and punctuation in his works.

Conceit

An extended metaphor or comparison between two seemingly unrelated things, often used to create surprising and imaginative connections in poetry.

Ghazal

A poetic form originating from Arabic and Persian literature, consisting of rhyming couplets with a refrain, often exploring themes of love, loss, and longing.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole or the whole is used to represent a part, creating symbolic and evocative meaning in poetry.