Anapest A dactyl (see below) flying backwards, e.g., de-de dum.
Aphorism Any short, pithy statement into which much thought or observation is compressed. Therefore very rare.
Ballad Simple poem of spirit in mercifully short verses and often easy to follow. Dates from the fifteenth century.
Blank verse Poetry written by poets too lazy to be bothered with rhymes, but who were good at counting up to 10. Invented by the Earl of Surrey (see ‘Poets and Death’).
Couplet Two lines of poetry, as in:
Auntie, did you hurt yourself, falling from that tree? Would you do it once again, please ‘cos my friend here didn’t see? (‘Ruthless Rhymes’, Harry Graham)
Dactyl A metrical foot consisting of one long and two short syllables, e.g., dum de-de. Comes from the Greek for ‘joints of the finger’.
Elegiac distich A couplet consisting of a hexameter and a pentameter:
dum de de, dum de de, dum de de, dum de de, dum de de, dum dum,
dum dum, dum dum, dum dum, dum dum, dum dum.
(It reads better if you use actual words.)
Elegy Not the sort of poem to cause a rash but a song of lamentation, often a funeral ode. You don’t get many of them these days.
Elizabethan sonnet A rhyming scheme favoured by Shakespeare: abab/cdcd/efef/gg.
Gasometer Measurement of sincerity in poetry.
Gnomic Full of maxims (the slogans, not the machine guns). Sententious. Aphoristic.
Haiku Japanese verse consisting of three lines of five, seven and five syllables respectively. The most famous classical haiku writer was Basho.
Hexameter A line of six metrical feet, usually five dactyls and a spondee (see below), although you can have five spondees and one dactyl if you like – but never use a spondee on the fifth foot.
Iambic Lines based on iambuses, i.e., feet consisting of a short followed by a long syllable – de dum.
Iconoclastic What every poet would like to be – thumbing his or her nose at venerated images.
Jongleur Reciter of licentious and merry metrical tales. As a profession it has always lacked career prospects.
Lay A song sung by a minstrel.
Little Tich Music hall artist who wore two long feet or spondees.
Lyric Short poem divided into stanzas or strophes, directly expressing the poet’s own thoughts and sentiments. The suggestion is that all other poetry doesn’t, and is therefore cribbed.
Metre Any form of poetic rhythm: also, a unit of measurement that the British are still yards behind.
Minstrel Individual who used to wander about in medieval times singing his own and other people’s verses. Now happily defunct.
Neo A term often misused. Strictly, it means ‘new’, but it’s often used to mean ‘a bit like...’
Ode Not as familiar in style as a song – more a rhymed lyric in the form of an address. All odes start ‘O!’, except those by Keats and Cyril Fletcher.
Panegyric Boot-licking.
Pentameter Five-foot line of verse. English heroic pentameters had 10 syllables – dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum – and so were jolly dull dull dull dull...
Petrarchan sonnet A rhyming scheme invented by Petrarch who was a great fan of Swedish minstrels, hence: abba/abba, followed by two or three other rhymes in the remaining six lines of the sonnet.
Rhapsodes Ancient performers of poetry who very sensibly carried big sticks. Nowadays it’s people who have to listen to poetry who should be armed.
Scansion The act of scanning a line of verse to detect its rhythm. The act of forcing English public schoolboys to scan poetry is single-handedly responsible for ensuring that whole generations were put off verse for life.
Slim volume Twee name given to a book of poetry. Books of contemporary poetry are kept slim because nobody really wants to read much contemporary poetry.
Sonnet A poem of 14 lines.
Spondee Metrical foot of two long syllables, e.g., dum dum.
Stanza A verse.
Strophe A complicated Greek metrical construction that usually went wildly wrong, hence ‘catastrophe’.
Trochee The opposite of an iambus, e.g., dum de.
Troubadour Essentially a lyric poet from southern France, eastern Spain or northern Italy, who sang songs of chivalry and gallantry in the Provençal language. Most troubadours were taken to the pass of Roncesvalles to be wiped out.
BLUFFING NOTES
