– LIMB-RICK The limerick is the only English stanza form used exclusively for light verse. It was popularized by Edward Lear (1846) but the history of the form remains in doubt. Some claim it came fro [..]

SAY-SURE-A (F. césure) A break in the metrical structure of a line. Related to the pause but is usually indicated with a punctuation and is therefore slightly longer in duration. It is closer to a ‘re [..]

AC(t)-SENT (L: accentus – song added to speech) Greater articulary force, resulting from greater musculatory exertion in forming a sound. This may be achieved by raised or lowered pitch, or duration o [..]

A-CROSS-TIC (Gr. at the tip of the verse) In an acrostic verse the first letter, or the last, of each line or stanza adds up to the name of the topic, the author, addressee or the title of the work. T [..]

AH-GAY-COO (J: completing verse) The last stanza of a renga. The link that attempts to summarize the whole work with a reference to the beginning stanza.

AA-EYE-SHOW-KAH (J: laments) One of the designated topics for the organization of poems within an anthology and of certain stanzas of a renga.

– ALL-LEH-GORY (Gr. allos "other" + agoreuein "to speak") A work that is composed so that its apparent sense can also refer to another different sense at the same t [..]

– A-LITTER-A-SHUN The repetition of a sound in different words close enough for the ear to hear them together. Alliteration was often used in early poetry before the popularity of rhyme. Almost every [..]

– A-LOU-SHUN The inclusion in a poem of identifiable elements from other sources. The allusion can be used to display knowledge, exclude the unknowledgeable reader, or to add richness and depth to the [..]

A-FOR-ISM. See epigram.