Glossary

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iamb
A foot (pair of syllables) containing an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Iamb is the most commonly used meter in traditional accentual syllablic poetry in English. The word "deceive" is an iamb.

iambic pentameter
A line of poetry that contains five pairs of iambs (10 syllables total). An iamb is a pair of syllables composed of an unstressed syllable, followed by a stressed one. Here is a line written in iambic pentameter from Edna St. Vincent Millay's poem of the same name. The stressed syllables are bolded.

beher
The type of meter used in a ghazal. There are 19 different kinds of beher, but they generally fall into three classes: short, medium and long.

couplet
A pair of lines that usually has a rhyme scheme of aa. A couplet can be it's own form or appear within another form, usually at the end. For example a Shakespearean sonnet usually ends with a couplet.

cutting
Punctuation mark or word that divides a haiku into two parts. A cutting can be a hyphen, ellipses, colon or a word such as "stop."

enjambment
Continuation of a phrase or clause from one line to the next, creating a tugging effect.

foot
A repeating unit or grouping of syllables. For example iambic pentameter had 5 feet. Each foot has two syllables.

ghazal
Poetic form that originated in the Middle East and is composed of a series of independent couplets called shers that have a common meter and rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme is aa, ba, ca, da and the last word is of the second line is usually repeated to make the rhyme.

heroic couplet
A pair of rhyming lines that are written in iambic pentameter. This couplet is called "heroic" because it was first used to translate Greek and Roman epics.

kaafiyaa
The internal rhyme scheme of a ghazal. This internal rhyme usually immediately precedes the radif (the refrain) of the ghazal. For example, in the following sher, you and true are the internal rhyme or kaafiyaa of the first couplet. The phrase "to me" is the radif.

Truest of sages are you to me,
Your eye speaks softly true to me;

kigo
A seasonal reference in haiku. Usually a kigo has accumulated resonances and associations with earlier haiku and Japanese aesthetics about time. An example of a kigo is: "autumn deepens." It conveys a sense of being late in life.

malta
The first couplet in a ghazal. Both lines of the malta contain a repeating word or phrase called a radif that usually appears as an end-rhyme.

maqta
The final sher (couplet) in a ghazal. Traditionally, the poet puts their name or pen name (takhallus) in the last couplet of a ghazal. Some poets use the maqta as a vehicle to talk to themselves or reflect on the poem (ghazal) as a whole.

monorhyme
Poem in which all the lines have the same end rhyme

quatrain
A four line stanza (usually rhyming). Lines can be any length and measure.

octave
The first eight lines of a sonnet.

pivot word
A word in a haiku poem that changes, or turns the direction of the poem.

qasida
A pre-Islamic Arabic poetic form that was usually written to praise an emperor or king. The form often contained 60-100 couplets called sher. The poetic form ghazal derives from the qasida.

radif
A repeating word or phrase in a ghazal, similar to a refrain. The radif appears in the first sher (couplet) and repeats itself at the end of the second line of each succeeding sher. Ghazals, which are untitled, frequently become known by their radifs.

renga
Japanese poetic form made up of linked tanka verse; the word renga means "linked elegance")

satori
A moment of insight or reflection that emerges in a Haiku poem (usually around the cutting or pivot word)

sestet
The last six lines of a sonnet.

sher
Couplet (two line poem) that is part of a larger poem called a ghazal. Each sher should be able to stand on its own but should follow the same meter and rhyme scheme of the larger ghazal.

takhallus
A pen name or alias used by a poet writing a ghazal. By tradition, the takhallus appears in the final couplet (sher) of the ghazal. For example the classical Urdu poet Mirza Asadullakhan use the takhallus "Ghalib."

tanka
Japanese poetic form that is made up of 5 lines with a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable count. Haiku derives from tanka.

trochaic inversion
Inserting a trochee (foot with stressed/unstressed pattern) into a line that is written with iambic meter. A trochaic inversion can serve to provide relief from the weak-strong pattern of iamb. It can also serve to reverse expectations or the flow of the poem. Here is an example of a trochaic inversion (the trochee is boded):

trochee
A foot (pair of syllables) containing a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one. A trochee is the reverse of an iamb. The word "scoring" is a trochee.

volta
A shift in tone, focus or viewpoint in a sonnet. The Volta usually occurs after line 8 (between the octave and the sestet. The Volta also occasionally occurs in the final couplet in a Shakespearean sonnet.

yugen
Japanese term for beauty that suggests mystery, depth and a tinge of sadness