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Glossary of literary terms. This glossary of literary terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in the discussion, classification, analysis, and criticism of all types of literature, such as poetry, novels, and picture books, as well as of grammar, syntax, and language techniques.
Acatalexis: the opposite of catalexis. Acephalous line: a line lacking the first element. Line: a unit into which a poem is divided. Line break: the termination of the line of a poem and the beginning of a new line. Metre (or meter): the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse.
Circumlocution – use of many words where a few would do. Classicism – a revival in the interest of classical antiquity languages and texts. Climax – an arrangement of phrases or topics in increasing order, as with good, better, best. Colon – a rhetorical figure consisting of a clause that is grammatically, but not logically, complete.
Aeì Libúē phérei ti kainón. "Libya always bears something new", Aristotle, History of Animals. Compare the Latin proverb ex Africa semper aliquid novi 'from Africa always something new', based on Pliny the Elder. Ἀεὶ κολοιὸς παρὰ κολοιῷ ἱζάνει "A jackdaw is always found near a jackdaw". Ἀεὶ ...
A characteristic of Homer's style is the use of epithets, as in "rosy-fingered" Dawn or "swift-footed" Achilles. Epithets are used because of the constraints of the dactylic hexameter (i.e., it is convenient to have a stockpile of metrically fitting phrases to add to a name) and because of the oral transmission of the poems; they are mnemonic aids to the singer and the audience alike.
In rhetoric, zeugma (/ ˈzjuːɡmə / ⓘ; from the Ancient Greek ζεῦγμα, zeûgma, lit. "a yoking together" [ 1 ]) and syllepsis (/ sɪˈlɛpsɪs /; from the Ancient Greek σύλληψις, sullēpsis, lit. "a taking together" [ 2 ]) are figures of speech in which a single phrase or word joins different parts of a sentence. [ 3 ]
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, sometimes referred to simply as Brewer's, is a reference work containing definitions and explanations of many famous phrases, allusions, and figures, whether historical or mythical. The "New Edition revised, corrected, and enlarged" from 1895 is now in the public ...
blue-gown – a beggar, a bedesman of the Scottish king, who wore a blue gown, the gift of the king, and had his license to beg. bonnet-piece – a gold coin of James V of Scotland, so called from the king being represented on it as wearing a bonnet instead of a crown. Brown, Jones, and Robinson – three middle-class Englishmen on their ...