Haiku
Haiku (also called nature or seasonal haiku) is an unrhymed Japanese verse
consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables (5, 7, 5)
or 17 syllables in all. Haiku is usually written in the present tense and
focuses on nature (seasons). Other popular forms of haiku are: Tanka, Cinquain, and Senryu. See example.
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Half Rhyme
A near rhyme; rhyme occurs only on the first syllable of the rhyming word, as in sad and madley.
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Hemistich
An incomplete or imperfect line of verse, usually separated rhythmically from the rest of the line by a caesura.
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Hendecasyllable
A verse of 11 syllables.
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Heptameter
A line of verse consisting of seven metrical feet.
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Heroic Couplet
Two successive lines of rhymed poetry in iambic pentameter.
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Heroic Quatrain or Heroic Verse
So named because it is the form in which epic poetry of heroic exploits is generally written, its rhyme scheme is abab, composed in ten-syllable iambic verse in English, hexameter in Greek and Latin, ottava rima in Italian.
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Hexameter
A line of verse consisting of six metrical feet.
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Homonym
One of two or more words that have the same sound and often the same spelling but differ in meaning, such as n. wind (moving air) and v. wind (to wrap or entwine).
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Hovering Accent
In scansion, a stress which is thought of as being equally distributed over two adjacent syllables, a concept proposed to cover an accent not in alignment with the expected metrical ictus.
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Hymn
A song of praise or joy usually to God or a deity.
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Hyperbole
A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in "I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse."
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Hypercatalectic
Having an extra syllable or syllables at the end of a complete line of verse.
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Hypermetrical
A line which contains one or more syllables in addition to those found in a standard metrical unit or line of verse.
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