Macron
The horizontal mark ( ¯ ) used to indicate a stressed or long syllable in a foot of verse.
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Madrigal
A short lyric or pastoral poem containing a delicate thought. Most often it is a love lyric.
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Malapropism
Most often used for humurous effect, malapropism is a mistaken substitution of a word for another that sounds similar.
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Masculine Rhyme
A rhyme containing only one stressed or accented syllable.
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Measure
Often used as a synonym for metre, measure simply means foot.
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Metaphor
Used to suggest a relationship between an object or idea.
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Metre, Meter
A measure of rhythmic quantity organized into groups of syllables at regular intervals in a line of poetry. The unit of meter is the foot. Metrical lines are named for the constituent foot and for the number of feet in the line. - monometer (1 foot)
- dimeter (2 feet)
- trimeter (3 feet)
- tetrameter (4 feet)
- pentameter (5 feet)
- hexameter (6 feet)
- heptameter (7 feet)
- octameter (8 feet)
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Metrical Pause
Used to compensate for the omission of an unstressed syllable in a foot.
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Metrics
The branch of prosody concerned with meter.
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Metrist
A composer of verse.
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Minstrel
A performer who subsisted by reciting verse and singing while playing a harp. Some were traveling entertainers, while others were employed by nobles.
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Mixed Metaphor
A suggested relationship of objects or ideas that in some respect is false.
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Mock-Epic or Mock-Heroic
A satiric literary form that treats a commonplace subject with the elevated language and heroic style of the classical epic.
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Modulation
The harmonious use of language relating to the variations of stress and pitch.
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Molossus
A metrical foot consisting of three long syllables.
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Monometer
A line of verse containing a single metrical foot or dipody.
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Monorhyme
A poem where the end rhyme is the same in all lines.
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Monostich
A poem or epigram of a single metrical line.
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Monosyllable
A one syllable word.
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Mora, Morae
The minimal unit of rhythmic measurement in quantitive verse, equal to the time it takes to pronounce a short syllable. Two morae are equivalent to a long syllable.
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Mosaic Rhyme
The use of two or more words producing a multiple rhyme. This is often used for comic effect.
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Muse
A source of inspiration. Also, the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne were called the Muses. Each daughter was associated with an individual art or science.- Calliope: Muse of epic poetry
- Clio: Muse of history
- Erato: Muse of lyric and love poetry
- Euterpe: Muse of music, especially wind instruments
- Melpomene: Muse of tragedy
- Polymnia: Muse of sacred poetry
- Terpsichore: Muse of dance and choral song
- Thalia: Muse of comedy
- Urania: Muse of astronomy
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