 external and is best seen in (1) Man in conflict with another Man: (2) Man in conflict in Nature; (3) Man in conflict with self.
Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds, but not vowels, as in assonance. Example: "lady lounges lazily, dark deep dread crept in."
Elegy. A poem "of lamentation for the dead." The poet chooses freely his metrical pattern, rhyme scheme (if he uses rhyme), and method of treating his theme. There is a more special form of the elegy called the pastoral elegy. The pastoral tradition in English-the tradition of dealing with characters in literature under the guise of poetic shepherds in an idyllic environment-has its roots in classical literature; Vergil and Theocritus are two of the most notable poets who wrote in the pastoral vein. Many pastoral poems were written in English between the middle of the sixteenth century and the middle of the eighteenth. When applied to the elegy, the pastoral tradition resulted in a rather formalized type of poetry most successfully used by Milton in Lycidas (on the death of Edward King), Shelley in Adonais (on the death of John Keats), and Arnold in Thyrsis (on the death of Arthur Hugh Clough). Traditionally, the pastoral elegy begins with a statement of the reason for the grief and an invocation to the Muses for assistance in the task of composition.
Epic. An extended narrative poem recounting actions, travels, adventures, and heroic episodes and written in a high style (with ennobled diction, for example).
Epistolary novel. A novel consisting of letters written by a character or several characters.
Epithet. A word which makes the reader see the object described in a clearer or sharper light. It is both exact and imaginative.
Distinctive epithets are found in the ancient Greek classic, The Odyssey: "wine-dark sea," wave-girdled island," and " blindfolding night."
Flashback. A device that allows the writer to present events that happened before the time of the current narration or the current events in the fiction.
Foot. The basic unit of meter consisting of a group of two or three syllables. Scanning or scansion is the process of determining the prevailing foot in a line of poetry, of determining the types and sequence of different feet.
Foreshadowing. The use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in literature.
Free verse. Verse that has neither regular rhyme nor regular meter. Free verse often uses cadences rather than uniform metrical feet
Genre. Type of literature.
Irony. A mode of expression, through words (verbal irony) or events (irony of situation), conveying a reality different from and usually opposite to appearance or expectation. A writer may say the opposite of what he means, create a reversal between expectation and its fulfillment, or give the audience knowledge that a character lacks, making the character's words have meaning to the audience not perceived by the character.
Metaphor. Comparison of two unlike things using the verb "to be" and not using like or as as in a simile. Example: "He is a pig" or "Thou art sunshine." The simplest and also the most effective poetic device is the use of comparison. It might almost be said that poetry is founded on two main means of comparing things: simile and metaphor. We heighten our ordinary speech by the continual use of such comparisons as "fresh as a daisy," "tough as leather," "comfortable as an old shoe," "gay as a lark," "pretty as a picture." These are all recognizable similes; they use the words "as" or "like." A metaphor is another kind of comparison. It is actually a condensed simile, for it omits "as" or "like."
Meter. The rhythmic pattern produced when words are arranged so that their stressed and unstressed syllables fall into a more or less regular sequence, resulting in repeated patterns of accent (called feet). Feet are combined to make a line of poetry. The length, or measure, of a line is called the meter. The shortest line of poetry contains only one foot (monometer); one of the longest (octameter) consists of eight feet.
Ode. More complex in structure than most oth