Term	Pronunciation	Definition
realism		The endeavor to portray an accurate representation of nature and real life without idealization. (Compare classicism, imagism, impressionism, metaphysical, objectivism, romanticism, symbolism)
refrain		A phrase or line, generally pertinent to the central topic, which is repeated verbatim, usually at regular intervals throughout a poem, most often at the end of a stanza, as in Spenser's Prothalamion, or Villon's Des Dames du Temps Jadis. Occasionally a single word is used as a refrain, as nevermore in Poe's The Raven. Sometimes a refrain is written with progressive variations, in which case it may be termed incremental repetition, (See also burden, repetend) (Compare anadiplosis, anaphora, echo, epistrophe, epizeuxis, parallelism, polysyndeton, stornello verses)
repetend	REP-ee-tend	The irregular repetition of a word, phrase, or line in a poem. It is a type of refrain, but differs in that it can appear at various places in the poem and may be only a partial repetition, as in Poe's Ulalume.
resonance		The quality of richness or variety of sounds in poetic texture, as in Milton's . . . and the thunder . . . ceases now To bellow through the vast and boundless Deep. (See also alliteration, assonance, consonance) (Compare euphony)
rhopalic	roh-PAL-ik	Having each succeeding unit in a poetic structure longer than the preceding one. Applied to a line, it means that each successive word is a syllable longer that its predecessor. Applied to a stanza, each successive line is longer by either a syllable or a metrical foot. Rhopalic verse is also called wedge verse.
rhyme, rime		In the specific sense, a type of echoing which utilizes a correspondence of sound in the final accented vowels and all that follows of two or more words, but the preceding consonant sounds must differ, as in the words, bear and care. In a poetic sense, however, rhyme refers to a close similarity of sound as well as an exact correspondence; it includes the agreement of vowel sounds in assonance and the repetition of consonant sounds in consonance and alliteration. Usually, but not always, rhymes occur at the ends of lines. NOTE: Originally rime, the spelling was changed due to the influence of its popular, but erroneous, association with the Latin word, rhythmus. Many purists continue to use rime as the proper spelling of the word. NOTE: Differences as well as identity in sound echoes between words contribute to the euphonic effect, stimulate intellectual appreciation, provide a powerful mnemonic device, and serve to unify a poem. Also, rhymes often serve to heighten the significance of the words. Terms like near rhyme, half rhyme, and perfect rhyme function to distinguish between the types of rhyme without prejudicial intent and should not be interpreted as expressions of value. NOTE: Early examples of English poetry used alliterative verse instead of rhyme. The use of rhyme in the end words of verse originally arose to compensate for the sometimes unsatisfactory quality of rhythm within the lines; variations in the patterns of rhyme schemes then became functional in defining diverse stanza forms, such as, ottava rima, rhyme royal, terza rima, the spenserian stanza and others. Rhyme schemes are also significant factors in the definitions of whole poems, such as ballade, limerick, rondeau, sonnet, triolet and villanelle. (See close rhyme, end rhyme, feminine rhyme, internal rhyme, masculine rhyme) (See also broken rhyme, disyllabic rhyme, mosaic rhyme, sight rhyme, triple rhyme)
rhymester		An inferior poet. (See also doggerel, poet.ster, poet.cule, versifier)
rhythm		An essential of all poetry, the regular or progressive pattern of recurrent accents in the flow of a poem as determined by the arses and theses of the metrical feet, i.e., the rise and fall of stress. The measure of rhythm.c quantity is the meter. NOTE: A rhythm.c pattern in which the stress falls on the final syllable of each foot, as in the iamb or anapest, is called a rising or ascending rhythm. a rhythm.c pattern with the stress occurring on the first syllable of each foot, as in the dactyl or trochee, is a falling or descending rhythm. NOTE: From an easy lilt to the rough cadence of a primitive chant, rhythm is the organization of sound patterns the poet has created for pleasurable reading. (See also ictus, modulation, sprung rhythm. (Compare caesura)
ricochet words		Hyphenated words, usually formed by reduplicating a word with a change in the radical vowel or the initial consonant sound, such as pitter-patter, chit-chat, riff-raff, wishy-washy, hob-nob, roly-poly, pell-mell, razzle-dazzle, etc. NOTE: There are a substantial number of ricochet words in both modern and ancient English. They usually convey an intensifying effect. (See also kenning, tmesis) (Compare close rhyme, neologism, nonce word, portmanteau word)
rime enchainée	reem ahn-sheh-NAY	A chain rhyme that links consecutive line., with the last word of one line rhyming with the first word of the following line. (Compare anadiplosis, envelope rhyme)
romance		Formerly a medieval tale in mixed prose and verse describing marvelous adventures of a hero of chivalry, it later came to mean a short lyric poem. (Compare canzone, ghazal, melic verse, ode, society verse)
romanticism		An 18th century movement revolting against the conventional strictness of neo-classicism and placing artistic emphasis on imagination and the emotions. (Compare classicism, idealism, imagism, impressionism, metaphysical, objectivism, realism, symbolism)
rondeau	RAHN-doe	A fixed form used mostly in light or witty verse, usually consisting of fifteen octo- or decasyllabic lines in three stanzas, with only two rhymes used throughout. A word or words from the first part of the first line are used as a (usually unrhymed) refrain ending the second and third stanzas, so the rhyme scheme is aabba aabR aabbaR. NOTE: An example of the rondeau is the best-known poem from World War I, In Flanders Fields, by Lt. Col. John McCrae. (Compare rondel, rondelet, roundel, villanelle) (See also chain verse, envelope)
rondel	RAHN-dul	A variation of the rondeau in which the first two lines of the first stanza are repeated as the last two lines of the second and third stanzas, thus a rhyme scheme of ABba abAB abbaA(B). (Sometimes only the first line of the poem is repeated at the end.) (Compare rondelet, villanelle)
rondelet	rahn-duh-LET	A short variation of the rondeau consisting generally of one 7-line stanza with two rhymes. The first line has four syllables and is repeated as a refrain forming the third and seventh lines; the other lines have eight syllables each. (Compare rondel, villanelle)
roundelay	ROWN-duh-lay	A poem with a refrain repeated frequently or at fixed intervals, as in a rondel.
run-on lines		Lines in which the thought continues into the next line, as opposed to end-stopped. NOTE: The occasional use of run-on lines, also called enjambment, provides a variation by making a pause in the thought appear at some place other than the end of a line, but they should not be over-used. (See also open couplet)
rune		A Finnish or Old Norse poem. (See also edda, skald)

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