Term	Pronunciation	Definition
tanka	TAHNG-kuh	The classic form of Japanese poetry with five unrhymed lines of five, seven, five, seven, and seven syllables to produce a concentrated essence of a single event, image or mood. (See also haiku, senryu)
tautology		The unnecessary and excessive repetition of the same idea in different words in the same sentence, as "The room was completely dark and had no illumination," or "A breeze greeted the dusk and nightfall was heralded by a gentle wind." (Compare pleonasm)
tenson, tenzon	TEN-suhn	A medieval competition in verse on the subject of love or gallantry before a tribunal between rival troubadours; also, a subdivision of a chanson composed by one of the competitors.
tercet		A unit or group of three lines of verse which are rhymed together or have a rhyme scheme that interlaces with an adjoining tercet. NOTE: The sestet, or second part of a petrarchan sonnet, often consists of two tercet.. NOTE: A tercet is used as an envoi in a sestina. (See also terza rima)
terza rima	tert-suh REE-muh	A verse form consisting of tercets, usually in iambic pentameter in English poetry, with a chain or interlocking rhyme scheme, as: aba, bcb, cdc, etc. The pattern concludes with a separate line added at the end of the poem (or each part) rhyming with the second line of the preceding tercet or with a rhyming couplet, as in Shelley's Ode to the West Wind. NOTE: The rhyme sound which carries from the middle line of each tercet to the opening line of the next tercet provides a strong sense of forward movement to the terza rima.
tetrameter	teh-TRAM-uh-tur	A line of verse consisting of four metrical feet, as in William Blake's Tyger! Tyger! or Byron's The Bride of Abydos. (See meter)
texture		The "feel" of a poem that comes from the interweaving of technical elements, syntax, patterns of sound and meaning. (Compare content, diction, form, motif, persona, style, tone)
theme		The central idea, topic, or didactic quality of a work. NOTE: Although theme is often used interchangeably with motif, it is preferable to recognize the difference between the two terms. (See also burden) (Compare content, diction, form, persona, style, texture, tone)
thesis		The first part of an antithetical figure of speech; also, the unaccented or shorter part of a poetic foot. NOTE: In classical prosody the thesis was the accented or longer part of a foot, but a misunderstanding which occurred in the definitions of poetic feet caused the meaning to become reversed. (Contrast arsis)
tmesis	tuh-MEE-sus	The division of a compound word into two parts, with one or more words between, as what place soever for whatsoever. (See also kenning, ricochet words)
tone		The poet's or persona's attitude in style or expression toward the subject, e.g., loving, ironic, bitter, pitying, fanciful, solemn, etc. Tone can also refer to the overall mood of the poem itself, in the sense of a pervading atmosphere intended to influence the readers' emotional response and foster expectations of the conclusion. NOTE: In spoken language we recognize tone by inflections of the voice and by the demeanor of the speaker; in poetry, tone is conveyed through the use of connotation, diction, figures of speech, rhythm and other elements of poetic construction. (Compare content, form, motif, style, texture)
tragedy		A medieval narrative poem or tale typically describing the downfall of a great person; a drama, usually in verse, portraying a conflict between a strong-willed protagonist and a superior force such as destiny, culminating in death or disaster. (See also lay, ballad) (Compare chanson de geste, epic, epopee, epos, hamartia, heroic quatrain)
tribrach	TRY-brak	A metrical foot of three short syllables.
trimeter	TRY-muh-tur	A line of verse consisting of three metrical feet or three dipodies. NOTE: Many poems are written entirely in trimeters, as William Cowper's Verses Supposed to be Written by Alexander Selkirk, but frequently poems of longer metrical patterns vary them with trimeters, such as John Keats' Ode to a Nightingale. (See meter)
triolet	TRY-uh-lut	A poem or stanza of eight lines in which the first line is repeated as the fourth and seventh lines, and the second line as the eighth, with a rhyme scheme of ABaAabAB, as in Adelaide Crapsey's Song. NOTE: The capital letters in the rhyme scheme indicate the repetition of identical lines.
triple rhyme		A rhyme in which three final syllables of words have the same sound, as in glorious and victorious. NOTE: Triple rhymes and disyllabic rhymes are used most frequently in humorous verse. (See also mosaic rhyme)
trisyllable		A word of three syllables. (See also disyllable, monosyllable, polysyllable)
trochee, trochaic	TROH-kee	A metrical foot with a long or accented syllable followed by a short or unaccented syllable, as in only or total, or the opening line of Poe's The Raven: Once up | on a | midnight | dreary, | while I | pondered, | weak and | weary, NOTE: In English poetry, trochaic verse in long poems is infrequent since it can produce a monotonous effect, but this problem is avoided in short poems such as William Blake's The Lamb and Tyger! Tyger! NOTE: In a trochaic line of verse, the last syllable is often omitted to end the line with an accented syllable. A line thus shortened is termed catalectic. (See also meter, rhythm)
trope		The intentional use of a word or expression figuratively, i.e., used in a different sense from its original significance in order to give vividness or emphasis to an idea. Some important types of trope are: antonomasia, irony, metaphor, metonymy and synecdoche. NOTE: Strictly speaking, a trope is the figurative use of a word or expression, while figure of speech refers to a phrase or sentence used in a figurative sense. The two terms, however, are often confused and used interchangeably. (See also imagery)
troubadour		One of a class of lyric poets and poet-musicians, often of knightly rank, who flourished from the 11th through the 13th centuries in Southern France and neighboring areas of Italy and Spain, and who wrote of courtly love. (See tenson) (See also improvisatore, jongleur, meistersingers, minnesingers, minstrel, scop, trouvere) (Compare bard, metrist, sonneteer, wordsmith)
trouvere	troo-VEHR	One of a school of poets of northern France who flourished from the 11th to 14th centuries and who composed mostly narrative works such as chansons de geste and fabliaux. (See also improvisatore, jongleur, meistersingers, minnesingers, minstrel, troubadour)

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