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F
Fable
A poetic story that illustrates a moral or teaches a lesson, usually in
which animals or inanimate objects are represented as characters.
Fabliau
A bawdy medieval verse narrative, originally French but adapted by
Geoffrey Chaucer's in "The Miller's Tale," "The Reeve's Tale," "The
Merchant's Tale," and others of The Canterbury Tales.
Facetiae
Witty or humorous writings or remarks.
Falling Metre
Trochees and dactyls, i.e., a stressed syllable followed by one or two
unstressed syllables.
Feminine Rhyme
Gendered expression for rhymes ending in one or more unstressed
syllables, such as "fruity" and "booty." The expressions light, weak or
multi-syllable rhyme avoid the sexist bias.
Feminist Criticism
An approach to literature that seeks to correct or supplement what
may be regarded as a predominantly male-dominated critical perspective
with a feminist consciousness. Feminist criticism places literature in a
social context and uses a broad range of disciplines, including history,
sociology, psychology, and linguistics, to provide a perspective sensitive
to feminist issues. Feminist theories also attempt to understand
representation from a woman’s point of view and to explain women’s
writing strategies as specific to their social conditions.
Fescennine Verses
Poetry of a personal nature, lacking moral or sexual restraints,
commonly extemporized at rustic weddings in Fescennia, Rome and
other ancient Italian cities.
Fib
A six-line poem in which the number of syllables per line follow the
Fibonacci sequence: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8. The form was invented by Gregory
K. Pincus, and popularized on his blog in April 2006 (both National
Poetry Month and Mathematics Awareness Month).
Figurative Language
The use of words, phrases, symbols, and ideas in such as way as to
evoke mental images and sense impressions. Figurative language is
often characterized by the use of figures of speech, elaborate
expressions, sound devices, and syntactic departures from the usual
order of literal language.
Figurative Meaning
Associative or connotative meaning; representational
Figure of Speech
A verbal expression in which words or sounds are arranged in a
particular way to achieve a particular effect. Figures of speech are
organized into different categories, such as antithesis, hyperbole,
litotes, metaphor, metonymy, onomatopoeia, simile, and synecdoche.
Fit or Fytte
An archaic term for the division of a poem, i.e., a stanza or canto.
Fixed and Unfixed Forms
See Alcaics, Alexandrine, Asclepiad, Aubade, Ballad, Ballade, Carol,
Choka, Cinquain, Clerihew, Dizain, Double Dactyl, Dramatic monologue,
Eclogue, Elegy, Epic, Epistle, Epithalamion, Fabliau, Free verse, Haiku,
Heroic couplet, Idyll, Limerick, Madrigal, Mock epic, Ode, Ottava rima,
Pastoral, Pattern poetry, Quatrain, Quintain, Renga, Reverdie, Rondeau,
Rondel, Sestina, Sixain, Sonnet, Spenserian stanza, Tanka, Tercet,
Terza rima, Terzain, Triolet, Villanelle, and Virelay.
Flyting
A poem of invective by two speakers trying to out-humiliate one
another.
Folk Song
Popular, often anonymous sung lyrics that may be passed on by word-
of-mouth originally before being compiled by scholars into literary
collections.
Foot (plural Feet)
The foot (plural: feet) is the smallest unit of measurement in English
poetry. They are made up of combinations of accented and unaccented
syllables. They are: Anapest uu/ Dactyl /uu Iamb u/ Pyrrhic uu Spondee
// Trochee /u / represents stressed syllables and u represents
unstressed syllables. If you have trouble trying to decide what is
stressed, consult a dictionary.
Form
The overall structure or shape of a work, which frequently follows an
established design. Forms may refer to a literary type (narrative form,
short story form) or to patterns of meter, lines, and rhymes (stanza
form, verse form).
Formalist Criticism
An approach to literature that focuses on the formal elements of a
work, such as its language, structure, and tone. Formalist critics offer
intense examinations of the relationship between form and meaning in a
work, emphasizing the subtle complexity in how a work is arranged.
Formalists pay special attention to diction, irony, paradox, metaphor,
and symbol, as well as larger elements such as plot, characterization,
and narrative technique. Formalist critics read literature as an
independent work of art rather than as a reflection of the author’s
state of mind or as a representation of a moment in history. Therefore,
anything outside of the work, including historical influences and
authorial intent, is generally not examined by formalist critics. See also
new criticism.
Formula
An often repeated phrase, sometimes half-a-line long and metrically
distinctive.
Found Poem
An unintentional poem discovered in a nonpoetic context, such as a
conversation, news story, or advertisement. Found poems serve as
reminders that everyday language often contains what can be
considered poetry, or that poetry is definable as any text read as a
poem.
Fourteener
An iambic line of fourteen syllables, or seven feet, widely used in English
poetry in the middle of the 16th Century.
Free Verse
The free verse style of poetry leaves the entire form up to the poet’s
discretion. There are no requirements to this form. It may or may not
rhyme. It can be as long or as short as the poet wishes.
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