Poetic Devices And Terms

noun a metrical foot consisting of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables, as in 'poetry'

adjective relating to or consisting of dactyls

• The dactyl is a metrical foot consisting of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.
• I learned about the dactyl in my poetry class - it's like a stressed, unstressed, unstressed rhythm.
• I can't get the hang of writing dactyls in my poems, it's so tricky!
• Her fingers moved like dactyls across the piano keys, creating a beautiful melody.

noun a long bounding stride or movement

verb to run or move with a long bounding stride

• The horse began to lope gracefully around the arena during the equestrian competition.
• I saw a dog lope past my house this morning.
• Let's lope over to the store before it closes.
• Her thoughts seemed to lope from one idea to the next, never staying on one for long.

noun a person who carries off another person by force; abductor or kidnapper

• The ravisher was sentenced to life in prison for his heinous crimes.
• I can't believe that ravisher got away with it for so long.
• That ravisher is a real scumbag.
• The storm ravisher left a path of destruction in its wake.

noun a small bird, typically a sparrow

• The sparrer is a small bird commonly found in urban areas.
• I saw a group of sparrers fighting over breadcrumbs in the park.
• My grandma always calls sparrows 'sparrers'.
• The sparrer of gossip spread the rumors throughout the office.

verb past tense of affright, meaning to frighten or scare

adjective feeling fear or alarm

• The villagers were affrighted by the sudden appearance of a ghostly figure in the graveyard.
• I was affrighted when I heard a loud noise coming from the dark alley.
• She was totally affrighted when she saw the spider crawling towards her.
• The thought of failing the exam affrighted him more than anything else.