Glossary of Literary Terms

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occasional poem: A poem written about or for a specific occasion, public or private (e.g., Maya Angelou´s
poem for the 1993 presidential inauguration, "On the Pulse of Morning"). Such poems can transcend the particular incident that inspired them; for example, see William Butler Yeats, "Easter 1916" (1916).

ode: An extended lyric, usually elevated in style and with an elaborate stanzaic structure (e.g., see Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Dejection: An Ode" [1817]). 

off-rhyme: Rhyme that does not perfectly match in vowel or consonant sound; for example, see William Butler Yeats, "Easter 1916" (1916): faces / houses, gibe / club, etc.

onomatopoeia: Use of a word or words the sound of which approximates the sound of the thing denoted (e.g., "splash").

oxymoron: A figure of speech that combines two apparently contradictory words (e.g, John Milton´s description of the flames of hell as giving "No light, but rather darkness visible" in Paradise Lost 1.63 [1667]).