Related Words

Allusion: A reference to a historical, mythic, or literary person, place, event, movement, etc.

Order Of The Garter: An elite order of knights first founded around 1347-1348 by King Edward III. The Knights of the Garter traditionally wore as their emblem a lady's garter around one leg. According to one leg . . . View Full Definition

Mock Sermon: A medieval genre commonly known as 'une sermon joyeux' or 'une sermon jolie,' the conventions are that a non-clerical figure will present a humorous lecture on a non-religious topic (sexuali . . . View Full Definition

Kigo: A traditional 'season-word' in Japanese haiku. The kigo must appear within a haiku's text or be strongly implied by imagery. These words place the haiku within a specific month or season, es . . . View Full Definition

Style: Part of the female reproductive structure in the carpel of a fiower; formed from the ovary wall. The tip of the style carries the stigma to which pollen grains attach. Part of the pistil tha . . . View Full Definition

The Four Elements: The alchemical theory that all matter was composed of four components: earth, air, fire, and water. Each element had two spectrums of quality: hot/cold and dry/wet. For instance, earth was c . . . View Full Definition

Zenos Paradox: The name comes from Zeno of Elea (born c. 495-480 BCE). Zeno proposed four paradoxes in order to challenge accepted notions of space and time as defined in various philosophical circles. The . . . View Full Definition

Yahoo: A coarse, filthy, smelly, bestial, barbaric, bipedal creature only vaguely resembling a human. Jonathan Swift coined the term in Gulliver's Travels, applying it to a race of humanoid brutes . . . View Full Definition

Imagery: A common term of variable meaning, imagery includes the 'mental pictures' that readers experience with a passage of literature. It signifies all the sensory perceptions referred to in a poem . . . View Full Definition

Haiku: Japanese poem of three unrhyming lines in 5, 7, and 5 syllables. For example, windshield wipers swish and monday fm blues say melancholy grace.