Entertainment / Literature Glossary

Traws Fantach: A derogatory adjective in Welsh poetic criticism for a poetic line contains a single scheme, trope, or poetic correspondence with another line. This lack of complexity is considered a sign o . . . View Full Definition

Treaty Of Wedmore: The agreement signed by King Alfred the Great and the Viking leader Guthrum in 878. This divided England into spheres of influence, with Alfred's kingdom of Essex safe from further Viking at . . . View Full Definition

Trench Poetry: Poetry and songs written by both common soldiers and professional poets focusing on the disillusionment, suffering, and ethical dismay these individuals felt at their involvement in World Wa . . . View Full Definition

Triad: A collection of three ideas, concepts, or deities loosely connected--as opposed to a pure trinity in which the three concepts are much more closely linked or equivalent to each other. The ol . . . View Full Definition

Trial By Combat: A means of resolving disputes between knights in which both agree to meet at an agreed-upon time and place and fight with agreed-upon weapons. The knight who was in the right and honest in h . . . View Full Definition

Tribrach: In Greek poetry, a three-syllable foot in which each foot is unstressed or short--rarely used in English poetry.

Trick Ending: Another term for an O. Henry ending.

Tricolon: The repetition of a parallel grammatical construction three times for rhetorical effect. See discussion under parallelism.

Trigraph: A combination of three symbols or letters to indicate a single sound phonetically. For instance, the in witch represents a single sound phonetically, but English speakers use three let . . . View Full Definition

Trilogy: A group of three literary works that together compose a larger narrative. Early types of trilogy resulted from the common practice of Athenian playwrights, who would submit tragedies as grou . . . View Full Definition

Trimeter: A line consisting of three metrical feet. This short line is most common in English nursery rhymes, lullabies, and children's songs. We do find examples of it in poems like the opening lines . . . View Full Definition

Trinity: A grouping or relationship of three divine persons thought in some way to be equivalent or identical to each other--as is the case in the Christian trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) or t . . . View Full Definition

Triolet: A stanza of eight lines using only two rhymes, with the first line repeating three times. Here is an example by Thomas Hardy: How great my grief, my joys how few, Since first it was my fate . . . View Full Definition

Triple Rhyme: A trisyllabic rhyme involving three separate syllables to create the rhyme in each word. For instance, grinding cares is a triple rhyme with winding stairs. Fearfully is a triple rhyme with . . . View Full Definition

Triplet: A tercet that forms a complete stanza by itself.

Tristich: Another term for a tercet. (Greek, 'three lines')

Tritagonist: In the earliest Greek dramas, the play consisted of a single actor standing on stage speaking and singing to the chorus. Later, a second actor (called the deuteragonist) was added by literar . . . View Full Definition

Trivium: The study of grammar, logic, and rhetoric, which in medieval education formed the basis of a bachelor's degree, as opposed to the quadrivium of arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and music, wh . . . View Full Definition

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