246 Poetry for Students
Tradition emphasized conventionality in social, re-
ligious, moral, and literary standards.
Georgian Age:See Georgian Poets
Georgian Period:See Georgian Poets
Georgian Poets:A loose grouping of English po-
ets during the years 1912–1922. The Georgians re-
acted against certain literary schools and practices,
especially Victorian wordiness, turn-of-the-century
aestheticism, and contemporary urban realism. In
their place, the Georgians embraced the nineteenth-
century poetic practices of William Wordsworth
and the other Lake Poets.
Georgic:A poem about farming and the farmer’s
way of life, named from Virgil’s Georgics.
Gilded Age:A period in American history during
the 1870s characterized by political corruption and
materialism. A number of important novels of so-
cial and political criticism were written during this
time.
Gothic:See Gothicism
Gothicism:In literary criticism, works character-
ized by a taste for the medieval or morbidly at-
tractive. A gothic novel prominently features
elements of horror, the supernatural, gloom, and vi-
olence: clanking chains, terror, charnel houses,
ghosts, medieval castles, and mysteriously slam-
ming doors. The term “gothic novel” is also ap-
plied to novels that lack elements of the traditional
Gothic setting but that create a similar atmosphere
of terror or dread.
Graveyard School:A group of eighteenth-century
English poets who wrote long, picturesque medita-
tions on death. Their works were designed to cause
the reader to ponder immortality.
Great Chain of Being:The belief that all things
and creatures in nature are organized in a hierar-
chy from inanimate objects at the bottom to God
at the top. This system of belief was popular in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Grotesque:In literary criticism, the subject matter
of a work or a style of expression characterized by
exaggeration, deformity, freakishness, and disor-
der. The grotesque often includes an element of
comic absurdity.H
Haiku:The shortest form of Japanese poetry, con-
structed in three lines of five, seven, and five syl-
lables respectively. The message of a haikupoem
usually centers on some aspect of spirituality and
provokes an emotional response in the reader.Half Rhyme:See Consonance
Harlem Renaissance:The Harlem Renaissance of
the 1920s is generally considered the first signifi-
cant movement of black writers and artists in the
United States. During this period, new and estab-
lished black writers published more fiction and po-
etry than ever before, the first influential black
literary journals were established, and black au-
thors and artists received their first widespread
recognition and serious critical appraisal. Among
the major writers associated with this period are
Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, Countee Cullen,
Langston Hughes, Arna Bontemps, Nella Larsen,
and Zora Neale Hurston.
Hellenism:Imitation of ancient Greek thought or
styles. Also, an approach to life that focuses on the
growth and development of the intellect. “Hel-
lenism” is sometimes used to refer to the belief that
reason can be applied to examine all human expe-
rience.
Heptameter:See Meter
Hero/Heroine:The principal sympathetic charac-
ter (male or female) in a literary work. Heroes and
heroines typically exhibit admirable traits: ideal-
ism, courage, and integrity, for example.
Heroic Couplet:A rhyming couplet written in
iambic pentameter (a verse with five iambic feet).
Heroic Line:The meter and length of a line of
verse in epic or heroic poetry. This varies by lan-
guage and time period.
Heroine:See Hero/Heroine
Hexameter:See Meter
Historical Criticism:The study of a work based
on its impact on the world of the time period in
which it was written.
Hokku:See Haiku
Holocaust:See Holocaust Literature
Holocaust Literature:Literature influenced by or
written about the Holocaust of World War II. Such
literature includes true stories of survival in con-
centration camps, escape, and life after the war, as
well as fictional works and poetry.
Homeric Simile:An elaborate, detailed compari-
son written as a simile many lines in length.
Horatian Satire:See Satire
Humanism:A philosophy that places faith in the
dignity of humankind and rejects the medieval per-
ception of the individual as a weak, fallen creature.
“Humanists” typically believe in the perfectibility
of human nature and view reason and education as
the means to that end.Glossary of Literary Terms