more important than the form. The term may
also be used to criticize a work that the critic
finds ‘‘overly didactic,’’ that is, heavy-handed
in its delivery of a lesson.Dimeter:SeeMeter
Dionysian:SeeApollonian and Dionysian
Discordia concours: A Latin phrase meaning
‘‘discord in harmony.’’ The term was coined
by the eighteenth-century English writer
Samuel Johnson to describe ‘‘a combination
of dissimilar images or discovery of occult
resemblances in things apparently unlike.’’
Johnson created the expression by reversing
a phrase by the Latin poet Horace.
Dissonance:A combination of harsh or jarring
sounds, especially in poetry. Although such
combinations may be accidental, poets
sometimes intentionally make them to
achieve particular effects. Dissonance is
also sometimes used to refer to close but
not identical rhymes. When this is the case,
the word functions as a synonym for
consonance.
Double Entendre: A corruption of a French
phrase meaning ‘‘double meaning.’’ The term
is used to indicate a word or phrase that is
deliberately ambiguous, especially when one
of the meanings is risque or improper.
Draft: Any preliminary version of a written
work. An author may write dozens of drafts
which are revised to form the final work, or
he or she may write only one, with few or no
revisions.
Dramatic Monologue:SeeMonologue
Dramatic Poetry:Any lyric work that employs
elements of drama such as dialogue, conflict,
or characterization, but excluding works that
are intended for stage presentation.
Dream Allegory:SeeDream Vision
Dream Vision:A literary convention, chiefly of
the Middle Ages. In a dream vision a story is
presented as a literal dream of the narrator.
This device was commonly used to teach
moral and religious lessons.
E
Eclogue:In classical literature, a poem featuring
rural themes and structured as a dialogue
among shepherds. Eclogues often took spe-
cific poetic forms, such as elegies or love
poems. Some were written as the soliloquy
of a shepherd. In later centuries, ‘‘eclogue’’
came to refer to any poem that was in the
pastoral tradition or that had a dialogue or
monologue structure.
Edwardian:Describes cultural conventions iden-
tified with the period of the reign of Edward
VII of England (1901-1910). Writers of the
Edwardian Age typically displayed a strong
reaction against the propriety and conserva-
tism of the Victorian Age. Their work often
exhibits distrust of authority in religion, pol-
itics, and art and expresses strong doubts
about the soundness of conventional values.
Edwardian Age:SeeEdwardian
Electra Complex:A daughter’s amorous obses-
sion with her father.
Elegy:A lyric poem that laments the death of a
person or the eventual death of all people. In
a conventional elegy, set in a classical world,
the poet and subject are spoken of as shep-
herds. In modern criticism, the word elegy is
often used to refer to a poem that is melan-
choly or mournfully contemplative.
Elizabethan Age:A period of great economic
growth, religious controversy, and national-
ism closely associated with the reign of
Elizabeth I of England (1558-1603). The
Elizabethan Age is considered a part of the
general renaissance—that is, the flowering
of arts and literature—that took place in
Europe during the fourteenth through six-
teenth centuries. The era is considered the
golden age of English literature. The most
important dramas in English and a great
deal of lyric poetry were produced during
this period, and modern English criticism
began around this time.
Empathy:A sense of shared experience, includ-
ing emotional and physical feelings, with
someone or something other than oneself.
Empathy is often used to describe the
response of a reader to a literary character.
English Sonnet:SeeSonnet
Enjambment:The running over of the sense and
structure of a line of verse or a couplet into
the following verse or couplet.
Enlightenment, The:An eighteenth-century phil-
osophical movement. It began in France but
had a wide impact throughout Europe and
America. Thinkers of the Enlightenment
valued reason and believed that both the
individual and society could achieve a stateGlossary of Literary Terms