Form of Poem

1. Haiku

• Japanese form of poetry which is composed of three non rhyming lines.

• The first and third lines have five syllables each and the second line has seven syllables.

• They often express feelings and thoughts about nature; however, you could write a poem about any subject that you would like to in this form. 

2. Pastoral

• wonderful senses of peace and harmony

• nature is often at the center

• describing a rural place, but the terms will be peaceful and endearing

3. Ballad

• about love

• will tell stories and they tend to be of mythical nature

4. Imagery

• give an extremely powerful image of what the writer is talking about

5. Limerick

• often silly and whimsical

• written in five lines with an AABBA rhyme scheme

•  tell a short, humorous story

6. Epic

• Longest form of poem

• tells a story of a mythical warrior and the great things that he accomplished in all of his journeys

7. Elegy

• sad form

• express a lament, often over a death of the loved one

8. Free Verse

• tend to employ other types of creative language such as alliteration, words that begin with the same sound, or assonance, the repetition of vowel sounds

• does not require any rhyme scheme or meter

9. Sonnet

• authors from Dante to Shakespeare

• contains 14 lines, typically with two rhyming stanzas known as a rhyming couplet at the end

• 3 quatrains(4 line stanzas) followed by 1 couplet(2 line stanza). Rhyming scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

• Written in Iambic Pentameter- sonnets are written iambic pentameter, a poetic meter with 10 beats per line made up of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables

3 Types of Sonnets

1. Italian Petrarchan Sonnet

• 14 line poem

• 1 octave(8 line stanza) followed by 1 sestet(6 line stanza)

• rhyming scheme of ABBAABBA CDCCDC or (CDECDE)

2. Spenserian Sonnet

• 14 line poem

• 3 quatrains followed by 1 couplet

• rhyming scheme of ABAB BCBC CDCD EE

3. English(Shakesperian) Sonnet

• 14 line poem

• 3 quatrains(4 line stanza) followed by 1 couplet(2 line stanza)

• rhyming scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

10. Ode

• explores and idea - whether political, philosophical, intellectual, or personal in detail

11. Rap

• a modem style of poetry, often associate with heavy use of rhyme, word play and strong rhythm

12. Pantoum

• uses a lot of repetition

13. Tanka

• Japanese poem

• 5 lines ( Line 1 & 3  -  5 syllables) (Line 2, 4 & 5  -  7 syllables)