Forms of Poetry Overview

Forms of Poetry

• Haiku: Three lines with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5. Often about nature, rarely rhymes.
• Limerick: Five lines. Lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme, usually have 8 syllables. Lines 3 and 4 rhyme, usually have 6 syllables.
• Concrete Poem: Words arranged on the page to create a picture or shape. The shape often relates to the poem's meaning.
• Free Verse: No rhyme or regular rhythm. Different from prose writing because of its unique appearance..

Ballad

• Tells a story, often serious and tragic, but can be humorous.
• Usually written in first or third person.
• Includes action and dialogue.
• Phrases are repeated as refrains.
• Commonly uses a quatrains (four-line stanzas) with an abcb rhyming pattern.
• Rhythm is usually 8 syllables for lines 1 and 3 and 6 syllables for lines 2 and 4.

Sonnet

• Fourteen lines written in iambic pentameter.
• Specific rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg (a 3-4-3-2 pattern).
• Often used to explore themes of love and beauty.

Diamante Poem

• Shaped like a diamond.
• Seven lines.
• First line: a noun (subject)
• Second line: two adjectives describing the subject
• Third line: three verbs ending in "-ing" relating to subject actions
• Fourth line: four nouns related to subject and its opposite
• Fifth line: three verbs ending in "-ing" relating to opposite actions
• Sixth line: two adjectives describing the opposite concept
• Seventh line: noun (opposite of initial subject)

Cinquain Poem

• Five lines.
• Syllable Cinquain: Varying syllable counts for each line.
• Word Cinquain: First line is one word, second line two words, third line three words, fourth line four words, fifth line one word to summarize the rest.

Poetry Terminology

• Alliteration: Repetition of similar sounds at the beginning of words.
• Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds.
• Blank Verse: Unrhymed iambic pentameter.
• Metaphor: Comparing two things without using "like" or "as".
• Meter/Rhythm: Syllable arrangement and rhythm in poetry.
• Onomatopoeia: Words that imitate sounds.
• Personification: Giving human qualities to non-human things or ideas.
• Quatrain: A stanza with four lines.
• Refrain: Repeated phrase, line, or group of lines.
• Rhyme: Repetition of similar sounds at the end of words. Masculine rhyme happens when the rhyming words have stressed final syllables (cat/hat). Feminine rhyme occurs when the rhyming words have unstressed final syllables (longing/yearning).
• Simile: Comparing two things using "like" or "as."
• Stanza: Section of a poem separated from the others.