Poetry Styles

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Now, as promised, several different styles of poetry. We don't claim to have EVERY style, but we think there will be at least one style that you can do! So start reading and then start your own career as a poet!

Style of Poetry

Information about it

Example ( / marks off the feet in a line)

Acrostic

A poem in which certain letters of the lines, usually the first letters, form a word or message relating to the subject

Curled up in a corner

At peace

Taking a nap

Ballad

a song that tells a story, usually about a hero, that can be passed down through generations, most are suitable for singing

La Belle Dame Sans Merci by Keats, as shown on Bob's Byway Glossary of Poetic Terms Site

Blank Verse

unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter

The qua / lity / of mer / cy is / not strain'd,

It drop / peth as / the gen / tle rain / from heaven

Upon / the place / beneath; / it is / twice blessed:

It bles / seth him / that gives / and him / that takes;

From the Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare

Cinquain

5 lined unrhyming poem (1-2-3-4-1)- 1 word on the top row, 2 on the second, 3 on the third, 4 on the fourth and one on the last- another version is in form of syllabic meter- two syllables on the first line, four on the second, six on the third and two on the last.

Sun

Bright shining

Orb of gold

Warming the whole world

Star

Diamante

7 lined unrhyming poem (1-2-3-4-3-2-1)- 1 word on the top line, 2 adjectives describing the first word on the second line, 3 words ending in "ing" about the first word on the third line, 4 words on the fourth line: 2 about the first word and 2 about the very last word, 3 words ending in "ing" on the fifth line about the last word, 2 adjectives describing the last word on the sixth row, and a word opposite of the word on the first line on the seventh row

Earth

brown, soft

growing, living, hiding

tunnels, holes, waves, foam

moving, sinking, flooding

blue-green, smooth

Sea

Elegy

alternates hexameter and pentameter lines; is usually about the death of someone and has a sad tone

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray, as shown on Bob's Byway Glossary of Poetic Terms Site

Epic

a long narrative poem usually about the adventures and bravery of a hero

The Illiad by Homer, as shown on the Internet Classics Archive

Free Verse

No Rules! It doesn't have to rhyme, it doesn't have to be in any sort of meter, or about anything in particular- just write what you feel.

leaves falling, soaring,

trying to defy gravity, dancing with the wind

short-lived flight

Haiku

three unrhymed lines in a 5-7-5 syllabic meter- the first line has 5 syllables, the second seven, and the last 5

majestic mountain

towering up above me

insignificance

Heroic Couplet

lines of iambic pentameter that rhyme in pairs (aa, bb, cc)

Roses are red

Violets are blue

(you didn't know you were making

heroic couplets, did you?!)

Limerick

5 lines with a rhyme scheme of (aa, bb, a). The first line explains the situation, the second tells what happened, the third and fourth tell what went wrong, and the the fifth tells the significance (the so what?!) These poems were popularized by Edward Lear.

There was a young lady of Niger

Who smiled as she rode on a tiger.

They returned from the ride

With the lady inside

And the smile on the face of the tiger.

-- Anonymous

Ode

a long lyric poem which is elaborate in stanzaic structure

Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats, as shown on Bob's Byway Glossary of Poetic Terms Site

Sonnet

14 lined poem in iambic pentameter that usually deals with love, religion or some other serious concern. The Italian sonnet rhyme scheme is (abbaabba-cdecde-aa or abbaabba-cdccdc-aa). The English (Shakespearian) has 3 quatrains w/ a concluding couplet.

Sonnet XVIII by Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest, Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st; So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Quatrain

A poem, or part of a poem, with 4 lines; usually rhyming alternately; most common stanzaic form

Once there was a cat

Being chased by a dog

But they came across a mat

Where there was a log

Villanelle

6 stanzas, 5 three line stanzas, and ending with one four line stanza. There are only two rhymes in the usual villanelle, placed stratgetically in the poem

The House on the Hill by Edwin Robinson, as shown on Bob's Byway Glossary of Poetic Terms Site

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Style of Poetry	Information about it	Example ( / marks off the feet in a line)
Acrostic	A poem in which certain letters of the lines, usually the first letters, form a word or message relating to the subject	Curled up in a corner At peace Taking a nap
Ballad	a song that tells a story, usually about a hero, that can be passed down through generations, most are suitable for singing	La Belle Dame Sans Merci by Keats, as shown on Bob's Byway Glossary of Poetic Terms Site
Blank Verse	unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter	The qua / lity / of mer / cy is / not strain'd, It drop / peth as / the gen / tle rain / from heaven Upon / the place / beneath; / it is / twice blessed: It bles / seth him / that gives / and him / that takes; From the Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare
Cinquain	5 lined unrhyming poem (1-2-3-4-1)- 1 word on the top row, 2 on the second, 3 on the third, 4 on the fourth and one on the last- another version is in form of syllabic meter- two syllables on the first line, four on the second, six on the third and two on the last.	Sun Bright shining Orb of gold Warming the whole world Star
Diamante	7 lined unrhyming poem (1-2-3-4-3-2-1)- 1 word on the top line, 2 adjectives describing the first word on the second line, 3 words ending in "ing" about the first word on the third line, 4 words on the fourth line: 2 about the first word and 2 about the very last word, 3 words ending in "ing" on the fifth line about the last word, 2 adjectives describing the last word on the sixth row, and a word opposite of the word on the first line on the seventh row	Earth brown, soft growing, living, hiding tunnels, holes, waves, foam moving, sinking, flooding blue-green, smooth Sea
Elegy	alternates hexameter and pentameter lines; is usually about the death of someone and has a sad tone	Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray, as shown on Bob's Byway Glossary of Poetic Terms Site
Epic	a long narrative poem usually about the adventures and bravery of a hero	The Illiad by Homer, as shown on the Internet Classics Archive
Free Verse	No Rules! It doesn't have to rhyme, it doesn't have to be in any sort of meter, or about anything in particular- just write what you feel.	leaves falling, soaring, trying to defy gravity, dancing with the wind short-lived flight
Haiku	three unrhymed lines in a 5-7-5 syllabic meter- the first line has 5 syllables, the second seven, and the last 5	majestic mountain towering up above me insignificance
Heroic Couplet	lines of iambic pentameter that rhyme in pairs (aa, bb, cc)	Roses are red Violets are blue (you didn't know you were making heroic couplets, did you?!)
Limerick	5 lines with a rhyme scheme of (aa, bb, a). The first line explains the situation, the second tells what happened, the third and fourth tell what went wrong, and the the fifth tells the significance (the so what?!) These poems were popularized by Edward Lear.	There was a young lady of Niger Who smiled as she rode on a tiger. They returned from the ride With the lady inside And the smile on the face of the tiger. -- Anonymous
Ode	a long lyric poem which is elaborate in stanzaic structure	Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats, as shown on Bob's Byway Glossary of Poetic Terms Site
Sonnet	14 lined poem in iambic pentameter that usually deals with love, religion or some other serious concern. The Italian sonnet rhyme scheme is (abbaabba-cdecde-aa or abbaabba-cdccdc-aa). The English (Shakespearian) has 3 quatrains w/ a concluding couplet.	Sonnet XVIII by Shakespeare Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest, Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st; So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Quatrain	A poem, or part of a poem, with 4 lines; usually rhyming alternately; most common stanzaic form	Once there was a cat Being chased by a dog But they came across a mat Where there was a log
Villanelle	6 stanzas, 5 three line stanzas, and ending with one four line stanza. There are only two rhymes in the usual villanelle, placed stratgetically in the poem	The House on the Hill by Edwin Robinson, as shown on Bob's Byway Glossary of Poetic Terms Site