Types of Poetry
Acrostic
The first letters of each line are aligned vertically to form a word. The word is often the subject of the poem.
Alphabet
Each line begins with the letters of the alphabet in order.
Ballad
Ballads may contain a refrain and are usually sentimental or romantic. The stanzas are very simple a factual.
Bio
A poem written about one self's life, personality traits, and ambitions.
Cinquain
Consists of five lines. The syllables ofthe lines follow the patten 2-4-6-8-2.
Concrete
The term "concrete," in reference to a poetic form, implies that there is something tangible or solid for the reader to observe.
Couplet
A couplet has rhyming stanzas made up of two lines.
Diamante
The Diamante is a form similar to the cinquain. The text forms the shape of a diamond.
Line 1: Noun or subject - one word.
Line 2: Two adjectives that describe line 1.
Line 3: Three -ing words that describe line 1.
Line 4: Four nouns - the first two are connected with line 1; the last two are connected with line 7.
Line 5: Three -ing words that describe line 7.
Line 6: Two adjectives that decribe line 7.
Line 7: Noun synonym for the subject.
Didactic
A poem that is usually written to teach or to state an informative lesson.
Elegy
A sad and thoughtful poem about the death of an idividual.
Epic
An extensive, serious poem that tells the story about a heroic figure.
Free Verse
Poetry written in either rhyme of unrhymed lines that have no set fixed metrical pattern.
Haiku
A Japanese poem composed of three lines of 5-7-5 syllables, usually about some form of nature.
Hyperbole
A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect.
Limerick
A funny poem that combines a couplet with a triplet. The pattern is a-a-b-b-a.
Lyric
A poem that expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet.
Metaphor
Metaphor is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects.
Name
Poetry that tells about the word. It uses the letters of the word for the first letter of each line.
Narrative
A poem that tells a story.
Open
Poetry that has no formal meter,structure, and rhyme.
Personification
A figure of speech that gves an inanimate object or abstract idea human traits and qualities such as emotions, desires, sensations, physical gestures, and speech.
Quatrains
A quatrain has rhyming stanzas made up of three lines.
Shape
Poetry written in the shape or form of an object.
Simile
A figure of speech used to make a comparison between two things, usually with the words "like" or "as".
Skeltonic Verse
Consists of short lines that coninue a rhyme or near-rhyme for an indefinate number of lines until it flows into another rhyme or near-rhyme.
Tanka
A Japanese poem of five lines that follows a pattern of syllables. The pattern is 5-7-5-7-7.
Triplet
A triplet has rhyming stanzas made up of three lines.
Villanelle
Villanelles have 19 lines: 5 stanzas of three lines and 1 stanza of four lines with two rhymes and two refrains.
