From
the time immemorial poetry has been continuing her task of healing and entertaining
human psyche. It is the very reflection of our inner soul and the very instinct
of our inner heart. There are quite a few who hardly love poetry. A few of us
like reading poetry, a few of us listening, while a few writing. Till now
poetry has been written in different forms and style. But its journey has not
yet been ended but updated every now. In this article I choose to write on
various types of poetry, with their characteristics with examples. I do believe
it surely manifests your poetic hearts.
1) ABC Poem
A
poem having 5 lines begins with a successive letter of the alphabet.
The first word begins with A, the second with B and so on.
Example:
Although
things are not perfect
Because of trial or pain
Continue in thanksgiving
Do not begin to blame
Even when the times are hard
Fierce winds are bound to blow.
2) Abecedarian/Abecedarius
This
type of poem is known as “Alphabet Poem” where each line or verse begins
with a successive letter of the alphabet (a, b, c, d...and so forth) until the
end of the alphabet is reached, thus using the whole alphabet.
Examples:
AN
A.B.C.by Geoffrey Chaucer
3)
Acrostic
A poem,
usually in verse, in which the first or the last letters of the lines, or
certain other letters, taken in order, form a name, word, phrase, or motto.
Examples:
S
ummer is fun
U nder the sun
M y family away to
M y caravan to stay
E vening brings the sun set
R ight infront of me
4) Alexandrine
Alexandrine
poetry consists of a line of 12 syllables with major stresses on the 6th
syllable and on the last syllable, and one secondary accent in each half
line.
Example:
Testament
of Beauty by Robert Bridges
5)
Alliteration
It is a
poem that repeats the same letter at the beginning of two or more words
immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals.
Example:
Dogs
Destroy Dinosaurs
Athena and Apollo
Nate never knows
People who pen poetry
6)
Ballad
A ballad
is a narrative poem that tells a story or incidents. Each stanza usually comprises of four lines
with 1st and 3rd lines having eight syllables each, while
the 2nd and 4th lines having six syllables.
Example:
S.T.
Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariners
7)
Ballade
It has
three stanzas of seven, eight or ten lines and a shorter final stanza of four
or five. All stanzas end with the same one line refrain.
Example:
A Ballade
of Theatricals by G.K. Chesterton
8) Bhajan
This
is a form of devotional verse that is set to music. They are poems praising the
Hindu Gods in their various forms.
9)
Bio
A poem
written about one self's life, personality traits, and ambitions, likes and
dislikes etc.
Example:
Jean
Ingelow's "One Morning, Oh! So Early".,
10) Blank Verse
A poem or
verse having regular metre (mainly iambic pentameter) without any rimes.
Examples:
Milton’s
Paradise Lost, Thomson’s The Season, Tennyson’s Ulysses
11) Blitz
This form
of poetry is a stream of short phrases and images with repetition and rapid
flow. The last word of the every second lines comes first of the successive
line. This form is invented by Robert Keim in 2008.
Example:
Bucket of
Poetry
Kick the
can
Kick the
bucket
Bucket of
chum
Bucket of
worms
Worms in
dirt
Worms in
my brain
Brain in
my head
Brain in
my book.....
12) Burlesque
A Poetry
that treats a serious subject as trivially and ridiculously.
Example:
Alexander
Pope’s The Rape of the Lock
13) Canto
This is a
section or division in a long poem, like an epic or mock epic.
Example:
Alexander
Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock” has five cantos.
14) Canzone
Medieval
Italian lyric style poetry with five or six stanzas and a shorter ending
stanza.
Example:
His
Lament for Selvaggia by Cino da Pistoia
15) Carpe-diem
This poem
generally serves “seize the day” motto. Live for today and make the best use of
it are the main themes of the poem.
Example:
Andrew
Marvell’s To His Coy Mistress
16) Chant Royal
The chant
royal is a poetic form that consists of five eleven-line stanzas with a rhyme
scheme a-b-a-b-c-c-d-d-e-d-E and a five-line envoi rhyming d-d-e-d-E or a
seven-line envoi c-c-d-d-e-d-E.
Example:
The Dance
of Death by Austin Dobson
17) Chastushka
A type of
traditional Russian poetry is a single quatrain in trochaic tetrameter with an
abab or abcb rhyme scheme. Usually humorous, satirical, or ironic in nature,
the poem is put to music.
Example:
Mother, spare me, don't scold me
For the baby in my skirt.
Just think, like me, Virgin Mary
Without husband's help gave
birth.
18)
Choka
The most
intricate Japanese Poetry form is the Choka, or Long Poem.
Example:
The Moth
there is no freedom
escaping from my cocoon
I must seek you once again
I am drawn to you
like a moth to a candle
circling nearer and nearer
the deadly flame calls
now my wings are scorched
why must my nature be so?
19)
Cinqku
Cinqku follows a strict 17 syllable count arranged
in five successive lines of 2-3-4-6-2 syllables. No title is used for single
verse cinqku poems which are written in haiku- style free diction and syntax
with no metrical requirement; a turn is used that may be similar to kireji in
haiku or cinquain. Sequence, crown, and mirror, cinqku may be titled. Invented
by Denis Garrison.
Example:
Goodbye by Kim Hilliker
20) Cinquain
The word cinquain is a Latin term for “five”. A
cinquain is an example of shape poetry. Because of the exact number of words
required for each is unique, symmetrical shape is created from interesting
descriptive words.
The traditional cinquain is based on a syllable
count. line 1 - 2 syllables line 2 - 4 syllables line 3 - 6 syllables line 4 -
8 syllables line 5 - 2 syllables
Example:
Insect
Hidden, Hungry
Preening, searching, stalking
Waits as if praying
Mantis
21)
Classicism
Poetry which holds the principles and ideals of
beauty that is characteristic of Greek and Roman art, architecture, and
literature.
Example:
Eloisa to Abelard by Alexander Pope
23) Clerihew
A
Clerihew (or clerihew) is a very specific kind of short humorous verse,
typically with the following properties: It is biographical and usually
whimsical, showing the subject from an unusual point of view; but it is hardly
ever satirical, abusive or obscene; It has four lines of irregular length (for
comic effect); The first line consists solely (or almost solely) of a
well-known person's name.
Example:
Sir
Humphrey Davy
Abominated gravy.
He lived in the odium
Of having discovered sodium.
24) Concrete
Sometimes
called as “shape poetry”- concrete poetry is poetry whose visual appearance
matches the topic of the poem. The words from shape which illustrate the poem’s
subject as a picture, as well as through their literal meaning.
Example:
“The
Mouse’s tale” from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland.
I
am
a very
special
shape I have
three points and
three lines straight.
Look through my words
and you will see, the shape
that I am meant to be. I'm just
not words caught in a tangle. Look
close to see a small triangle. My angles
add to one hundred and eighty degrees, you
learn this at school with your abc's. Practice your
maths and you will see, some other fine examples of me.
25)
Consonance
This comprises
the repetition of the same consonant sound (not ‘letters’) before and after
different vowels.
Example:
It
seemed that out of battle I escaped
scooped
Down some
profound dull tunnel, long since scooped
Repetitions
are evident in ‘escaped’ and ‘scooped’.
26) Couplet
This type
of poem is two lines which may be rhymed or unrhymed.
Example:
Wal
Whitman’s “To You”, Pope’s “Eloisa to Abelard”
27) Cowboy
Cowboy
poetry is rhymed, metered verse written by someone who has lived a significant
portion of his or her life in Western North American cattle culture. After a
day’s of work, cowboys would gather around a campfire and entertain one another
with folk songs.
Example:
“Compadre”
by Jim Fish
28) Crown of Sonnet or Sonnet Corona
A crown
of sonnets or sonnet corona is a sequence of sonnets, usually addressed to some
one person, and/or concerned with a single theme. It is a 7-sonnet sequence in
which the last line of each sonnet is repeated in the first line of the next.
The first and last lines of the sequence are also strict repetends; this gives
the sequence its crown-like circularity.
Example:
“A Wreath
of Sonnets” by Frances Preserene
29) Crystalline
A two line image poem, often with a title, in which
euphony is the key factor. Each line may have 8 or 9 syllables to make a total
of seventeen.
Example:
Brian Strand
My fingers reach to touch the sky
where swallows circle,then southwards fly.
30) Curtal Sonnet
Curtal sonnet,
a curtailed or contractedsonnet. It refers specifically to a sonnet of
11 lines rhyming ‘abcabc dbcdc’or ‘abcabc dcbdc’ with the last line a tail, or
half a line. The term used by Geral Manley Hopkins.
Example:
Hopkins’
“Pied Beauty”
31)
Diamante
The
purpose is to go from the subject at the top of the diamond to another totally
different (and sometimes opposite) subject at the bottom. A seven line poem,
shaped like a diamond.
Example:
Dreams
delightful, wonderful
exciting, daring, fascinating
kings, queens, monsters, giant skittels
raging, horrifying, terrifying
vicious, horrible
nightmares
by
Jessica H.
32) Didactic
A
form of verse, the aim of which is to instruct the mind and improve morals.
Example:
John
Bunyan’ “Pilgrim’s Progress”
33) Diminished Hexaverse
A
poem containing stanzas of 5 lines, then 4 lines, then 3 lines, then 2 lines,
ending with one word.
Example:
Love, At Last...
If the ground should quake,
If the sky should fall,
If the rain lets up,
If the plants all die,
There is one thing left.
If we lose sight,
If we can't speak,
If the bow breaks,
on the last tree,
we won't cry
or resign,
for we know
there's one
thing left:
love.
34) Dirge
“Dirge”
actually stands for funeral song. Its origin was in Greek epicedium.
35) Dizain
This
is originally a French form. Ten lines rhymed a b a b b c c d c d; usually
(though not by definition) iambic pentameter. This is a Dizain chain.
Example:
“Simple
Heaven” by Jan Allison
36) Dodoitsu
The Dodoitsu is a fixed folk song form of
Japanese origin and is often about love or humour.
Example:
“Buried
Treasure” by Suzanne Honour
37) Doggerel
The
term refers to rough or poorly written verse. Such verses are basically of low
humour and often betray the versifier’s deficiency or ineptitude.
Example:
Besides,
he was a shrewd philosopher
And
had read every text and gloss over.
38) Double Dactyl
A
verse form, also known as "higgledy piggledy," invented by Anthony
Hecht and Paul Pascal. Like a limerick, it has a rigid structure and is usually
humorous, but the double dactyl is considerably more rigid and difficult to
write. There must be two stanzas, each comprising three lines of dactylic
dimeter followed by a line with a dactyl and a single accent. The two stanzas
have to rhyme on their last line. The first line of the first stanza is
repetitive nonsense. The second line of the first stanza is the subject of the
poem, a proper noun (usually someone's name).
Example:
“A
Recent One” by Gene Weingarten and Dan Weingarten
39) Dramatic Monologue
A
type of lyric poetry also known as persona poem, is a type of poetry written in
the form of speech by which a character expressing his own emotion with the
audience. Robert Browning is the person who used this technique in the
Victorian Era.
Example:
Browning’s “My Last Duchess”, “The Last Ride Together”
40) Dramatic Verse
Any drama written as verse to be spoken; another
possible general term is poetic drama.
Example:
Macbeth
41) Ekphrasis
Ekphrasis,
alternately spelled ecphrasis, is a term used to denote poetry or poetic
writing concerning itself with the visual arts, artistic objects, and/or highly
visual scenes.
Example:
John
Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn”
42) Elegy
An
elegy is a sad poetry, usually written to praise and express sorrow for someone
who is dead.
Example:
Tennyson’s
“In Memoriam” written in the memory of Arthur Henry Hallam, his friend.
43) Englyn
Englyn
(plural englynion) is a traditional Welsh and Cornish short poem form. It uses
quantitative metres, involving the counting of syllables, and rigid patterns of
rhyme and half rhyme.
Example:
“The
Old Journalist” by Robertson Davies
Also Read My Articles on:
44) Epic
An
epic is along narrative poetry that is usually about heroic deeds and events that
are significant to the culture of the poet.
Example:
Iliad
and Odyssey
(Greek), Ramayana and Mahabharata
(Indian)
45) Epigram
A very
short, ironic and witty poetry usually written as a brief couplet or quatrain.
Example:
Here lies
my wife: here let her lie!
Now she's at rest — and so am I.
— John Dryden
46) Epitaph
An epitaph poem is a short, memorable poetry written on a deceased person’s tombstone
Example:
Ben Jonson’s “On My First Sunne”
47) Epithalamium
A poem written in honor of the bride and groom.
Example:
Written by Edmund Spenser
48) Epulaerya
The “Epulaeryu” poem is about delicious food.
Example:
Eggs Rolls (Epulaeryu)
Egg rolls wrapped
with soft thin dough
Chopped spiced shrimp cooked slow
Sliced carrots and cabbage mixed
Ginger sauce affixed
Veggies and less meat
My Chinese—
Treat!
49) Epyllion
A brief narrative poetry with a romantic or
mythological theme.
Example:
William Shakespeare’s “The rape of Lucrace”, And
Mathew Arnold’s “Sohrab and Rustum”
50) Etheree
Created about twenty years ago by an Arkansas poet
named Etheree Taylor Armstrong, this titled form, the Etheree, consists of ten
lines of unmetered and unrhymed verse, the first line having one syllable, each
succeeding line adding a syllable, with the total syllable count being
fifty-five.
Example:
Pain
Pain,
My friend,
You give me
Many lessons
Built on many truths.
You shout with sharpened tongue ~
I must listen to your words.
Bedfellows screaming in the night,
But eternal hope will spring with dawn
To lift us from this tomb of woe, once more.
Found
Poetry
created by taking words, phrases, and passages from other sources and
re-framing
them by
adding spaces, lines, or by altering the text with additions or subtractions.
51) Free Verse
It is a kind of poetry that is free from
limitations of regular metre or rhythm and does not rhyme with fixed form.
Example:
“After the Sea-Ship” by Walt Whitman
52) Ghazal
A poetic form consisting of couplets which share a
rhyme and a refrain.
Example:
Written by Rumi and Hafiz in Persia and Kazi Nazrul
Islam in West Bengal
53) Grook
A form of short aphoristic poetry characterized by
irony, paradox, brevity, precise use of language, sophisticated rhythms and
rhymes and often satiric nature.
Example:
EDIAMATIC
Know it all cold?
Or lank with acedia?
Share and be bold;
Come build Wikipedia.
— Anon.
54) Haibun
Japanese form, pioneered by the poet Basho, and
comprising a section of prose followed by haiku. They are mainly travelogues.
Example:
The Importance of Goldfish by Michael McClintock
55) Haiku
Haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry.
Haiku poems consist of 3 lines. The first and last lines have 5 syllables and
the middle line has 7 syllables.
Example:
the first
cold shower;
even the monkey seems to want
a little coat of straw. – By Basho
56)
Hamd
Hamd is a
poetry in praise of Allah.
57)
Heroic Couplet
A pair of
rhyming iambic penta-metre line commonly used in epic and narrative poetry.
Example:
Last two lines of Shall I compare Thee by
William Shakespeare
So long as man can breathe, or eyes can see
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
58) Horatian Ode
Short
lyric poetry written in two or four-line stanzas, each with its the same metrical
pattern, often addressed to a friend and deal with friendship, love and the
practice of poetry. It is named after its creator, Horace.
59)
Hybronnet
The form
name is derived from hybrid and sonnet.
60) Iambic Pentameter
One short
syllable followed by one long one five sets in a row. Used extensively in
sonnets
Example:
la-LAH la-LAH la-LAH la-LAH la-LAH..
61)
Idyll
Poetry
that either depicts a peaceful, idealized country scene or a long poem telling
a story about heroes of a bye gone age.
Example
Tennyson’s
“Ulysses”
62) Imagism
Name
given to a movement in poetry aimed at clarity of expression through the use of
precise visual images.
Example:
“Autumn” by T.E. Hulme
63) Irregular
(Pseudo-Pindaric or Cowleyan) Ode
Neither
the three part form of the pindaric ode nor the two or four-line stanza of the
Horatian ode. It is characterized by irregularity of verse and structure and
lack of correspondence between the parts.
A sonnet
consisting of an octave with the rhyme pattern abbaabba followed by six lines
with a rhyme pattern of cdecde or cdcdcd. Petrarch is chief exponent of this
style.
64) Juiju
These
poems are always quatrains or more specifically a matched pair of couplets.
65) Kakuhb
Kakuhb is a stanzaic Sanskrit form.
The defining features of the Kahuhb are: stanzaic, written in any number of
tercets, 3 lines or padas. syllabic,8-12-7 syllables, unrhymed.
Example:
The
beast sleeps awhile, undisturbed,
a rumble of discontent murmurs from within
as familiar lips explore.
Lampoon
Scurrilous,
satirical poem.
Example:
John
Wilmot’ famous epitaph for Charles II
Here live
a great and mighty king
Whose
promise none relies on
He never
said a foolish thing,
Nor ever
did a wise one.
66) Lanterne
A type of
poetry that has one syllable in the first line, two syllables in the second line,
three syllables in the third line, four syllables in the fourth line, and one
syllable in the fifth line that related to the first word of the poem.
Example:
boys
tackling
running fast
scoring touchdowns
lads
67) Lay
A long narrative poetry, especially one that was sung
by medieval minstrels.
Example:
“The Lay
of the Last Minstrel” by Walter Scott
68) Lento
This
poetic form is created by Lencio
Dominic Rodrigues. A Lento consists of two quatrains with a fixed rhyme
scheme of abcb, defe as the second and forth lines
of each stanza must rhyme. To take it a step further, but not required, try
rhyming the first and third lines as well as the second and forth lines of each
stanza in this rhyming pattern: abab, cdcd. The fun
part of this poem is thrown in here as all the FIRST words of each verse should
rhyme.
69) Light Poetry
Light
poetry, also called light verse, is poetry that attempts to be humorous. Poems
considered "light" are usually brief, and can be on a frivolous or
serious subject, and often feature wordplay, including puns, adventurous rhyme
and heavy alliteration.
Example:
“Light”
by Rabindranath Tagore
70) Limerick
A
limerick is a humorous poetry consisting of five lines. Lines 1, 2, and 5 of have
seven to ten syllables (three metrical feet) and rhyme with one another. Lines
3 and 4 have five to seven (two metrical feet) syllables and also rhyme with
each other. The rhyme scheme is usually "A-A-B-B-A".
Example:
There
once was a very sad daddy
Whose
golf game was going quite badly.
He looked
left and right
No ball
was in sight
I think
that he needed a caddy
71) List
A poetry that is made up of a list of items or events. It can be any length and rhymed
or unrhymed.
Example:
Hello
Fall!
Apples
Jack
o’lanterns
Apple
cider
Apple pie
Brown
Yellow
Red
Leaves
Costumes
72) Lyric Poetry
The term
lyric poetry actually comes from the term ‘lyre’, a musical instrument. Lyric
poetry expresses personal emotion or thoughts of the speaker just like the
song.
Example:
P.B.
Shelley’ s “ode to the West Wind”
73) Madah
Poem
written in praise of royalty, patrons, etc.
74) Mandakranta
This
sanskrit term means ‘a lady slowly approaching’. Hence it refers to ‘a slow stepper’ and is
said to employ erotic mysticism.
Stanzaic,
written in any number of quatrains. metric, all lines strictly carry the same
heavy and light metric pattern which is established by the first line (this is
language specific). In English, it is easier to simply consider the verse syllabic,
17 syllables per line. One source suggested a syllable count of 17-16-17-17 unrhymed
which seems to to be the most popular consensus.
Example:
‘O
God, the lord of this world, the shining one.
I recall with my mind the feet of Ramachandra.
like the crescent of the risen moon.
You (clouds) are filled with water;
they (buildings) have bejeweled floors.
You are at lofty heights; they kiss the skies.
composed
with caesura, which appears twice, once after the 4th syllable and again after
the 9th or 10th syllable.
75) Manqabat
A poetry written in praise of members of the family
of the holy Prophet .
76) Marsiya
In Urdu
language an elegy written to mourn the death of a great man or a dearly loved
person.
77) Masnavi
Masnavi,
in the majority of cases a poetic romance. Mir and Sauda wrote some of this
kind.
78) McWhirtle
A light
verse form similar to a double dactyl, invented in 1989 by American poet Bruce
Newling.
79) Monoku
A haiku
in a single horizontal line.
80) Mono-rhyme
An
identical rhyme on every line, common in Latin and Arabic. "aaaaa..."
Example:
Night
Storm
It came
in a winter night
A fierce
cold with quite a bite
Frosted
wind with all its bite
Sent ice
and snow an invite
To layer
earth in pure white
And
glisten with morning light.
81) Munaajaat
A lyrical poetry written as a prayer to God.
82) Musaddas
A poetry in
which each unit consists of 6 lines. The most well known poet of this style of
writing was Maulana Altaf Husain Hali.
83) Naat
Naat is a
poetry that specifically praises the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
84) Name
Poetry that tells about the word. It uses the
letters of the word for the first letter of each line.
Example:
Nurturing, you bring out the good in people
Illuminating, brightening lives
Clownish, your antics spread laughter around
Kind generous to people
85) Narrative
A poetry that tells a story. Epic poem.
Example
“The Raven”
by Edgar Allan Poe
86) Ninette
Nine
lines, each increasing in one syllable, then at the midpoint, decreasing again.
The form, when centred, appears like a paper lantern. The first and last word
may be the same, antonyms, or synonyms.
Example:
green
are the
pine needles
hanging on the
branches way up
over our heads
but they fall
to earth
brown
87) Nonet
A nonet
has nine lines. The first line has nine syllables, the second line eight
syllables, the third line seven syllables and so on...
Example:
School
I wish we didn't have to stay here.
The only good part is lunchtime,
eating and playing handball
instead of doing maths.
I don't like history
or geography.
I can't wait
for the
bell.
88) Ode
An ode is
lyrical poetry devoted to the praise of a person animal or thing.
Example:
“Ode to a
Nightingale” by Keats
89) Nursery Rhyme
A short
poetry or a single verse recited or sung by the nurse, attending the babies in
the nursery, a room assigned to those very babies in order to delight them or
make them sleep.
Example:
Men can
make a nation great
Not the
glittering gold
Men whose
hearts are pure and true
And both
strong and bold.
90) Ottava Rima
Ottava
rima is an eight line stanza developed in Italy, usually associated in English
wit Byron and other romanticists. The standard rhyme scheme is a-b-a-b-a-bc-c
and in English the lines are usually iambic penta-metre.
Example:
“Don
Juan” by Lord Byron
91) Pantoum
A rare
form of poetry similar to a villanelle. It is composed of a series of
quatrains; the second and fourth lines of each stanza are repeated as the first
and third lines of the next.
92) Parallelismus
Membrorum
Parallelismus Membrorum is of traditional Hebrew
origin. It has lines of parallel construction and presents antitheses and
complementary extensions. The lines are usually short and contain three or four
words.
93) Pastoral
A poem
that depicts rural life in a peaceful, romanticized way.
Example:
“Shepherd’s
Calendar” by Spenser
94) Payar
The Payar is the most common form from the Bengali Region.
The Payar is: stanzaic, written in any number of couplets. rhymed. aa bb cc
etc. syllabic, 14 syllables lines which are normally broken into 4 units.
Example:
Words
in color, writ in anger, meant to provoke, to prod,
rude distraction, wrong direction, lead me away from God.
95) Personification
A style
of poetry in which human attribute is invested into the inanimate objects or
abstract ideas.
96) Prose Poetry
Prose
poetry is usually considered a form of poetry written in prose that breaks some
of the normal rules associated with prose discourse, for heightened imagery or
emotional effect, among other purposes.
97) Petrarchan
A 14-line
sonnet consisting of an octave rhyming abbaabba followed by a sestet of cddcee
or cdecde
98) Pindaric ode
This ode
is named after an ancient Greek poet, Pindar, who began writing choral poems
that were meant to be sung at public events. It contains three triads: strophe,
anti-strophe, and final stanza as epode, wit irregular rhyme patterns and
length of lines.
Example:
“Ode on
Intimation of Immortality” by Wordsworth
99) Qasida
Qasida, a
kind of ode, often panegyric on a benefactor, sometimes a satire, sometimes a
poem dealing with an important event.
100) Qawwali
Qawwali, is a form of urdu poetry read along with
devotional music, A Qawwali is almost always dedicated to particular Sufi.
101) Quatrain
A stanza
or poetry consisting of four lines. In the basic form, Lines 2 and 4 must rhyme
while having a similar number of syllables.
102) Questionku
3 lines
poem ending with a question.
Example:
Single
planet
Billions of people
What's the meaning of life?
103) Quintain
This is
much more popular form of Quintet having no set measure or foot and has a
rhyming scheme of a. b. a. b. b.
104) Quintella
This is a
Spanish form of eight syllable (Iambic Tetrameter) lines. The rhyming scheme
can vary in presentation ie a.a.b.b.a, a.b.b.a.a. etc but only two consecutive
lines may have the same rhyme scheme.
105) Rengay
Rengay
was developed in 1992 by Garry Gay, co-founder of the Haiku Poets of Northern
California, and the organization's first president from 1989-1990. In 1991, he
was elected president of the Haiku Society of America.
Rengay
is a contemporary six-verse form of linked haiku based on a unifying theme. Written
by 2-3 partners, each link should be able to stand on its own.
106) Refrain
This
is a specific style in versification, particularly in ancient ballads and
songs. It means a specific phrase, expressions, line repeated at a regular
interval in a poem and often at the end of a stanza.
Example:
“Deor’s
Lament”
“That
passed away, this also may.”
107) Rhyme
A rhyming poetry has the repetition of the same or
similar sounds of two or more words, often at the end of the line.
Example:
I’ve
hunted near, I’ve hunted far
I even
looked inside my car
I’ve lost
my glasses, I’m in need
To have
them now so I can read
108) Rhyme Royal
A type of
poetry consisting of stanzas having seven lines in iambic pentameter.
Example:
Opening
stanza of Troilus and Criseyde
109) Rictameter
A rictameter is a nine line poetry form. The 1st and
last lines are the same with the syllable count as follows: • line 1 - 2
syllables - same as line 9 • line 2 - 4 syllables • line 3 - 6 syllables • line
4 - 8 syllables • line 5 - 10 syllables • line 6 - 8 syllables • line 7 - 6
syllables • line 8 - 4 syllables • line 9 - 2 syllables - same as line 1
110) Rispetto
Rispetto,
(Italian:: “respect,” )plural rispetti, a Tuscan folk verse form, a version of
strambotto. The rispetto lyric is generally composed of eight hendecasyllabic
(11-syllable) lines.
111) Romanticism
A
poem about nature and love while having emphasis on the personal experience.
Example:
“Tintern Abbey” by William
Shakespeare
112) Rondeau
A lyrical
poetry of French origin having 10 or 13 lines with two rhymes and with the
opening phrase repeated twice as the refrain.
Example:
In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae
113) Rubaiyat
The
Rubaiyat is a Persian form of several quatrains. Its name derives from the
Arabic plural of the word for "quatrain". This, in turn, comes from
the Arabic Rubá, meaning "four."
Example:
Rubáiyát
of Omar Khayyam translated by Edward Fitzgerald
114) Salaam
A
salutory poem written in praise of the holy Prophet. It can also be a poem
describing the incidents of Karbala. It is recited standing up.
115) Sapphic Stanza
The Sapphic stanza, named after Sappho, is a poetic
form spanning four lines. The form is three hendecasyllabic lines of trochee,
trochee, dactyl, trochee, trochee and a concluding line of dactyl, trochee,
known as the Adonic or adonean line. Using "-" for a long syllable,
"u" for a short and "x" for an "anceps" (or free
syllable):
Example
The Sapphic stanza was imitated in English by
Algernon Charles Swinburne in a poem he simply called Sapphics
116) Sedoka
Sedoka is
a Japanese verse form that evolved from ancient songs. They can be mood poems,
similar to tanka, or they can tell stories in the manner of a song.
117) Sehra
Sehra or prothalamion is
a poem sung at a nikah (Muslim wedding) in praise of the groom,
praying to God for his future wedded life. Mirza Galib composed these songs.
118) Senrya
A short Japanese style poem, similar to haiku in
structure, however, senryû tend to be about human foibles while haiku tend to
be about nature, and senryû are often cynical or darkly humorous and satiric
while haiku are serious.
119) Sestina
A highly
structured form of poetry consisting of six-line stanzas and a three-line envoy
(thirty-nine lines).
120) Shape
Poetry written in the shape or form of an object.
Shape poems do not have to take the form of the object it describes. This form
is different than a concrete poem, in that a concrete poem takes the shape of
the object it describes.
Example:
CHAMPAGNE
by Dawn Drickman
CHAMPAGNE, CORKED BOTTLES OF
EFFERVESCENT FUN
SWEET AND FRUITY TO THE TASTE, OR MAYBE EXTRA DRY
A TINY GLASS OF BUBBLING, POPPING, SPLASHING FUN
MAKE A CHOICE, BRUT, SPARKLING, OR SIMPLE ROSE
WHEN ON A FRUGAL BUDGET, ANDRE’S PINK
DOM PERIGNON FOR THE WEALTHY
KORBEL FOR UNDER TWENTY
PRICED JUST RIGHT
FOR YOU
"C"
"O"
"L"
"D"
"C"
"H"
"A"
"M"
"P"
"A"
"G"
"N"
"E"
IS SO
DELICIOUS
"HAVE A GLASS TONIGHT"
121) Sijo
Sijo is
the classic form of unrhymed poetry in Korea. Sijo have three long lines. Each
line varies between 14 and 16 syllables, with the middle line often the
longest.
122) Sloka
Sloka
means “songs” although metric is not considered poetic. Sloka is the most
common Sanskrit metre and is a descendant of the older Vedic Gayatri and could
be considered one of the cross over forms during 700 to 200 B.C.
Example:
“Born of
the Earth” by Judi van Gorder
123) Sonnet
A lyric
poem of 14 lines with conventional rhyme schem.
Example:
“One Day
I Wrote Her Name” by Spenser
124) Suzette Prime
Syllable
count: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, etc PLUS a philosophical statement
125) Tail-Rhyme
( rime couée ) This is a French form consisting of
two rhymes. First there is a rhyming couplet of normally of eight syllables
then a third and shorter line. There is another couplet that rhymes with the
first one and the sixth, shorter line that rhymes with the third line. This
gives us a suggested pattern : aabccb
126) Tanka
A Japanese poem of five lines, the first and third
composed of five syllables and the other seven.
127) Tazkira
It is almost a kind of biological anthology.
128) Terza Rima
This refers to a verse, composed of three lines
(tercet) stanzas with an interlocking rhyme scheme. The final word of the
second line of each tercet rhymes with the final word of each of the first line
and the third of the succeeding tercet. The rhyme scheme of the stanza is like
this: ‘aba, bcb, cde, ded...’
Example:
Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind”
129) Terzanelle
A
terzanelle (pronounced tur-zuh-nell) is a poetry form which is a combination of
the villanelle and the terza rima. It is nineteen lines total, with five
triplets and a concluding quatrain. It uses the interlocked rhyme pattern of a
terza rima but in the villanelle’s form of five triplets and a quatrain.
Example:
Lewis
Turco's "Terzanelle in Thunderweather"
130) Tetractys
Tetractys,
a poetic form consisting of at least 5 lines of 1, 2, 3, 4, 10 syllables (total
of 20). Tetractys can also be reversed and written 10, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Example:
Snowflakes
by Peggy Bertrand
White
snowflakes
crystal clear
sparkling loftily
daybreaks light shines forth the brilliance
As daybreaks light dusks the hillcrest ledge edge
sunshine melts around
clear glitter
snowflakes
white
131) Than-Bauk
A
Than-Bauk, conventionally a witty saying or epigram, is a three line
"climbing rhyme" poem of Burmese origin. Each line has four
syllables. The rhyme is on the fourth syllable of the first line, the third
syllable of the second line, and the second syllable of the third line.
Example:
Cold
The night
was cold
so I'm told when
the old man died.
132) Triolet
A French
verse form. Its rhyme scheme is ABaAabAB and all lines are in iambic
tetrameter; the first, fourth and seventh lines are identical, as are the
second and final lines, thereby making the initial and final couplets identical
as well.
Example:
“Birds at
Winter” by Thomas Hardy
133) Tyburn
A tyburn
is a six line poem consisting of 2,2,2,2,9,9 syllables. The first four lines
rhyme and are all descriptive words. The last two lines rhyme and incorporate
the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lines as the 5th to 8th syllables.
Example:
Ugly,
hairy, filthy, dirty, scavenging beast, ugly, hairy, fat, spreader of plague,
filthy, dirty rat.
134) Vaasokht
A poem
describing the displeasure and carelessness of a lover.
135) Verse
Verse
denotes a single metrical line in a poetic composition.
136) Villanelle
Villanelle
is derived from an Italian term ‘villano’ that means peasant. A 19-line poem
consisting of five tercets and a final quatrain on two rhymes. The first and
third lines of the first tercet repeat alternately as a refrain closing the
succeeding stanzas and joined as the final couplet of the quatrain.
Example:
“Mad
Girl’s Love Song” by Sylvia Plath
137) Vogon
Vogon
Poetry is poetry by Vogons, who are a fictional alien race from the planet
Vogsphere in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It is REALLY BAD poetry.
"Vogon poetry is of course the third worst in the Universe."
138) Visual
The
visual arrangement of text, images, and symbols to help convey the meaning of
the work. Visual poetry is sometimes referred to as a type of concrete poetry.
Also Read My Articles on:
If you have any types of poetic form you must let me know. Please share your precious views and comments. Thank you.
