Formal Poetry Definitions and Examples

Sonnets  Must be 14 lines  Written in iambic pentameter  Must have one of the following rhyme schemes base on the type you select o English: ababcdcdefefgg  One stanza with continuous rhyme scheme & couplet o Italian: abbaabba-cdecde  Two stanzas (one octave & one sestet)  Must contain a volta (or change in tone/mood) in the 8 th line

Sonnet Examples English Sonnet: The Sonnet-Ballad by: Gwendolyn Brooks Oh mother, mother, where is happiness? They took my lover's tallness off to war, Left me lamenting. Now I cannot guess What I can use an empty heart-cup for. He won't be coming back here any more. Some day the war will end, but, oh, I knew When he went walking grandly out that door That my sweet love would have to be untrue. Would have to be untrue. Would have to court Coquettish death, whose impudent and strange Possessive arms and beauty (of a sort) Can make a hard man hesitate--and change. And he will be the one to stammer, "Yes." Oh mother, mother, where is happiness? Italian Sonnet Eternal Breath by: Andrea Dietrich I’m fortunate in that there have not been too many I held dear who passed away. I knew folks from my youth already grey back then, including some who were my kin, who all moved on -good women and good men - as well as kids I’d known back in the day who died too young, and to the world’s dismay, bright stars have died that we’ll not see again! But I had no connection very strong to any of those souls except for one, whose destiny was an untimely death. How sweet and wise my brother was! I long to be with him again. I know he’s won his rest, where he now draws eternal breath.

Sonnet Break Down The Sonnet-Ballad by: Gwendolyn Brooks Oh mó│-ther, mó│-ther, whére│ is háp│-pi-néss? a They tóok │ my lóv│-er's táll│-ness off│ to wár, b Left mé │la-mént│-ing. Nów │I cán-│not guéss a What í│ can úse │an émp│-ty heárt-│cup fór. b He wón't│ be cóm-│ing báck │here á│-ny móre. d Some dáy │the wár│ will énd,│ but, óh,│ I knéw c When hé │went wálk│-ing gránd│-ly oút│ that dóor d That mý │sweet lóve │would háve│ to bé │un-trúe. c Would háve │to bé │un-trúe. │Would háve │to coúrt e Co-qúe│-ttish deáth,│ whose ím│-pu-dént │and stránge f Po-ssé│-ssive árms│ and béau│-ty (óf│ a sórt) e Can táke │a hárd│ man hés│-ita-té │and chánge. f  Volta And hé│ will bé │the óne │to stám│-mer, "Yés." g Oh mó│-ther, mó│-ther, whére │is háp│-pi-néss? g

Villanelle  A six stanza poem  Repeats the first or third line of the first stanza in each proceeding stanza  The last stanza, like the first, contains both the first and third lines of the first stanza  The rhyme scheme follows (with "Line" meaning repeat the whole line, and "Rhyme" meaning that you must end the line on a word that rhymes with the corresponding Line's rhyme word. Meaning: if the last word of "Refrain A1" is STOP, the "Rhyme a" line must end with TOP Refrain A1 Do not go gentle into that goodnight. Rhyme (b) Old age should rage and burn at close of day. Refrain A2 Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Rhyme (a) When old men at their end know dark is right Rhyme (b) And that their words have forked no lightening, they Line A1 Do not go gentle into that goodnight Rhyme (a) Rhyme (b) Refrain A2 Rhyme (a) Rhyme (b) Refrain A1 Rhyme (a) Rhyme (b) Line A2 Rhyme (a) Rhyme (b) Refrain A1 Refrain A2

Villanelle Examples & Break Down Mad Girl’s Love Song by: Sylvia Plath I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead, I lift my lids and all is born again. (I think I made you up inside my head) The stars go waltzing out in blue and red, And arbitrary darkness gallops in. I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead. I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane. (I think I made you up inside my head). God topples from the sky, hell’s fires fade: Exit seraphim and enter Satan’s men: I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead. I fancied you’d return the way you said. But I grow old and I forget your name. (I think I made you up inside my head). I should have loved a thunderbird instead; At least when spring comes they roar back again. I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead. (I think I made you up inside my head).

Sestinas  A poem generally consisting of six six-line stanzas and ending with one three-line stanza  The repetition occurs in the last word of each line of the stanza  the last stanza contains all the repetition words even though it's only three lines. Each line contains two repeat words, one embedded in the line, the other be the last word of the line. Though the last stanza's lines should end on either ACE words or ECA words, it doesn't matter in what order you embed the others, as long as they all get in there and it's one per line A September rain falls on the house. B In the failing light, the old grandmother C sits in the kitchen with the child D beside the Little Marvel Stove, E reading the jokes from the almanac, F laughing and talking to hide her tears. F She thinks that her equinoctial tears A and the rain that beats on the roof of the house E were both foretold by the almanac, B but only known to a grandmother. D The iron kettle sings on the stove. C She cuts some bread and says to the child, C F D A B E E C B F A D D E A C F B B D F E C A B E B A D C or D C F A F E

Sestina Examples & Break Down Sestina d'Invern by: Anthony Hecht Here in this bleak city of Rochester, Where there are twenty-seven words for "snow," Not all of them polite, the wayward mind Basks in some Yucatan of its own making, Some coppery, sleek lagoon, or cinnamon island Alive with lemon tints and burnished natives, And O that we were there. But here the natives Of this grey, sunless city of Rochester Have sown whole mines of salt about their island (Bare ruined Carthage that it is) while snow Comes down as if The Flood were in the making. Yet on that ocean Marvell called the mind An ark sets forth which is itself the mind, Bound for some pungent green, some shore whose natives Blend coriander, cayenne, mint in making Roasts that would gladden the Earl of Rochester With sinfulness, and melt a polar snow. It might be well to remember that an island Was blessed heaven once, more than an island, The grand, utopian dream of a noble mind. In that kind climate the mere thought of snow Was but a wedding cake; the youthful natives, Unable to conceive of Rochester, Made love, and were acrobatic in the making. Dream as we may, there is far more to making Do than some wistful reverie of an island, Especially now when hope lies with the Rochester Gas and Electric Co., which doesn't mind Such profitable weather, while the natives Sink, like Pompeians, under a world of snow. The one thing indisputable here is snow, The single verity of heaven's making, Deeply indifferent to the dreams of the natives, And the torn hoarding-posters of some island. Under our igloo skies the frozen mind Holds to one truth: it is grey, and called Rochester. No island fantasy survives Rochester, Where to the natives destiny is snow That is neither to our mind nor of our making.

Cinquain & Examples  five line poem  Each line is an increasing sequence of number of words that relate continuously about one another  The form is the following: o Line 1: one word (subject or noun) o Line 2: two words (adjectives) that describe line 1 o Line 3: three words (action verbs) that relate to line 1 o Line 4: four words (feelings or a complete sentence) that relates to line 1 o Line 5: one word (synonym of line 1 or a word that sums it up) A Math Solution by: Anonymous triangles pointy edges revolving, rotating, angling Triangles are all different. 180o