Types of Poems

Elegy A lyric poem that is written to mourn the passing of something or someone Ronald McDonald's Elegy Haven’t you heard? Haven’t you read? Proclaim it on high, Oh let it be said! The clown that’s dressed in white, yellow, and red, Is dead! Oh how tragic, he’s dead. Some say it was the food, and others, his age, Or he just couldn’t live off of minimum wage, But whatever it was, this poor fast-food sage, Is dead!

Epitaph Poems written about the dead that are written on tombstones. Usually very short

Epigram Short, witty poems that make a pithy pronouncement about something. Usually a couplet or quatrain. Bruce Bennett, "Ironist" I mean the opposite of what I say. You've got it now? No, it's the other way. Alexander Pope Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.

Epic Very, very long poem that tells a story. Narrative and usually a book. Eg. http://listverse.com/2008/07/06/top-10-greatest-epic-poems/

Ode Very serious form of the lyric. Very dignified and formal in tone and style. Usually in reverence to something (eg. Ode to ice cream! ) http://www.poetrysoup.com/dictionary/ode_

Ballad Folk ballad: A story expressed through song, OR a haunting, dramatic tale handed down from generation to generation. These usually have chorus. Literary ballad: A narrative poem written in the ballad form. Often written in quatrains. Modern ballad: “The Piano Man” by Billy Joel http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/172083

Sonnet 14 line poem Iambic pentameter rhythm Intricate rhyme and scheme Sonnets are either Petrarchan (octave and a sestet) or Shakespearean (3 quatrains and a rhyming couplet at the end) http://genius.com/Gwendolyn-brooks-first-fight- then-fiddle-annotated

Lyric A poem of intense emotion and personal These poems can have rigid rhyme and rhythm OR they can be a free verse (no set rhythm or rhyme) Eg. Do not go gentle into that good night Dylan Thomas, 1914 - 1953 Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Concrete Poetry