Types of Poems There are way more than you’d think!

Poetic Forms Sonnet:  The most common form of poetry  A poem of 14 lines following a set rhyme scheme and logical structure  First four lines introduce the topic  Follows an A-B-A-B rhyme pattern  Particularly associated with love  Shakespeare's sonnets are among the most famous in English poetry

Shakespeare - Sonnet 130 My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.

Poetic Forms Haiku:  Popular form of unrhymed Japanese poetry  structured in a pattern  Contain a kigo (seasonal reference), and a kireji (cutting word)

Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694) Japanese: 富士の風や扇にのせて江戸土産 fuji no kaze ya oogi ni nosete Edo miyage English Translation: The wind of Mt. Fuji I've brought on my fan! A gift from Edo

Poetic Forms Ode:  First developed by ancient Greeks  Has three parts: a strophe, an antistrophe, and an epode  Serious subject & often sung  Think “Ode to Joy” by Beethoven (We all know it!)

Other Poetic Forms Fixed Verse:  Follow a particular pattern (all of the above) Free Verse:  Doesn’t use patterns or rhyme  ANYTHING GOES! (opposite of Fixed) Poetry Slam:  A modern style of spoken word poetry  Highly politicized (i.e. Taylor Mali)

Other Poetic Forms Limerick:  A stanza of five lines  1 st, 2 nd and 5 th usually rhyme and have three ‘feet’  The shorter 3 rd and 4 th lines also rhyme with each other, but have only two ‘feet’ of three syllables There once was a man from Nantucket Who kept all his cash in a bucket. But his daughter, named Nan, Ran away with a man And as for the bucket, Nantucket.

Other Poetic Forms Palindrome:  Text that is read in either direction  Most often in words, but can also be in sentences and, rarely, in poems