1. Poetry Structure
J. Oliveira

2. Rhyme Scheme
A regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem. The rhyme scheme is shown by using different letters of the alphabet for each new rhyme. In an aabb stanza, for example, line 1 rhymes with line 2 and line 3 rhymes with line 4.
Ex: I wondered lonely as a cloud a
That floats on high o’er vales and hills, b
When all at once I saw a crowd, a
A host, of golden daffodils, b
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, c
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze c

3. Stanza
Stanza: A formal division of lines in a poem, considered as a unit. Stanzas are separated by spaces (imagine a paragraph)
Quatrain: A stanza or poem made up of four lines, usually with a definite rhythm and rhyme scheme

4. Ex: For thy sweet love remember’d such wealth brings
Couplet, Quatrain
Couplet: A couplet is pair of rhyming lines, usually of the same length and meter.
Ex: For thy sweet love remember’d such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

5. Meter
The meter of a poem is its rhythmical pattern. This pattern is determined by the number and types of stresses, or beats, in each line.
Ex.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day.

6. Blank Verse
Blank Verse: Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter lines. This verse form was widely used by William Shakespeare
“My child is yet a stranger in the world
She hath not seen the change of fourteen years”

7. Lyric Poem
A lyric poem is a highly musical verse that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker.
Lyric poems exhibit an endless variety of forms. Below are some popular lyric forms:
Haiku, Sonnet, Limerick

8. Free Verse
Free Verse: Poetry not written in a regular rhythmical pattern, or meter. Free verse tries to capture the rhythms of speech.

9. Homework! Oh, Homework! by Jack Prelutsky
I hate you! You stink!
I wish I could wash you
away in the sink.
If only a bomb
would explode you to bits.
You're giving me fits.
I'd rather take baths
with a man-eating shark,
or wrestle a lion
alone in the dark,
eat spinach and liver,
pet ten porcupines,
than tackle the homework
my teacher assigns.
Homework! Oh, homework!
You're last on my list.
I simply can't see
why you even exist.
If you just disappeared
it would tickle me pink.
I hate you! You stink!
Lyric and Free Verse

10. Sonnet A sonnet is a 14 line lyric poem, usually written in
rhymed iambic
pentameter.
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 damasked, 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.

11. Narrative Poem
A narrative poem tells a story. It can be humorous or serious.

12. The Broken-Legg’d Man
"What was it then?" I asked him, and this is what he said:
"I crossed a busy crossing when the traffic light was red;
A big black car came whizzing by and knocked me off my feet."
"Of course you looked both ways," I said, "before you crossed the street."
"Not at all!" said the broken-legg'd man.  
"They rushed me to the hospital right quickly, "he went on,
"And when I woke in nice white sheets I saw my leg was gone;
That's why you see me walking now on nothing but a crutch."
"I'm glad," said I, "you told me, and I thank you very much!"
"Not at all!" said the broken-legg'd man.
I saw the other day when I went shopping in the store
A man I hadn't ever, ever seen in there before,
A man whose leg was broken and who leaned upon a crutch-
I asked him very kindly if it hurt him very much.
"Not at all!" said the broken-legg'd man.
I ran around behind him for I thought that I would see
The broken leg all bandaged up and bent back at the knee;
But I didn't see the leg at all, there wasn't any there,
So I asked him very kindly if he had it hid somewhere.
Then where," I asked him, "is it? Did a tiger bite it off?
Or did you get your foot wet when you had a nasty cough?
Did someone jump down on your leg when it was very new?
Or did you simply cut it off because you wanted to?"
"Not at all!" said the broken-legg'd man.  

13. Ballad
A ballad is a songlike poem that tells a story, often one dealing with adventure and romance.

14. Ballad Example: Davy Crockett
Born on a mountain top in Tennessee
The greenest state in the land of the free
Raised in the woods so's he knew ev'ry tree
Kilt him a b'ar when he was only three
Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier
Fought single-handed through many a war
Till the enemy was whipped and peace was in store
And while he was handlin' this risky chore
He made himself a legend forever more
Davy, Davy Crockett, the man who knew no fear
He went off to Congress and served a spell
Fixin' up the Government and the laws as well
Took over Washington, so I heard tell
And he patched up the crack in the Liberty
Bell
Davy, Davy Crockett, seeing his duty clear
When he came home his politic'ing was done
And the western march had just begun
So he packed his gear and his trusty gun
And lit out a-grinnin' to follow the sun
Davy, Davy Crockett, leading the pioneer