1. Poetry Elements Popular Poetry Forms

2. Epic -The length of a novel -Dramatic story about a hero from history or legend -Tone is usually serious or grand Examples: The Odyssey and Beowulf

3. Lyric - Short in length - Describes personal feelings of the author - Usually have a musical quality Examples: Emily Dickinson’s poems, including I Took My Power in My Hand

4. Sonnet -14 line poem -Specific Rhyme Scheme- Shakespearean (abab, cdcd, efef, gg) -Traditionally LOVE poems Example: William Shakespeare Sonnets 1-150

5. Ballad - Type of lyric poem - Originally written to be sung - Usually features a refrain Example: Love songs

6. Elegy -A poem about a person who died -OR death/tragedy -Mood is somber or serious Example: Edgar Allen Poe’s Annabel Lee

7. Haiku -Japanese poem -Three unrhymed lines -Five syllables in the first and third lines and seven in the second. -Depicts moments in nature -Modern poets use the format, but poems do not depict moments in nature. Example: Matsuo Basho’s A Bee or MIT’s SPAM-KU

8. Free Verse -No predetermined format -Most modern poetry is in free verse format -Uses figurative/descriptive language to enliven the poem and create rhythm Example: Walt Whitman’s When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer

9. Limerick A five-line poem written with one couplet and one triplet. The rhyme pattern is a a b b a It is meant to be funny. They often contain hyperbole, onomatopoeia, idioms, puns, and other figurative devices. The last line of a good limerick contains the PUNCH LINE or "heart of the joke." There once was a pauper named Meg, Who accidentally broke her _______. She slipped on the ______. Not once, but thrice Take no pity on her, I __________.