Different forms of poetry

Poetry comes in many different forms, each with its own structure, style, and purpose. Here are some of the most common types of poetry, along with brief explanations and examples:

1. Sonnet

A 14-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme, often exploring themes like love, beauty, spiritual contemplation, and time.

Shakespearean Sonnet (English Sonnet):

Rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

Example (by William Shakespeare, Sonnet 18):

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate...

Petrarchan Sonnet (Italian Sonnet):

Divided into an octave (8 lines) and a sestet (6 lines)

The octave usually presents a problem or situation, while the sestet offers a resolution, reflection, or response to the initial theme.

This poetic form has been widely used by poets such as Petrarch, Dante, and Shakespeare.Rhyme scheme: 

Octave : ABBAABBA 

Sestet: CDECDE or CDCDCD 

Example (How do I love thee? Let me count the ways, By Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

2. Haiku

A traditional Japanese form with 3 lines and a 5-7-5 syllable structure, often focusing on nature or seasons.

Example:

An old silent pond—

A frog jumps into the pond,

Splash! Silence again.

3. Free Verse

Poetry without a fixed rhyme or meter. It emphasizes natural speech patterns.

Example (by Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass):

I celebrate myself, and sing myself,

And what I assume you shall assume...

4. Limerick

A humorous five-line poem with a distinct rhythm (AABBA rhyme scheme).

Example:

There once was a man from Peru,

Who dreamed he was eating his shoe.

He awoke with a fright,

In the middle of the night,

To find that his dream had come true.

5. Ballad

A narrative poem, often set to music, that tells a story in short stanzas, usually with a rhyme scheme like ABCB.

Example (from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge):

Water, water, every where,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, every where,

Nor any drop to drink.

6. Acrostic

The first letter of each line spells out a word or message.

Example (for the word “HOPE”):

Holding on through darkest nights,

Overcoming endless fights.

Promises we make and keep,

Even as we climb so steep.

7. Elegy

A mournful or reflective poem, often written in honor of someone who has died.

Example (from “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” by Thomas Gray):

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,

The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea...

8. Ode

A formal, lyrical poem that praises a person, place, thing, or idea.

Example (by John Keats, “Ode to a Nightingale”):

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!

No hungry generations tramp thee down...

9. Epic

A long narrative poem that tells of heroic deeds and adventures.

Example:

The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer

Sing, Goddess, Achilles' rage,

Black and murderous, that cost the Greeks

Incalculable pain, pitched countless souls

Of heroes into Hades' dark,

And left their bodies to rot as feasts

For dogs and birds, as Zeus' will was done.

Begin with the clash between Agamemnon-

The Greek warlord - and godlike Achilles.

Paradise Lost by John Milton

10. Narrative Poetry

Tells a story with characters and plot, not necessarily in epic form.

Example:

“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—

    While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—

            Only this and nothing more.”