TYPES OF POETRY Note: Extended definitions, historical explanations, and examples of each of these poems (and many more)

can be found on the website www.shadowpoetry.com Acrostic Poetry is where the first letter of each line spells a word, usually using the same words as in the title. Cinquain is a short, usually unrhymed poem consisting of twenty-two syllables distributed as 2, , !, ", 2, in #i$e %ines. C%erihew is a comic verse consisting of two couplets and a specific rhyming scheme, aa&&. he poem is about!deals with a person!character within the first rhyme. "n most cases, the first line names a person, and the second line ends with something that rhymes with the name of the person. 'iamante is a seven-lined contrast poem set up in a diamond shape. he first line begins with a noun!sub#ect, and second line contains two ad#ectives that describe the beginning noun. he third line contains three words ending in -ing relating to the noun!sub#ect. he forth line contains two words that describe the noun!sub#ect and two that describe the closing synonym!antonym. "f using an antonym for the ending, this is where the shift should occur. "n the fifth line are three more -ing words describing the ending antonym!synonym, and the sixth are two more ad#ectives describing the ending antonym!synonym. he last line ends with the first noun$s antonym or synonym. Epi(rams are short satirical poems ending with either a humorous retort or a stinging punch line. Etheree, consists of )* lines of ), 2, +, , ,, !, -, ", ., )* syllables. Etheree can also be reversed and written )*, ., ", -, !, ,, , +, 2, ). %et creative and write an Etheree with more than one verse, but follow suit with an inverted syllable count. &eversed Etheree: )*, ., ", -, !, ,, , +, 2, ) 'ouble Etheree: ), 2, +, , ,, !, -, ", ., )*, )*, ., ", -, ,, , +, 2, ) riple Etheree, (uadruple Etheree, and so on) /ha0a% is a poem that is made up li*e an odd numbered chain of couplets, where each couplet is an independent poem. "t should be natural to put a comma at the end of the first line. he %ha+al has a refrain of one to three words that repeat, and an inline rhyme that precedes the refrain. ,ines and ., then every second line, has this refrain and inline rhyme, and the last couplet should refer to the author/s pen-name... he rhyming scheme is AA &A cA dA eA etc. 1yrie%%e is a 0rench form of rhyming poetry written in 1uatrains (a stan+a consisting of 2 lines), and each 1uatrain contains a repeating line or phrase as a refrain (usually appearing as the last line of each stan+a). Each line within the poem consists of only eight syllables. here is no limit to the amount of stan+as a 3yrielle may have, but three is considered the accepted minimum. 4ome popular rhyming schemes for a 3yrielle are: aab5, ccb5, ddb5, with 5 being the repeated line, or aba5, cbc5, dbd5.

6ixing up the rhyme scheme is possible for an unusual pattern of: axa7, bxb7, cxc7, dxd7, etc. with 7 being the repeated line. 8 3yrielle 4onnet consists of -2 lines (three rhyming 1uatrain stan+as and a non-rhyming couplet). 9ust li*e the traditional 3yrielle poem, the 3yrielle 4onnet also has a repeating line or phrase as a refrain (usually appearing as the last line of each stan+a). Each line within the 3yrielle 4onnet consists of only eight syllables. 0rench poetry forms have a tendency to lin* bac* to the beginning of the poem, so common practice is to use the first and last line of the first 1uatrain as the ending couplet. his would also re-enforce the refrain within the poem. herefore, a good rhyming scheme for a 3yrielle 4onnet would be: Aa&2, cc&2, dd&2, A2 -or- A&a2, c&c2, d&d2, A2. 3anturne is a five-line verse shaped li*e a 9apanese lantern with a syllabic pattern of one, two, three, four, one. 3imeric4 is a rhymed humorous or nonsense poem of five lines which originated in ,imeric*, "reland. he ,imeric* has a set rhyme scheme of : a5a5&5&5a with a syllable structure of: .5.5!5!5. 6inute Poem is rhyming verse form consisting of -. lines of :; syllables written in strict iambic meter. he poem is formatted into < stan+as of ", , , 7 ", , , 7 ", , , syllables. he rhyme scheme is as follows: aa&&, ccdd, ee## 6irrored Re#rain is rhyming verse formed by three or more 1uatrains where two lines within the 1uatrain are the =mirrored refrain= or alternating refrain. he rhyme scheme is as follows: 8a2A, 8&A2, 8a2A, 8&A2, etc.. x represents the only lines that do not rhyme within the poem. 8 and 5 represent the refrain. 6onody is a poem in which one person laments another$s death, as in ennyson$s Break, Break, Break, or >ordsworth$s She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways 6onorhyme is a poem in which all the lines have the same end rhyme. 9aani is one of "ndian$s most popular elugu poems. Naani means an expression of one and all. "t consists of 2 lines, the total lines consists of .; to .? syllables. he poem is not bounded to a particular sub#ect. %enerally it depends upon human relations and current statements. 9onet has nine lines. he first line has nine syllables, the second line eight syllables, the third line seven syllables, etc... until line nine that finishes with one syllable. "t can be on any sub#ect and rhyming is optional. Ode is a poem praising and glorifying a person, place or thing. Otta$a Rima is a poem written in @-line octives. Each line is of a -; or -syllable count in the following rhyme: one octive poem. a&a&a&c, two octive poem. a&a&a&cc, dedede## three octive poem. a&a&a&cc, dedede##, (h(h(hii ...so on and so on

Pantoum consists of a series of 1uatrains rhyming A2A2 in which the second and fourth lines of a 1uatrain recur as the first and third lines in the succeeding 1uatrainA each 1uatrain introduces a new second rhyme as 2C2C, C'C'. he first line of the series recurs as the last line of the closing 1uatrain, and third line of the poem recurs as the second line of the closing 1uatrain, rhyming :A:A. he design is simple: ,ine ,ine . ,ine < ,ine 2 ,ine ? (repeat of line .) ,ine : ,ine B (repeat of line 2) ,ine @ Continue with as many stan+as as you wish, but the ending stan+a then repeats the second and fourth lines of the previous stan+a (as its first and third lines), and also repeats the third line of the first stan+a, as its second line, and the first line of the first stan+a as its fourth. 4o the first line of the poem is also the last. ,ast stan+a: ,ine . of previous stan+a ,ine < of first stan+a ,ine 2 of previous stan+a ,ine - of first stan+a ;uatern is a sixteen line 0rench form composed of four 1uatrains. "t is similar to the 3yrielle and the &etourne. "t has a refrain that is in a different place in each 1uatrain. he first line of stan+a one is the second line of stan+a two, third line of stan+a three, and fourth line of stan+a four. 8 1uatern has eight syllables per line. "t does not have to be iambic or follow a set rhyme scheme. ;uatrain is a poem consisting of four lines of verse with a specific rhyming scheme. 8 few examples of a 1uatrain rhyming scheme are as follows: D-) abab D.) abba -- envelope rhyme D<) aabb D2) aaba, bbcb, ccdc, dddd -- chain rhyme ;uin0aine come from the 0rench word qunize, meaning fifteen. 8 1uin+aine is an unrhymed verse of fifteen syllables. hese syllables are distributed among three lines so that there are seven syllables in the first line, five in the second line and three in the third line (B!?!<). he first line ma*es a statement. he next two lines as* a 1uestion relating to that statement. Rispetto, an "talian form of poetry, is a complete poem of two rhyme 1uatrains with strict meter. he meter is usually iambic tetrameter with a

rhyme scheme of a&a& ccdd. 8 Eeroic &ispetto is written in "ambic pentameter, usually featuring the same rhyme scheme. Rondeau is a 0rench form, -? lines long, consisting of three stan+as: a 1uintet, a 1uatrain, and a sestet with a rhyme scheme as follows: aa&&a aa&R aa&&aR. ,ines F and -? are short - a refrain (&) consisting of a phrase ta*en from line one. he other lines are longer (but all of the same metrical length). Ronde%: 0rench form consisting of -< lines: two 1uatrains and a 1uintet, rhyming as follows: A2&a a&A2 a&&aA. he capital letters are the refrains, or repeats. Ronde%et is a 0rench form consisting of a single septet with two rhymes and one refrain: A&Aa&&A. he capital letters are the refrains, or repeats. he refrain is written in tetra-syllabic or dimeter and the other lines are twice as long - octasyllabic or tetrameter. Sedo4a is an unrhymed poem made up of two three-line katauta with the following syllable counts: ,<-<-, ,<-<-. 8 4edo*a, pair of *atauta as a single poem, may address the same sub#ect from differing perspectives. Katauta is an unrhymed three-line poem the following syllable counts: ,<-<-. Senryu (also called human hai*u) is an unrhymed 9apanese verse consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables =,, -, ,> or -B syllables in all. 4enryu is usually written in the present tense and only references to some aspect of human nature or emotions. hey possess no references to the natural world and thus stand out from nature!seasonal hai*u. Septo%et is a poem consisting of seven lines containing fourteen words with a brea* in between the two parts. 5oth parts deal with the same thought and create a picture. 4estina is a strict ordered form of poetry, dating bac* to twelfth century 0rench troubadours. "t consists of six sixline (sestets) stan+as followed by a three-line envoy. &ather than use a rhyme scheme, the six ending words of the first stan+a are repeated as the ending words of the other five stan+as in a set pattern. he envoy uses two of the ending words per line, again in a set pattern. 0irst stan+a, ..- ... ..< ..2 ..? ..: 4econd stan+a, ..: ..- ..? .. . ..2 ..< hird stan+a, ..< ..: ..2 ..- ... ..? 0ourth stan+a, ..? ..< ... ..: ..- ..2 0ifth stan+a, ..2 ..? ..- ..< ..: ... 4ixth stan+a, ... ..2 ..: ..? ..< ..Concluding tercet: middle of first line ..., end of first line ..? middle of second line ..2, end of second line..< middle if third line ..:, end of third line ..-

Son( is an expression of a poet$s personal emotions, meant to be sung. ,yrics in a song contain verses (lines that ma*e up a songA sung poem) and a chorus (a repeating verse in a song (refrain). Tan4a is a classic form of 9apanese poetry related to the hai*u with five unrhymed lines of five, seven, five, seven, and seven syllables. (?, B, ?, B, B) Ter0a Rima is a poem with an eleven syllable count in each line and a rhyming scheme of a&a, &c&, cdc, dd. 0or even more of a challenge, try the er+a &ima 4onnet. his form of poem has an eleven syllable count in each line and a rhyming scheme of a&a, &c&, cdc, ded, ee. er+anelle is a -F-line poem consisting of five interloc*ing triplets plus a concluding 1uatrain in which the first and third lines of the first triplet appear as refrains. he middle line of each triplet is a repetend reappearing as the last line of the succeeding triplet with the exception of the center line of the next-to-the-last stan+a which appears in the 1uatrain. he rhyme and refrain scheme for the triplets is as follows: 858bC5c'CdE'e0Ef(0or 8)(8 or 0)8. Each line of the poem should be the same metrical length. Tetractys, a poetic form invented by &ay 4tebbing, consists of at least , lines of ), 2, +, , )* syllables (total of .;). etractys can be written with more than one verse, but must follow suit with an inverted syllable count. etractys can also bereversed and written )*, , +, 2, ). 'ouble etractys: ), 2, +, , )*, )*, , +, 2, ). riple etractys: ), 2, +, , )*, )*, , +, 2, ), ), 2, +, , )* and so on. Ton(ue Twister poem is made up of lines!verses that are hard to say when read aloud by using similar consonant sounds in succession (use of alliteration). "n other words, the poem ties your tongue into *nots. his form does not re1uire end or internal rhyme. Trio%et is a poetic form consisting of only @ lines. >ithin a riolet, the -st, 2th, and Bth lines repeat, and the .nd and @th lines do as well. he rhyme scheme is simple: A2aAa&A2, capital letters representing the repeated lines. 6a*e writing a riolet more challenging) 6a*e each line @ syllables in length (2 metrical feet), written in iambic tetrameter (the more common way), or try it in pentameter (English version) where each line only has -; syllables (? metrical feet). Ty&urn is a six line poem consisting of 2, 2, 2, 2, ., . syllables. he first four lines rhyme and are all descriptive words. he last two lines rhyme and incorporate the first, second, third, and fourth lines as the ?th through @th syllables. ?i%%ane%%e is a nineteen-line poem consisting of a very specific rhyming scheme: a&a a&a a&a a&a a&a a&aa. he first and the third lines in the first stan+a are repeated in alternating order throughout the poem, and appear together in the last couplet (last two lines).