Poetic Forms

Key Terms

Volta - the “turn” of thought or argument in a fixed form poem

Envoi - the commentary or explanatory concluding remarks at the end of a poem

Sonnets

Sonnet - a 14-line poem, typically written in iambic pentameter

Petrarchan Sonnet
○ 1 octave, 1 sestet
○ Iambic Pentameter
○ Rhyme Scheme: ABBAABBA CDECDE (or CDC DED)
○ Volta before the sestet

Shakespearean Sonnet
○ 3 quatrains, 1 couplet
○ Iambic Pentameter
○ Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
○ Volta before the heroic couplet

Spenserian Sonnet
○ Same as Shakespearean sonnet except for rhyme scheme
○ Rhyme Scheme: ABAB BCBC CDCD EE

Other Fixed Forms

Villanelle
● 5 tercets, 1 quatrain
● No prescribed rhythm and meter, though often in iambic pentameter
● Rhyme Scheme: ABA usually
● The first line of the first stanza is the last line of the second and fourth stanzas and the penultimate line
of the poem.
● The third line of the first stanza is the last line of the third and fifth stanzas and the final line of the poem

Sestina
● 6 sestets, 1 tercet (envoi)
● No prescribed rhythm or meter
● No prescribed rhyme scheme
● The same 6 words occur at the end of each of the 6 lines of each sestet, but in a different order in each
stanza, usually following a consistent pattern.
● The last word of the last last of the previous stanza is usually the same as the last word of the first line
of the next stanza.
● The tercet at the end uses all 6 words, usually 2 in each line
Pantoum
● Quatrains, unspecified number
● Rhyme Scheme: ABAB
● The second and fourth lines of the previous quatrain become the first and third lines of the next.
● The first and third lines of the first stanza become the fourth and second lines of the last stanza.

Generic Forms

Limerick - humorous, often rude poems that describe a person or tell a brief story
● 5 lines
● Rhyme Scheme: AABBA
● The A lines are in anapestic or dactylic trimeter, while the B lines are in anapestic or dactylic dimeter

Ballad - a poem that tells a story

● Quatrains, unspecified number
● Alternating tetrameter and trimeter
● Rhyme Scheme: ABAB

Lyric - a short poem expressing the personal thoughts or feelings of a first-person speaker

Elegy - a contemplative poem, usually a lament for someone who has died

Ode - a meditation on or address to an object or condition

Pastoral - a poem that idealizes rural life and landscapes