Thread: Meter & poem types

These are some of the types of like meter.

Iambus:A metrical foot in poetry, a step of sorts, where one unaccented syllable is followed by one accented syllable.

( pa DUM) = the beat of the line
---1--2--3---4---5-----6----7----8------------
---I saw a girl once made of stone--------- ----pa DUM pa DUM pa DUM pa DUM ---------
----1---2---3---4---5----6---7----8------------------

*

Trochee:** The opposite of iambus, where one accented syllable is followed by one unaccented syllable.* (DUM pa)

**************** Have you but a flick ered Life? ---DUM pa DUM pa DUM pa DUM
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Spondee:* Two long or stressed syllables, you know, DUM DUM**
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Pyrrhic:*** Two short unaccented syllables, you know, pa pa.*
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Anapest:* An anapest is a three-syllable foot with the third syllable being the stressed one, like the word "unconcerned".
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Dactyl:** The opposite of an anapest.* There are three syllables, but the first of the three is the stressed syllable, like the **************** *** word, "Matriarch" or "Motherly".
---------------------------------------------------------------------These are some of the types of poems


Acrostic poetry

Acrostic poems differ from other poetry in that the first letter of each line spells a word, which can be read vertically.
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Ballad

A ballad is a simple poem with short verses. It often tells a story about people that you would read about in folk tales.
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Blank verse

This kind of poetry is essentially the unrhymed counterpart of many types of poems written in a very specific meter.*
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Cinquain

A Cinquain is a short, unrhymed poem consisting of twenty-two syllables distributed as 2, 4, 6, 8, 2, in five lines.

The most popular form is as follows:

Line 1: Noun
Line 2: Description of Noun
Line 3: Action
Line 4: Feeling or Effect
Line 5: Synonym of the initial noun.
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Epic

An Epic is a long narrative poem celebrating the adventures and achievements of a hero...epics deal with the traditions, mythical or historical, of a nation.
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Epigram

Epigrams are short satirical poems ending with either a humorous retort or a stinging punchline.
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Narrative poetry

This is poetry that tells a story; it relays a particular event or happening and is usually a very long story.
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Free Verse

This is* poetry that doesn't follow any set pattern. It doesn't rhyme and there is no definite beat or rhythm to the sound of the words.

Poetry Lessons on Forms of Poetry

It is a great idea to experiment with the different forms of poetry.* Below you will find only a few, but some of the most popular forms of poetry.

Acrostic poetry

Acrostic poems differ from other poetry in that the first letter of each line spells a word, which can be read vertically. The rhyme scheme and number of lines may vary in acrostic poems because it is more of a descriptive poem in which one describes the word being spelled.
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*

Ballad

A ballad is a simple poem with short verses. It often tells a story about people that you would read about in folk tales. Ballads were told to people long before they were written down. They were about revenge, crime and love. They were often turned into songs, the singers usually wandering minstrels. Ballad "The Death of Ben Hall"
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*

Blank verse

This kind of poetry is essentially the unrhymed counterpart of many types of poems written in a very specific meter.* For example, you could write a sonnet with perfect iambic pentameter, but forsake the rhyme.* The benefit of this is that the poet does not have to worry about fitting lines into rhyme and creating a coerced sounding image, yet the poem remains very structured.
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*

Cinquain

A Cinquain is a short, unrhymed poem consisting of twenty-two

syllables distributed as 2, 4, 6, 8, 2, in five lines.

The most popular form is as follows:

Line 1: Noun

Line 2: Description of Noun

Line 3: Action

Line 4: Feeling or Effect

Line 5: Synonym of the initial noun.
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*

Epic

An Epic is a long narrative poem celebrating the adventures and

achievements of a hero...epics deal with the traditions, mythical

or historical, of a nation.

examples:* Beowulf, The Iliad and the Odyssey, and Aeneid
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*

Epigram

Epigrams are short satirical poems ending with either a humorous retort

or a stinging punchline.
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*

Narrative poetry

This is poetry that tells a story; it relays a particular event or happening and is usually a very long story. Narrative poems :

"The Pied Piper of Hamelin" by Robert Browning,
"The Owl and the Pussy Cat" by Edward Lear,
"The Man From Snowy River" by Banjo Patterson.
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*

Free Verse

This is* poetry that doesn't follow any set pattern. It doesn't rhyme and there is no definite beat or rhythm to the sound of the words. This form of poetry is the most popular form in contemporary literature.
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Kyrielle

A Kyrielle is a French form of rhyming poetry written in quatrains

(a stanza consisting of 4 lines), and each quatrain contains a repeating

line or phrase as a refrain (usually appearing as the last line of each

stanza). Each line within the poem consists of only eight syllables.

There is no limit to the amount of stanzas a Kyrielle may have, but

three is considered the accepted minimum.


Some popular rhyming schemes for a Kyrielle are:

aabB, ccbB, ddbB, with B being the repeated line, or abaB, cbcB, dbdB.

Mixing up the rhyme scheme is possible for an unusual pattern of:

axaZ, bxbZ, czcZ, dxdZ, etc. with Z being the repeated line.
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*

Kyrielle Sonnet

A Kyrielle Sonnet consists of 14 lines (three rhyming quatrain stanzas and

a non-rhyming couplet). Just like the traditional Kyrielle poem, the Kyrielle

Sonnet also has a repeating line or phrase as a refrain (usually appearing

as the last line of each stanza). Each line within the Kyrielle Sonnet

consists of only eight syllables. French poetry forms have a tendency to

link back to the beginning of the poem, so common practice is to use the

first and last line of the first quatrain as the ending couplet. This would

also re-enforce the refrain within the poem. Therefore, a good rhyming

scheme for a Kyrielle Sonnet would be:

AabB, ccbB, ddbB, AB -or- AbaB, cbcB, dbdB, AB.
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Limericks

These are humorous rhyming poems of five lines. Usually the first two lines and the last line are longer, and the third and fourth lines are short.* A typical rhymes scheme is a a b b a.
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Ode

An Ode is a poem praising and glorifying a person, place or thing.

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Septuplet

The Septuplet is a poem consisting of seven lines containing fourteen words with a break in between the two parts.* Both parts deal with the same thought and create a picture. Used mainly as expressions of social criticism or political satire, the most common forms are written as a couplet: a pair of rhymed lines in the same meter.

if a rebel may put in her 20 cents...

in re all those fancy formats, poetry does not HAVE TO follow any of the set forms' rules 'n regs... i've written hundreds of poems and not once have i consciously used a standard format [other than the limerick!]...

i'd hate to have budding poets think they have to pick one of the standard forms to write their poem in, if they want it considered to be 'poetry'...

bottom line: like art, poetry is in the eye [and ear] of the beholder...

that said, all poems are not 'good poetry'... and just anything put down in some sort of poem-like form is not necessarily a 'poem'... like all writing and all the other arts, very few do it well... even fewer do it really well...

Thanks jp. Using these formats are very useful in becoming better writers because of the challenge they present. Not to mention that the discipline required to do these is good for the old synapses and ultimately pushes us on to explore other ways to express our selves.

When we look at all the great artists and writers who are famous for 'beat' poetry and other less formal writing, and abstract artist (Picasso being the most readily recognised but not necessarily the best), almost with out exception, if they are famous and respected you will find they knew the fundamentals of their art and were even extraordinary in it to begin with. thanks for your effort jp. warm regards huni.

Originally Posted by mammamaia

if a rebel may put in her 20 cents...

in re all those fancy formats, poetry does not HAVE TO follow any of the set forms' rules 'n regs... i've written hundreds of poems and not once have i consciously used a standard format [other than the limerick!]...

i'd hate to have budding poets think they have to pick one of the standard forms to write their poem in, if they want it considered to be 'poetry'...

bottom line: like art, poetry is in the eye [and ear] of the beholder...

that said, all poems are not 'good poetry'... and just anything put down in some sort of poem-like form is not necessarily a 'poem'... like all writing and all the other arts, very few do it well... even fewer do it really well...

Agreed Maia. I don't think one should be restricted by any kind of format unless they choose to do so. Personally, I am partial to free verse poetry, which is what I write all the time. I like the freedom of it. I also think a writer should be free in the novel form as well, though admitedly, if one decides to discard all the 'rules' they are in for a hard time with some readers who may not be used to it (and especially a hard time with some editors who refuse to acknowlege any deviation of any kind).

I feel writing is (or can or should be) an art form like any other creative endeavor like painting or music. There should be room to experiment, room to breathe, room to explore.

But as far as what constitues "good poetry" and who "does it well" or "very well", I believe this too is in the eye of the beholder. Like anything else, it all comes down to personal tastes and prefrences. A great example of this is the poetry of Charles Bukowski. Personally, I love his work (though not all of his poetry works for me) but I know a lot of poets and poetry readers who cannot stand him. It really depends on where you stand on what poetry is. I realized this one day with regard to my own work. Some like it. Some don't. I've had editors tell me that they thought it was "excellent" while others literally screwed up their faces and told me (or written me) that it was some of the worst stuff they'd ever seen (though most editors wouldn't do this, some will). Meanwhile, the poems that were considered by one editor to be crap was thought excellent by another. It all comes down to personal preference.

There is poetry I can't stand that a lot of people think are great as well.

The bottom line is that one should just write what they feel, follow their own muse, satisfy their need for self-expression and hope for the best. This doesn't mean one should ignore craft but in the end, even the most well crafted, well written poetry may be considered crap by someone else.

It's a funny business, all this. Truly.

My daughter asked me not to long ago to pick her up a book of poems to read
but not poetry. I was confused. I asked her what the difference was and she said poems are something you learn to write in school from books and poetry is something that just happens. " Sometimes I can't understand it".. Now the difference she saw made since to me.
Amanda was born with a reading disiabiliy and struggled years in school to gain a 3rd grade reading level. She never let this stand in her way and worked hard to get to a place in this world where she felt at ease. Then life changed for her..and me. While walking her dog she was hit by a car and came very close to death. She suffered a brain energy and now has to overcome the same reading problems she had as a child. She's 22yrs.
For me there are no rules to writing poetry its something that just happens. For Amanda sake, Im glad we also have poems.