Advanced Creative Writing
Proehl
Form Poetry Packet
Overview: You’ve already had practice reading, analyzing, and writing several different kinds (e.g.,
narrative and lyrical) and movements of poetry. Today, you’ll be introduced to four types of poems
that have very specific forms—and thus may present more of a challenge to write.
Task: You will become familiar with the sonnet (both Shakespearean and Petrarchan), villanelle, and
sestina. Then, you will choose one of these forms to use for your next original poem.
Directions:
STEP ONE – Review the poetry terms in the box below.
Glossary
Form = how the poem is arranged into lines and stanzas
Meter = a particular number of syllables in a line; a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed (i.e.,
accented and unaccented) syllables
Rhyme Scheme = purposeful arrangement of rhyming words at the end of each line
Stanza = group of lines
Couplet = stanza with 2 lines
Tercet = stanza with 3 lines
Quatrain = stanza with 4 lines
Quintet = stanza with 5 lines
Sestet = stanza with 6 lines
Septet = stanza with 7 lines
Octet/Octave = stanza with 8 lines
STEP TWO – Work with a partner to read through the examples of sonnets, a villanelle, and a
sestina, and complete the tasks for each.
Type #1 – Shakespearean Sonnet
SONNET 130 by William Shakespeare
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
1. What’s the form of a Shakespearean
sonnet? That is, how many stanzas
compose the poem, and which kinds of
stanzas (e.g., four tercets and a quintet)?
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
2. Go through the poem, and label the
rhyme scheme next to the lines.
Remember that to label the rhyme
you begin with A for the first rhyme,
and go to the next letter for each new
rhyme you come across.
3. Determine the meter of a
Shakespearean sonnet. That is, how many
syllables (approximately) are in each line?
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Type #2 – Petrarchan Sonnet
"London, 1802" by William Wordsworth
Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour:
England hath need of thee: she is a fen
Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen,
Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower,
Have forfeited their ancient English dower
Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;
Oh! raise us up, return to us again;
And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.
1. What’s the form of a Petrarchan sonnet?
2. Go through the poem, and label the
rhyme scheme.
Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart;
Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea:
Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,
So didst thou travel on life's common way,
In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart
The lowliest duties on herself did lay.
3. What’s the meter or a Petrarchan sonnet?
Type #3 – Villanelle
“Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night” by Dylan Thomas
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
1. What’s the form of a villanelle?
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
2. Go through the poem, and label the
rhyme scheme next to the lines.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
3. Villanelles are unique in that they
have refrains – lines that repeat
throughout the poem. There are two
different refrains in a villanelle. Go
through the poem and label the first
refrain with a 1 and the second refrain
with a 2.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
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4. What’s the meter of a villanelle?
Type #4 – Sestina
“Sestina” by Elizabeth Bishop
September rain falls on the house.
In the failing light, the old grandmother
sits in the kitchen with the child
beside the Little Marvel Stove,
reading the jokes from the almanac,
laughing and talking to hide her tears.
1. What’s the form of a sestina?
She thinks that her equinoctial tears
and the rain that beats on the roof of the house
were both foretold by the almanac,
but only known to a grandmother.
The iron kettle sings on the stove.
She cuts some bread and says to the child,
2. Sestinas are unique in that they
don’t simply repeat rhymes—they
repeat the same six words at the end of
lines throughout the poem. Go through the
poem and label the repeating words using
the same method you would use to label
rhyme scheme.
It's time for tea now; but the child
is watching the teakettle's small hard tears
dance like mad on the hot black stove,
the way the rain must dance on the house.
Tidying up, the old grandmother
hangs up the clever almanac
on its string. Birdlike, the almanac
hovers half open above the child,
hovers above the old grandmother
and her teacup full of dark brown tears.
She shivers and says she thinks the house
feels chilly, and puts more wood in the stove.
It was to be, says the Marvel Stove.
I know what I know, says the almanac.
With crayons the child draws a rigid house
and a winding pathway. Then the child
puts in a man with buttons like tears
and shows it proudly to the grandmother.
But secretly, while the grandmother
busies herself about the stove,
the little moons fall down like tears
from between the pages of the almanac
into the flower bed the child
has carefully placed in the front of the house.
Time to plant tears, says the almanac.
The grandmother sings to the marvelous stove
and the child draws another inscrutable house.
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STEP THREE – Choose ONE of these forms, and attempt to write your own original poem! For each
poem type, I’ve given some tips for approaching that particular type of poem and also an outline
where you can record your lines. Your poem should be complete for the next class period and shared
with me on Google Docs.
Sonnets
 Think of what you want your poem to be about, and brainstorm words associated with your subject
matter.
 Try to come up with words that rhyme with those you’ve already brainstormed and that could
possibly be incorporated into your poem.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Br Pr Tr Sh Ch St Bl Cl Pl Sl
 Compose your stanzas, making sure to pay attention to the rhyme scheme.
(Shakespearean)
Stanza 1: ___________________________________________________________________________A
___________________________________________________________________________B
___________________________________________________________________________A
___________________________________________________________________________B
Stanza 2: ___________________________________________________________________________C
___________________________________________________________________________D
___________________________________________________________________________C
___________________________________________________________________________D
Stanza 3: ___________________________________________________________________________E
___________________________________________________________________________F
___________________________________________________________________________E
___________________________________________________________________________F
Couplet: ___________________________________________________________________________G
___________________________________________________________________________G
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(Petrarchan)
Octave: ___________________________________________________________________________A
___________________________________________________________________________B
___________________________________________________________________________B
___________________________________________________________________________A
___________________________________________________________________________A
___________________________________________________________________________B
___________________________________________________________________________B
___________________________________________________________________________A
Sestet:
___________________________________________________________________________C
___________________________________________________________________________D
________________________________________________________________________E / C
___________________________________________________________________________C
___________________________________________________________________________D
________________________________________________________________________E / C
Villanelles
 Think about the message you’d like to send with your villanelle. Brainstorm a few different lines
that could be the refrain…the core of the poem. Make sure that the ending word of the refrains
rhyme, and try to find words that will be easy to rhyme with throughout the rest of the poem.
 Decide on your two refrains, and write the first stanza of the poem. Try to end the second line with
a word that will be easy to rhyme with for the rest of the poem.
 Fill in the rest of the stanzas with your chosen refrains.
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Stanza 1: ____________________________________________________________________Ref 1 (A)
___________________________________________________________________________B
_____________________________________________________________________Ref 2 (A)
Stanza 2: ___________________________________________________________________________A
___________________________________________________________________________B
_____________________________________________________________________Ref 1 (A)
Stanza 3: ___________________________________________________________________________A
___________________________________________________________________________B
_____________________________________________________________________Ref 2 (A)
Stanza 4: ___________________________________________________________________________A
___________________________________________________________________________B
_____________________________________________________________________Ref 1 (A)
Stanza 5: ___________________________________________________________________________A
___________________________________________________________________________B
_____________________________________________________________________Ref 2 (A)
Quatrain:___________________________________________________________________________A
___________________________________________________________________________B
_____________________________________________________________________Ref 1 (A)
_____________________________________________________________________Ref 2 (A)
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Sestinas
 Think of what you want your poem to be about, and brainstorm words associated with that subject
matter. Try to use concrete nouns and/or active verbs for your six words.
 Once you have chosen your six words, attempt to write your first stanza (or maybe your last)
 Once you have written a stanza and your words are in place, plot out where the words will go in the
rest of the poem (their placement in the stanzas).
 With your words in place, attempt to write the rest of the lines. Even though these six words are the
*stars* you should still focus on word choice in the rest of the line.
 Don’t forget that the final tercet has a slightly different format.
Stanza 1: ___________________________________________________________________________A
___________________________________________________________________________B
___________________________________________________________________________C
___________________________________________________________________________D
___________________________________________________________________________E
___________________________________________________________________________F
Stanza 2: ___________________________________________________________________________F
___________________________________________________________________________A
___________________________________________________________________________E
___________________________________________________________________________B
___________________________________________________________________________D
___________________________________________________________________________C
Stanza 3: ___________________________________________________________________________C
___________________________________________________________________________F
___________________________________________________________________________D
___________________________________________________________________________A
___________________________________________________________________________B
___________________________________________________________________________E
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Stanza 4: ___________________________________________________________________________E
___________________________________________________________________________C
___________________________________________________________________________B
___________________________________________________________________________F
___________________________________________________________________________A
___________________________________________________________________________D
Stanza 5: ___________________________________________________________________________D
___________________________________________________________________________E
___________________________________________________________________________A
___________________________________________________________________________C
___________________________________________________________________________F
___________________________________________________________________________B
Stanza 6: ___________________________________________________________________________B
___________________________________________________________________________D
___________________________________________________________________________F
___________________________________________________________________________E
___________________________________________________________________________C
___________________________________________________________________________A
Tercet: _________________________________A_________________________________________B
________________________________C__________________________________________D
________________________________E__________________________________________F
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