Types of Poetry
The Acrostic Poem: The acrostic is a fairly simple poetic form, and odds are just about everyone has written one, whether they realize it or not. An
acrostic poem is created by using the first letter of each line to spell out another, usually related, word. That is, by reading down the left margin,
the reader discovers a word. In simple acrostic poems, this may be the subject of the poem (such as when grade-school students write descriptive
words for each letter in “Mother” on their Mother’s Day cards).
The Concrete Poem: The concrete or image poem is another simple form often practised in school. In this type of poem, a single word is written
repeatedly to create the shape of the object the word describes. For example, the word “apple” would be written to form the shape of an apple.
The Cinquain: Pronounced “sink-cane”, this type of poem is named after the French word for five because it consists of a single five-line verse. Each
line has a specific syllable count, namely two, four, six, eight, two. Many variations also exist, such as the reverse cinquain, in which the syllable
counts are two, eight, six, four, two, and the mirror cinquain, which consists of two five-line verses, a cinquain and a reverse cinquain.
The Free Verse Poem: Perhaps the most common poetic form today, free verse allows a poet to create his or her own form, placing virtually no
restrictions on the number of syllables per line, lines per verse, or verses per poem. However, the poem still must have a recognizable form that
will be coherent to readers.
The Ghazal: Based on Urdu poetry and originating in the 6th century, the ghazal (pronounced like “guzzle”) consists of five to fifteen couplets (usually
seven) with a refrain of one or a few words repeated at the end of each of the first two lines and the second line of each subsequent couplet.
Additionally, the words before each refrain are usually rhymes or partial rhymes, and each line should be roughly the same length or meter. While
the couplets develop a common theme, each one should read like a poem or unit in itself.
The Haiku: Originally a Japanese form, the haiku is a three-line poem with a strict syllable count for each line — namely five, seven, five. Traditionally,
haiku poetry had a seasonal reference (in Japanese, “kigo”), and the Japanese haiku were written in a single line. Along with dividing the poem into
its three metered units, Western poets have also expanded haiku’s subject area.
The Sestina: Perhaps one of the most difficult poetic forms, the sestina, or sextain, is highly structured. It consists of six six-line stanzas followed by
one three-line stanza (called a tercet and referred to as the poem’s “envoy”). The last word of each line is repeated in each stanza in a different,
but prescribed, order. If the lines of the first stanza are numbered 123456, then the second stanza ends with words 61524, the third with words
64125, the fourth 532614, the fifth 451362, and the sixth 246531. Words 1 and 2 are then repeated in the first line of the tercet, words 3 and 4 in
the second line of the tercet, and words 5 and 6 in the third line of the tercet.
The Sonnet: A sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines that follow a strict rhyming pattern. There are two types of sonnet, the Shakespearean sonnet,
named after William Shakespeare, and the Italian or Petrarchan sonnet. A Shakespearean sonnet consists of twelve lines in three alternating
rhymes, followed by a rhyming couplet. That is, its rhyme scheme is ABABCDCDEFEFGG. An Italian sonnet consists eight lines rhyming ABBAABBA
followed by six lines rhyming CDECDE.
The Villanelle: A villanelle is a nineteen-line poem divided into five tercets (three lines each) and a closing quatrain (four lines). The poem consists of
two main rhymes (AB) which repeat throughout. The main rhyme is produced by the first and third lines of the first stanza, which then alternate as
the third line of each subsequent stanza, and form a rhyming couplet to end the quatrain and thus the poem.
There are many other types of poems, including variations of the above forms, but these classic forms provide an excellent starting place for
students of poetry or poets in training.
Source: http://suite101.com/a/types-of-poetry-a135697
Descriptive Poetry: As the name suggests, descriptive poems are centered around the object of interest and they serve a didactic purpose.
Descriptive poems compel the reader to visualize the object, place or person of interest as pictured by the poet himself. An Example: Smoke ~
Henry David Thoreau
Light-winged Smoke, Icarian bird,
Melting thy pinions in thy upward flight,
Lark without song, and messenger of dawn
Circling above the hamlets as they nest;
Or else, departing dream, and shadowy form
Of midnight vision, gathering up thy skirts;
By night star-veiling, and by day
Darkening the light and blotting out the sun;
Go thou my incense upward from this hearth,
And ask the gods to pardon this clear flame.
Reflective Poetry: Reflective poems contain some explicit or implicit generalization about life, by the poet. Simply put, it is a mere reflection of the
state of mind of the poet put forth in a poetic manner.
An Example: Human Seasons ~ John Keats
FOUR Seasons fill the measure of the year;
There are four seasons in the mind of man:
He has his lusty Spring, when fancy clear
Takes in all beauty with an easy span:
He has his Summer, when luxuriously
Spring's honey'd cud of youthful thought he loves
To ruminate, and by such dreaming high
Is nearest unto heaven: quiet coves
His soul has in its Autumn, when his wings
He furleth close; contented so to look
On mists in idleness - to let fair things
Pass by unheeded as a threshold brook.
He has his Winter too of pale misfeature,
Or else he would forego his mortal nature.
Narrative Poetry: The poet narrates a story through the use of poetic diction. It is considered to be one of the oldest form of poetry and it often
focuses on the pros and cons of life.
An Example: An excerpt from The Charge of the Light Brigade ~ Alfred Lord Tennyson
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death,
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Lyric Poetry:A lyric is a short poem which has the characteristics of a song. It pertains to a single mood or feeling and is more personal in nature.
An example: An excerpt from A Red, Red Rose ~ Robert Burns
O my Luve's like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June;
O my Luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I:
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry:
Sonnet: A sonnet is a relatively short poem consisting of merely fourteen lines. It is known to follow a strict pattern of rhyme. It is divided into two
parts - the octave and the concluding sestet. This separation marks the end or break in thought. It is further classified into Petrarchan,
Shakespearean and Miltonic sonnets.
An example: Sonnet 116 ~ Shakespeare
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Ode: This type of poem is a direct address to a particular person or a thing. It is relatively elaborate in its structure. It is divided into three parts
namely, the strophe, antistrophe and the epode. Odes have a serious overtone, with the strophe and the antistrophe looking at the subject from
conflicting perspectives, while the epode tries to resolve the underlying issues.
An example: An excerpt from Ode on a Grecian Urn ~ John Keats
Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fring'd legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?
Ballad: A ballad is a type of a narrative poem which deals with a heroic theme. A ballad has musical quality and it has a set theme and fixed
metrical form. The modern ballads have taken on the form of single spirited poems with short stanzas that narrate a popular story graphically.
An example: An excerpt from The Walrus and the Carpenter ~ Lewis Carroll
The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright-And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.
The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done-"It's very rude of him," she said,
"To come and spoil the fun!"
Epic: It is a heroic poem that deals with the ethos of the period. There are two types of epic, one that is concerned with growth while the other
with art. Epics are generally grander in their portrayal of the style and their theme. It is an account of the life and works of a heroic or mythological
person.
An example: An excerpt from Paradise Lost ~ Milton
Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit
Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,
Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed,
In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth
Rose out of Chaos: Or if Sion Hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa's Brook that flow'd
Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventurous Song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above th' Aonian Mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime.
These are by no means, all types of poetry forms used. But these are the basics. Most poets use these forms and structures while writing their
poems. The form and structure of the poem, ideally should not limit the thought or the idea conveyed by the poet. However, these styles of writing
help make the poem more musical in its flow.
Source: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/types-of-poetry-all-the-different-types-of-poems.html