Fixed Form Poetry
IT’S A CLOSED CASE
Form: A poem’s overall
structure or shape
Free Verse or Open Form
 A poem free of a
prescribed pattern
 Still has
Fixed Form
 A poem that follows a
prescribed pattern of lines,
meter, rhyme, or stanza
structure
 Poets may write in fixed
form, yet vary it slightly for
effect
Regardless of form:
intentional choices made by poet to create effect
Stanza
 A grouping of lines in poetry
 Typically set off by space
 Similar to prose’s paragraph
Rhyme Scheme
 A pattern of end rhymes
 Identify rhyme scheme by using lowercase
letters to mark similar sounds
Stanza Vocabulary—two
Couplet
 2 lines (couple) that usually rhyme and share
a meter
Heroic Couplet
 A couplet with rhymed iambic pentameter
Stanza Vocabulary—three
Tercet
 3 line stanza
Triplet
 A rhyming tercet
Terza rima
 Interlocking 3-line rhyme (aba, bcb, ded)
 “Acquainted with the Night” (page 923)
Stanza Vocabulary—four
Quatrain
 Most common stanzaic form in English
language
 4 line stanza
“Upon Julia’s Clothes”
Discuss answers with partners
Be prepared to share out