Types of Poems
Free Verse
Nonmetrical, nonrhyming lines
that closely follow the natural
rhythms of speech. A regular
pattern of sound or rhythm may
emerge in free-verse lines, but
the poet does not adhere to a
metrical plan in their
composition.
Haiku
A Japanese verse form of three
unrhyming lines in five, seven,
and five syllables.
Types of Poems
Sonnet
A 14-line poem with a variable
rhyme scheme originating in
Italy and brought to England.
Ex: ABBAABBA and
CDCDCD
Found Poem
A prose text or texts reshaped
by a poet into quasi-metrical
lines.
Types of Poems
Limerick
A fixed light-verse form of five
generally rhyming lines
AABBA.
Tanka
A Japanese form of five lines
with 5, 7, 5, 7, and 7 syllables.
Types of Poems
Epic
Acrostic
A long narrative poem in which
a heroic protagonist engages in
an action of great mythic or
historical significance.
A poem in which the first letter
of each line spells out a word,
name, or phrase when read
vertically.
Types of Poems
Ballad
A popular narrative song passed
down orally. In the English
tradition, it usually follows a
form of rhymed (ABCD)
quatrains.
Couplet
A pair of successive rhyming
lines, usually of the same
length.
Poetic Terms & Devices
Repetition
Repeating words, phrases, or
lines.
Imagery
When a poet creates pictures in
the mind using sensory
language. Appeals to the five
senses.
Poetic Terms & Devices
Symbolism
An object that stands for an
idea of belief.
Ex: A heart standing for love
Stanza
A group of lines that follow a
pattern and mark a division in
the poem, like a paragraph.
Poetic Terms & Devices
Alliteration
The repetition of the same letter
sounds in two or more words
that are close together. Tongue
twisters!
Onomatopoeia
The use of words that sound
like their meaning.
Ex: The fly buzzed past.
Ex: Over the cobbles he clatters
and crashed.
Poetic Terms & Devices
Hyperbole
An extreme exaggeration.
Metaphor
A comparison of two unlike
things to make a point.
Poetic Terms & Devices
Simile
A comparison of two unlike
things using the words “like” or
“as”.
Personification
Giving non-living things living
characteristics.
Poetic Terms & Devices
Rhyme
Words that have different
beginning sounds but whose
endings sound alike.
Irony
An opposing statement or
situation to reveal a reality
different from what appears to
be true.
Poetic Terms & Devices
Stanza
A division of a poem created by
arranging the lines into a unit,
often repeated in the same
pattern of meter and rhyme
throughout the poem.
Stanzas are separated by blank
lines.
Rhetorical Question
A question solely for effect,
which does not require an
answer.
Poetry Examples