Types/Forms of Poetry Flashcards
ballad
a song-like narrative poem; often with a refrain or “chorus”
dramatic monologue
speaker “thinking aloud” in a poem, expressing ideas or thoughts without reply
elegy
a lyric poem of mourning; often the arrangement approximates the stages of mourning: lamentation, praise, and acceptance
if something is mournful or similar to an elegy, it is called elegiac
epic
a long narrative poem that relates great deeds or the journey of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of a particular society
epitaph
a brief inscription on a gravestone OR a commemorative poem written as if it were for that purpose
free verse
unrhymed poetry that is not written in a particular rhythmic pattern (no rules)
idyll
either a short poem depicting a peaceful, idealized country scene, or a long poem that tells a story about heroic deeds or extraordinary events set in the distant past
limerick
a humorous, rhyming 5-line poem; the rhyme scheme is usually a-a-b-b-a
the first, second, and fifth lines are three metrical feet; the third and fourth are two metrical feet
lyric
verse of a subjective, personal nature that expresses abstract ideas, perceptions, and feelings rather than telling a story; often rhyming, but not always
narrative
a poem that tells a story
ode
a stately, serious, and elaborate lyrical poem, often praising or offering commentary on a person, place, or object
classical ones occur in three parts
pastoral
a poem that depicts rural life in a peaceful, idealized way
Shakespearean sonnet
three quatrains and a couplet: abab cdcd efef gg
Petrarchan sonnet
an octave and a sestet: abbaabba cdecde (final tercet may have varied rhyme)
sonnet
a 14-line lyric poem written in iambic pentameter
Shakespearean, Spenserian, Petrarchan, or modified
