Types of Poem

Question 1

a poem in which the first letter of each word forms a word – usually a name – if read downward.

Answer 1

Acrostic

Question 2

– two lines of poetry that rhyme and usually form one complete idea.

Example: The poem “Catch a Little Rhyme” by Eve Merriam is written in
couplets.

Answer 2

Couplet

Question 3

a Japanese three-line poetic form – usually about nature – with
lines of three, seven, and five syllables, respectively.
Example: I call to my love on mornings ripe with sunlight. The songbirds answer.

Answer 3

Haiku

Question 4

a stanza made up of four lines, often containing a rhyme scheme.
Example: “The Toaster” by William Jay Smith.

Answer 4

Quatrain

Question 5

– a five-line untitled poem, where the syllable pattern increases by
two for each line, except for the last line, which ends in two syllables (2,4,6,8.2).

Answer 5

Cinquain

Question 6

a humorous rhyming poem written in five lines and having a
particular meter. It often begins with “There once was a…”
Example: Limericks by Edward Lear.

Answer 6

Limerick

Question 7

– a poem that is 14 lines long, generally written in iambic pentameter.
Example: “Sonnet 116” by William Shakespeare.

Answer 7

Sonnet

Question 8

– a poem that does not follow a predictable form or rhyme scheme or
metric pattern.
Example: “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes.

Answer 8

Free Verse

Question 9

a poem in the form of a list, that uses sensory details
and precise language to persuade the reader to take notice of what is being listed.
Example: “Things To Do If You Are a Subway” by Robbi Katz.

Answer 9

List or Catalog Poem

Question 10

a challenging poetic form that includes five tercets (aba rhyme)
followed by a quatrain (abaa rhyme) and a pattern of repetition of lines 1 and 3 of
the first stanza.

Example: “Is There a Villain in Your Villanelle?” by Joan Bransfield Graham.

Answer 10

Villanelle

Question 11

– a poem that celebrates or praises something.

Answer 11

Ode

Question 12

poetry that expresses a poet’s personal experience, feelings,
and emotions.
Example: “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth.

Answer 12

Lyric poem

Question 13

a poem written in iambic pentameter, but with no rhyme.
Example: Verses in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

Answer 13

Blank Verse

Question 14

poems that – like blues songs – deal with personal or world
issues.
Example: “Evening Air Blues” by Langston Hughes.

Answer 14

Blue Poems

Question 15

a fun, usually rhyming poem that makes no sense, focusing
instead on the sounds and the rhythm of the poem.

Example: “The Jumblies” by Edward Lear.

Answer 15

Nonsense Poem

Question 16

a poem that uses words to form the shape of the subject of
the poem (also known as a “shape poem”).
Example: “Concrete Cat” by Dorth Charles.

Answer 16

Concrete Poem

Question 17

a poem that tells a story.

Answer 17

Narrative Poem

Question 18

– a poem that tells a story, usually written in four-line stanzas.
Example: “The Wreck of the Hesperus” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Answer 18

Ballad

Question 19

a long and heroic narrative poem.
Example: “The Odyssey” by Homer.

Answer 19

Epic

Question 20

poems that contain precise visual images.
Example: “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams.

Answer 20

Imagery Poem