Types of poems Flashcards
What is a Shakespearean sonnet?
Where the 14 lines of a sonnet are structured as three quatrains (4 line stanzas) and a couplet (2 line stanza).
The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCDEFEFGG.
What is a sonnet?
A poem of fourteen lines, usually with iambic pentameter (ten syllables per line).
The final two lines are a couplet, where there is often a ‘turn’, or tone change.
What is a Petrarchan sonnet?
A 14 line poem, with an octave (8 line rhyming stanza) and a sestet (6 line rhyming stanza).
Generally, the octave presents an issue or idea, and the sestet presents a solution to the problem, or expands on the idea.
E.g. ‘How do I love thee’ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
What is a ballad?
A poem narrating a story in short stanzas, usually in quatrains (4 line stanzas).
E.g. ‘La Belle Dame sans Merci’ by John Keats.
What is a dramatic monologue?
A poem in which the voice of the poem speaks to a silent listener.
E.g. ‘My Last Duchess’ by Robert Browning.
What is an elegy?
A poem of serious reflection, generally a lament (grieving) for the dead. However, elegies usually end in consolation (comfort).
What is free verse?
Non rhyming lines, that closely follow the natural rhythm of speech.
What is a ghazal?
A poem written in couplets, with a repeated rhyme, often dealing with loss and romantic love. The final couplet includes a name, often the poet’s.
