Types of poetry Flashcards
NARRATIVE POEMS
-Longer and tells a story, with a beginning, middle, and end
-Generally longer than the lyric styles of poetry because the poet needs to establish characters and a plot
*Example: “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes
LYRICAL POEMS
-Short poem (only a few lines, 1-2 stanzas)
-Usually written in first person point of view
-Expresses an emotion or an idea, or describes a scene
-Does not tell a story and are often musical
CONCRETE POEMS
Words are arranged to create a picture that relates to the content of the poem
*SHOES
ACROSTIC POEMS
-The first letter of each line forms a word or phrase (vertically). An acrostic poem can describe the subject or even tell a brief story about it.
After an extensive winter
Pretty tulips
Rise from the once
Icy ground bringing fresh signs of
Life.
FREE VERSE POEMS
-Does NOT have any repeating patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables
-Does NOT have rhyme
-Very conversational - sounds like someone talking with you
*FOG
BLANK VERSE POEMS
-Does have a regular meter, usually iambic pentameter (five sets of stressed/unstressed)
-Does NOT have rhyme
-Used by classical playwrights, like Shakespeare
*˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / To swell the gourd, and plump the ha-zel shells
COUPLET**
-Two lines with end rhyme and the same meter
-Can be its own poem or a part of another poem
Often found at the end of a sonnet
Whether or not we find what we are seeking
is idle, biologically speaking.
HAIKU
-Japanese style poem written in three lines
-Focuses traditionally on nature
-Lines respectively are 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and 5 syllables
Whitecaps on the bay:
A broken signboard banging In the April wind.
QUATRAIN
-Stanza or short poem containing four lines
-Lines 2 and 4 must rhyme, while lines 1 and 3 may or may not rhyme
-Variations in rhyming patterns (abab, abcb)
O, my luve’s like a red, red rose, A
That’s newly sprung in June: B
O, my luve’s like the melodie C
That’s sweetly played in tune. B
-from “A Red, Red Rose” by Robert Burns
CINQUAIN
-Stanza or short poem containing five lines
-Patterns and syllables are changing!
What are the 3 patterns for Cinquains
*Cinquain Pattern #1
Line1: One word
Line2: Two words
Line 3: Three words
Line 4: Four words
Line 5: One word
**Dinosaurs
Lived once,
Long ago, but
Only dust and dreams
Remain
Cinquain Pattern #2
Line1: A noun
Line2: Two adjectives
Line 3: Three -ing words
Line 4: A phrase
Line 5: Another word for the noun
**Mules
Stubborn, unmoving
Braying, kicking, resisting
Not wanting to listen
People
Cinquain Pattern #3
Line1: Two syllables
Line2: Four syllables
Line 3: Six syllables
Line 4: Eight syllables
Line 5: Two syllables
Baseball
Bat cracks against
The pitch, sending it out
Over the back fence, I did it!
Homerun
LIMERICK
-A five line poem with rhymes in line 1, 2, and 5, and then another rhyme in lines 3 and 4
*What is a limerick, Mother? A
It’s a form of verse, said Brother A
In which lines one and two B
Rhyme with five when it’s through B
And three and four rhyme with each other. A
SHAKESPEAREAN SONNET***
-also known as ENGLISH SONNET
-Fourteen lines with a specific rhyme scheme
-Written in 3 quatrains and ends with a couplet
**ABAB
CDCD
EFEF
GG
