1. Forms of Poetry
8th Grade GRC
OMMS

2. Forms of Poetry
Poems are split into two broad divisions: Narrative Poetry and Lyric Poetry
Narrative Poetry
Tells (narrates a story)
Includes epics and ballads
Are usually longer than lyric poems

3. Forms of Poetry
Lyric Poem: a short, highly musical poem that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker
On the ancient Greek stage, a dramatic production often featured a chorus, which was a group of speakers, who commented on the action of the play.
When a single individual sang or spoke more personally and accompanied himself on a lyre, the verse was called lyric.

4. The lyric does not tell a story as an epic or narrative poem does.
Thus, our present designation of lyric poetry includes personal, individual emotion.
The lyric does not tell a story as an epic or narrative poem does.
Most poetry as we think of it is lyric poetry.
Forms of Lyric Poetry
Sonnets Rondeau
Odes Villanelles
Elegies

5. Forms of Poetry: Limerick (N)
Limerick: a short, humorous, narrative poem
Has 5 lines, with an aabba rhyme scheme
Has a specific rhythm
The a lines match in length
The b lines match in length, but are shorter than the a lines

6. Forms of Poetry: Haiku (L)
Haiku: a 3-line Japanese verse form.
It has a pattern, meaning the first and third lines have 5 syllables and the second line has seven syllables.
Uses vivid images to create a single picture, generally of a scene from nature

7. Forms of Poetry: Ballad (N)
Ballads: one of the oldest and most loved forms of poetry
Centered around an event, a hero, or a cause that is worthy of becoming a legend.
Often written in 4-6 lines stanzas and feature a refrain
2 main types
Folk Ballad: has multiple, unknown authors
and a set rhythm/verse pattern
Literary Ballad: usually has a known author
and may have a wide variety of rhythm
patterns and verse lengths.

8. Forms of Poetry
Free Verse Poem: poetry not written in a regular rhythmic pattern, or meter.
May contain lines of any length or with any number of beats.
Many people consider free verse to be a modern form of poetry. The truth is that it has been around for several centuries.

9. Only in the 20th century did it become one of the most popular forms of poetry.
Its popularity stems from the belief that free verse is poetry without rules; after all, it doesn't rhyme, and it doesn't have a meter.
However, what separates poetry from prose is the arrangement of carefully chosen words into verses.

10. Assonance: repetition of vowel sound
Free verse poetry must contain figurative language. Some literary elements that can be included are
Assonance: repetition of vowel sound
Alliteration: repetition of consonant sounds
Parallel structure
Imagery
Onomatopoeia
Cadence: inflection and
rhythmic flow

11. Forms of Poetry: Epic (N)
Epic Poem: a long poem that tells of the adventures of one or more great heroes.
An epic is written in a dignified, formal style and often demonstrates the values that are important to a specific culture.
Examples: The Odyssey, Gilgamesh, Beowulf

12. Forms of Poetry: Blank Verse (L/N)
Blank Verse Poem: poetry written in unrhymed, iambic pentameter
Most associated with Shakespeare’s plays.
Blank verse is a very flexible English verse form which can attain grandeur while echoing the natural rhythms of speech and allowing smooth enjambment (continuation of a unit of thought from one line to another)

13. Forms of Poetry: Blank Verse (L/N)
Sonnet
a specific form of poetry that uses blank verse
A lyric poem that is 14 lines long
Two Basic Divisions:
Petrarchan (Italian) Sonnet
Shakespearean (English) Sonnet

14. Forms of Poetry Concrete/Found (L)
Concrete Poem: a poem with a shape that suggests its subject.
The poet arranges the letters, punctuation, and lines to create a picture on the page
Found Poem: a poem built by taking words or phrases from another text, such as a book or newpaper article.
To create, you may drop words from the original text, but you cannot add any words.

15. Petrarchan Sonnet
Divided into two sections by two different groups of rhyming sounds. The first 8 lines is called the octave and rhymes: a b b a a b b a
The remaining 6 lines is called the sestet and can have either two or three rhyming sounds, arranged in a variety of ways:
c d c d c d c d d c d c c d e c d e c d e c e d c d c e d c

16. Shakespearean Sonnet
Each quatrain develops a specific idea, but one closely related to the ideas in the other quatrains.
The English sonnet has the simplest and most flexible pattern of all sonnets, consisting of 3 quatrains of alternating rhyme and a couplet:
a b a b c b c d e f e f g g

17. Forms of Poetry: Elegy, Odes (L)
Elegy: a poem of mourning that is written in memory of someone
“O Captain, My Captain”
Ode: usually a lyric poem of moderate length, with a serious subject, an elevated style, and an elaborate stanza pattern.
often praises people, the arts of music and poetry, natural scenes, or abstract concepts.
“Ode on a Grecian Urn”

18. Forms of Poetry: Villanelle & Sestina
Villanelles consist of 19 lines -- 5 tercets and a concluding quatrain. The form requires that whole lines be repeated in a specific order, and that only two rhyming sounds occur in the course of the poem
Sestinas feature7 stanzas with six unrhymed sestets & a closing tercet
The last six words (not lines) in the first stanza repeat in thefollowing stanzas in a specific order.
The tercet uses all six words