Forms of Poetry April 10th, 2017

Narrative Poetry

Narrative Poetry Example: The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day: The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play, And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same, A pall-like silence fell upon the patrons of the game. (Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer) Narrative poetry tells a story in verse. They often have elements similar to those in short stories, such as plot and characters.

Free Verse Poetry

Free Verse Poetry Example: The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on. (Fog by Carl Sandburg) Free verse poetry is defined by its lack of structure. It has no regular rhyme, line length, or stanza pattern.

Lyric Poetry

Lyric Poetry Example: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date. (Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare) Lyric poetry expresses the thoughts and feelings of a single speaker, often in highly musical verse.

Concrete Poems

Concrete Poetry Example: Concrete poems are shaped to look like their subjects. The poet arranges the lines to create a picture on the page.

Haiku

Haiku Example: It’s cold—and I wait For someone to shelter me And take me from here. (Richard Wright) Haiku is a three-line Japanese verse form. The first and third lines each have five syllables and the second line has seven.

Limerick Poetry

Limerick Poetry Example: There was an Old Man with a beard Who said, 'It is just as I feared! Two Owls and a Hen, Four Larks and a Wren, Have all built their nests in my beard!’ (Edward Lear) Limerick poetry is a five- lined poem with a highly rhythmic pattern. The rhyme scheme is AABBA.