Couplets, Quatrains, and Acrostic Poems Poetic Forms Couplets, Quatrains, and Acrostic Poems

What is a couplet? The most basic poetic form (type of poem). A pair of rhymed lines of the same length and meter (rhythm).

“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, Shakespeare is famous for ending his sonnets in couplets, as well as important speeches by characters in his plays. For example: “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.” A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream

Notice the lines have the same meter and end rhyme “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”

“Sick” by Shel Shilverstein A modern example of poetry written in couplets

“Sick” by Shel Silverstein "I cannot go to school today," Said little Peggy Ann McKay. I have the measles and the mumps, A gash, a rash and purple bumps. My mouth is wet, my throat is dry, I'm going blind in my right eye. My tonsils are as big as rocks, I've counted sixteen chicken pox And there's one more--that's seventeen, And don't you think my face looks green?

My leg is cut--my eyes are blue– It might be instamatic flu My leg is cut--my eyes are blue– It might be instamatic flu. I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke, I'm sure that my left leg is broke– My hip hurts when I move my chin, My belly button's caving in, My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained, My 'pendix pains each time it rains. My nose is cold, my toes are numb. I have a sliver in my thumb. My neck is stiff, my voice is weak, I hardly whisper when I speak.

My tongue is filling up my mouth, I think my hair is falling out. My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight, My temperature is one-o-eight. My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear, There is a hole inside my ear. I have a hangnail, and my heart is--what? What's that? What's that you say? You say today is. . .Saturday? G'bye, I'm going out to play!"

Your Turn Now write a little couplet Just two lines to make a set

What is a Quatrain? A poem or stanza made from four lines The most common rhyme schemes for a quatrain are abac and abcb. For example, a selection from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”

“Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down, 'Twas sad as sad could be; And we did speak only to break The silence of the sea! All in a hot and copper sky, The bloody Sun, at noon, Right up above the mast did stand, No bigger than the Moon. Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean.”

Your Turn Now I need for you To write a quatrain There really are lines so few Just 4 lines; it won’t take long.

Excerpt from “Wind on the Hill” By A. A. Milne “No one can tell me, Nobody knows, Where the wind comes from, Where the wind goes.   It’s flying from somewhere As fast as it can, I couldn’t keep up with it, Not if I ran.”

What is an Acrostic Poem? Uses the letters of a word or phrase to create a poem describing or giving insight to the word or phrase.

One example is Lewis Carroll’s “A Boat Beneath the Sky,” the epilogue to Through the Looking Glass about the famous Alice in Wonderland. The real Alice Pleasance Liddell is said to have inspired Carroll to create the fictional character Alice.

A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky by Lewis Carroll A BOAT beneath a sunny sky, Lingering onward dreamily In an evening of July — Children three that nestle near, Eager eye and willing ear, Pleased a simple tale to hear — Long has paled that sunny sky: Echoes fade and memories die: Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise, Alice moving under skies Never seen by waking eyes. Children yet, the tale to hear, Eager eye and willing ear, Lovingly shall nestle near. In a Wonderland they lie, Dreaming as the days go by, Dreaming as the summers die: Ever drifting down the stream — Lingering in the golden gleam — Life, what is it but a dream?

ALICE PLEASANCE LIDDELL

Create your own acrostic poem! Use just one of your own names. Keep it short. Remember to make sure it describes you/your personality.