1. Forms of Poetry
Poetry can come in many forms. It can rhyme or not rhyme. It can be long or short. Poets have poetic license, so it’s up to the poet how s/he wants the poem to look. Some examples of poetry forms: free verse, lyric, narrative, haiku, limerick, concrete There are also poems that have a certain number of lines: couplet (2), tercet (3), quatrian (4), cinquain (5), diamante (6)

2. Poetic License
The freedom taken by a poet in breaking proper spelling, editing, and grammar rules to achieve a desired effect. Poets may even make up words.

3. Today is about enjoying and experiencing different forms of poetry.
Please copy the names and definition of each kind into your notebook.
You only have to copy descriptions, poems, and poet names if you want to.

4. Free Verse Poetry that doesn’t rhyme and has no regular rhythm.
Life’s a Beach
At the beach, life’s different. Time doesn’t move, Waves crash the ocean front, Kissing my feet. Sea glass glistens in the sun, The warm air dances around me Giving a new start to the world. The sand tingles under my feet Like being tickled by love. Laying on the beach shore, Tanning the day away. The tans may fade, But memories Never do. ~Patricia Polka

5. Lyric Has a melodic language that gives the sense of a song and expresses personal feeling. It does not tell a story.
Spring I’m shouting I’m singing I’m swinging through trees I’m winging sky-high With the buzzing black bees. I’m the sun I’m the moon I’m the dew on the rose. I’m a rabbit Whose habit Is twitching his nose. I’m lively I’m lovely I’m kicking my heels. I’m crying “Come dance” to the freshwater eels. I’m racing through meadows Without any coat I’m a gamboling lamb I’m a light leaping goat I’m a bud I’m a bloom I’m a dove on the wing. I’m running on rooftops And welcoming spring! ~Karla Kuskin

6. Narrative Tells a story or a sequence of events.
Kidnapped! This morning I got kidnapped By three masked men. They stopped me on the sidewalk, And offered me some candy, And when I wouldn't take it They grabbed me by the collar, And pinned my arms behind me, And shoved me in the backseat Of this big black limousine and Tied my hands behind my back With sharp and rusty wire Then they put a blindfold on me So I couldn't see where they took me, And plugged up my ears with cotton So I couldn't hear their voices. And drove for 20 miles or At least for 20 minutes, and then Dragged me from the car down to Some cold and moldy basement, Where they stuck me in a corner And went off to get the ransom Leaving one of them to guard me With a shotgun pointed at me, Tied up sitting on a stool... That's why I'm late for school! ~Shel Silverstein

7. Haiku Japanese poem of 3 lines with a specific number of syllables
Rosebud
Such precious beauty
Upon a stalk so fearsome
How wise is nature!
~Diane Bonica

8. Limerick Funny poems that have 5 lines
Limerick Funny poems that have 5 lines. The first, second, and fifth lines rhyme, as do the third and fourth. The fifth line has a surprise ending.
One day I went to the zoo,
For I wanted to see the old gnu.
But the old gnu was dead
And the new gnu, they said
Was too new a new gnu to view.
~Anonymous
This is a picture of a gnu.

9. Concrete Poems that show their meaning by how they look.

10. Couplet (2) A 2-lined rhyming poem (a,a)
Spring What I like about the spring is every single little thing. ~Diane Bonica

11. Tercet (3) A rhymed or unrhymed poem of 3 lines (aaa, aba, abb)
The Bird A yellow bird Can sing a song Without a word. ~Diane Bonica

12. Quatrain (4) A rhyming poem that follows patterns (abab, abcb, aaba, aabb)
My favorite game is tennis,
I’m learning more each day,
My dad thinks I’m a menace,
When I hit the ball his way.
~Diane Bonica

13. Cinquain (5) A verse of 5 lines that has the pattern of 1, 2, 3, 4, 1 words on each line.
winter
icy, cold
piercing, chilling, freezing
changing greenness into white
~Diane Bonica

14. Diamante (6) A diamond-shaped poem that expresses a sharp contrast between two opposite themes.
jungle
abundant, soggy
growing, stretching, living
vegetation, overgrowth, void, wasteland
decaying, drying, dying
desert
~Diane Bonica