1. Poetry Terms

2. The tools of poetry
Meter: a poem’s rhythmical pattern, determined by the number of stresses, or beats, in each line.
Rhythm: the pattern of beats, or stresses, in spoken or written language
Rhyme Scheme: a regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem.
Indicated by lowercase letters
Each rhyme is assigned a different letter

3. Example of Rhyme Scheme:
“Dark hills at evening in the west, a
Where sunset hovers like a sound b
Of golden horns that sang to rest a
Old bones of warriors underground…” b
We would refer to this as
an “abab” rhyme scheme.
Use a new letter for every new
rhyme sound in a poem.

4. The tools of poetry
Stanza: a formal division of lines in a poem, considered as a unit.
Many poems are divided into stanzas that are separated by spaces.
Stanzas often work like paragraphs
Each stanza states and develops a single main idea

5. Stanza (continued)
A 2-line stanza is called a couplet.
A 4-line stanza is called a quatrain.
A 6-line stanza is called a sestet.
An 8-line stanza is called an octave.
Refrain: a regularly repeated line or group of lines in a poem or song

6. Forms of Poetry Ballad:
a songlike poem that tells a story, often dealing with adventure or romance.
Often written in 4-6 line stanzas
Have regular rhythms and rhyme schemes
Often features a refrain

7. Forms of Poetry
Lyric Poem: a short, highly musical poem that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker
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.

8. Forms of Poetry 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

9. Forms of Poetry 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

10. 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.
Blank Verse Poem: poetry written in unrhymed, iambic pentameter
Most associated with Shakespeare’s plays.

11. Forms of Poetry
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.