Poetic Forms
Sonnets
Begun in Italy 800 years ago, this verse form consists of an 8 line stanza (octave) followed by a 6 line stanza (sextet), and is usually written in iambic pentameter, which is a meter of five syllables, each containing a short (unaccented) then a long (accented) syllable, for a line length of ten syllables. The sonnet usually has a single emotion as its theme. A popular rhyme scheme is the Shakespearean, and an example of this form follows:
Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall Death brag thou wand’rest in his shad,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st,
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Haikus
A part of syllabic verse form from thirteenth-century Japan, this unrhymed three-line poem containing 5, 7, and 5 syllable lines respectively became popular among American poets after World War II.
Changing Seasons by Heather Burns
With changing seasons
Tiny buds wake up and yawn
Spring is in the air
Acrostics
This is a type of poem in which the first letter of each line spells out a word, name, or phrase when read vertically. In Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, the final chapter "A Boat, Beneath A Sunny Sky" is an acrostic of the real Alice's name: Alice Pleasance Liddell.
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?
Ballads
A popular narrative song passed down orally. In the English tradition, it usually follows a form of rhymed (abcb) quatrains alternating four-stress and three-stress lines. Folk (or traditional) ballads are anonymous and recount tragic, comic, or heroic stories with emphasis on a central dramatic event. Beginning in the Renaissance, poets have adapted the conventions of the folk ballad for their own original compositions.
Ballata 5 by Guido Cavalcanti
That which befalls me in my Lady's presence
Bars explanation intellectual.
I seem to see a lady wonderful
Spring forth between her lips, one whom no sense
Can fully tell the mind of,and one whence
Another, in beauty, springeth marvelous,
From whom a star goes forth and speaketh thus:
'Now my salvation is gone forth from thee.
Limericks
Short, humorous, often ribald or nonsense poems especially one in five-line anapestic meter with a strict rhyme scheme (AABBA), which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent. The form can be found in England as of the early years of the 18th century. It was popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th century, although he did not use the term.
The following limerick is of unknown origin
The limerick packs laughs anatomical
Into space that is quite economical.
But the good ones I've seen
So seldom are clean
And the clean ones so seldom are comical.[4]
Free Verse
An open form of poetry. It does not use consistent meter patterns, can be rhymed or unrhymed and/or have any musical pattern.
Langston Hughes is an important and highly influential American free verse poet. He was also important as a protest poet. His poetry contains elements of traditional poetry, negro spirituals and the blues.
I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--
I, too, am America.
As mentioned above, poets such as Langston Hughes and Shakespeare are two famous poets who are remembered in history for composing poetry that made a statement, or earned great respect. Other great poets that are remembered for unique reasons are Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman.
Emily Dickinson's poems were unique for the era in which she wrote; they contained short lines, typically lack titles, and often used slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation. She was known to be a very withdrawn individual, even secluding herself to her room during her life, but her poetry was her way of communicating her emotions.
Walt Whitman was very controversial in his time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sexuality. However, he was an ornamental factor in the transition between transcendentalism and realism.
So we can see in these cases, the purpose of poetry can show restricted emotion, shifts in thought, or even make a statement about political inequality, as with Langston Hughes in his poetic commentaries about racial prejudices in America. Poetry can do so much. It is the reflection of the general notions of groups of people, eras, and opinions.
Proceed to do some more exploration under the Explore! section.
Begun in Italy 800 years ago, this verse form consists of an 8 line stanza (octave) followed by a 6 line stanza (sextet), and is usually written in iambic pentameter, which is a meter of five syllables, each containing a short (unaccented) then a long (accented) syllable, for a line length of ten syllables. The sonnet usually has a single emotion as its theme. A popular rhyme scheme is the Shakespearean, and an example of this form follows:
Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall Death brag thou wand’rest in his shad,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st,
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Haikus
A part of syllabic verse form from thirteenth-century Japan, this unrhymed three-line poem containing 5, 7, and 5 syllable lines respectively became popular among American poets after World War II.
Changing Seasons by Heather Burns
With changing seasons
Tiny buds wake up and yawn
Spring is in the air
Acrostics
This is a type of poem in which the first letter of each line spells out a word, name, or phrase when read vertically. In Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, the final chapter "A Boat, Beneath A Sunny Sky" is an acrostic of the real Alice's name: Alice Pleasance Liddell.
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?
Ballads
A popular narrative song passed down orally. In the English tradition, it usually follows a form of rhymed (abcb) quatrains alternating four-stress and three-stress lines. Folk (or traditional) ballads are anonymous and recount tragic, comic, or heroic stories with emphasis on a central dramatic event. Beginning in the Renaissance, poets have adapted the conventions of the folk ballad for their own original compositions.
Ballata 5 by Guido Cavalcanti
That which befalls me in my Lady's presence
Bars explanation intellectual.
I seem to see a lady wonderful
Spring forth between her lips, one whom no sense
Can fully tell the mind of,and one whence
Another, in beauty, springeth marvelous,
From whom a star goes forth and speaketh thus:
'Now my salvation is gone forth from thee.
Limericks
Short, humorous, often ribald or nonsense poems especially one in five-line anapestic meter with a strict rhyme scheme (AABBA), which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent. The form can be found in England as of the early years of the 18th century. It was popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th century, although he did not use the term.
The following limerick is of unknown origin
The limerick packs laughs anatomical
Into space that is quite economical.
But the good ones I've seen
So seldom are clean
And the clean ones so seldom are comical.[4]
Free Verse
An open form of poetry. It does not use consistent meter patterns, can be rhymed or unrhymed and/or have any musical pattern.
Langston Hughes is an important and highly influential American free verse poet. He was also important as a protest poet. His poetry contains elements of traditional poetry, negro spirituals and the blues.
I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--
I, too, am America.
As mentioned above, poets such as Langston Hughes and Shakespeare are two famous poets who are remembered in history for composing poetry that made a statement, or earned great respect. Other great poets that are remembered for unique reasons are Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman.
Emily Dickinson's poems were unique for the era in which she wrote; they contained short lines, typically lack titles, and often used slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation. She was known to be a very withdrawn individual, even secluding herself to her room during her life, but her poetry was her way of communicating her emotions.
Walt Whitman was very controversial in his time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sexuality. However, he was an ornamental factor in the transition between transcendentalism and realism.
So we can see in these cases, the purpose of poetry can show restricted emotion, shifts in thought, or even make a statement about political inequality, as with Langston Hughes in his poetic commentaries about racial prejudices in America. Poetry can do so much. It is the reflection of the general notions of groups of people, eras, and opinions.
Proceed to do some more exploration under the Explore! section.