Seventeen different types of poems. Each explained in their form. Learn about poetry while you read poetry.
Acrostic
Poems where the first letters
Of every line
Enjoy being put together to
Make a word or message
Actually, these are the most common acrostic poems, but they can also have hidden words or messages in other ways, like first or last letters of each word
Ballad
A poem in a song
Or a song in a poem
Shake your hips to the right
Then in a circle we roam
Clap clap
Blank Verse
Does not rhyme and every line contains
'Iambic Pentameter' which is where
there are 10 syllables for you to read
Concrete Poems
m
a
k
es a shape on t
h
e
p
a
g
e
Ekphrastic Poems
Describes something
like a poem
that has letters and words
written in fonts or by pen
with syllables and prose
by women or men
Elegy
A poem of mourning
for those we lose
too soon
too soon
no rules
but pain
spills out
on the page
while we writhe
as we write
in the dark of night
missing you
gone too soon
Epics
Is long and deals with the biggest types of themes, like reasons for existing or an issue that has an impact on the fate of the universe.
Epigram
Short and satyrical
Like Bruno Mars singing Theophilus Thistler
Epitaph
Here lies a poem
About a person who is gone
Inscribed on a tombstone
Then placed on the lawn
Free Verse
Hooray!
No rules
So here is my poem
About free verse
and freedom
In towns
And homes
With words
And verse
Yay for us
Haiku
3 lines in the poem
line 1 has 5 syllables
2 has 7; 3: 5
Limerick
A poem with rules about lines
And syllables you have to count each time
But as I write this
You'll get it a fish
And she'll swim to you when it's fine
Got it? 5 lines. 1, 2 & 5 rhyme. 3 & 4 rhyme. Usually funny. Reminds you of the schoolyard.
Ode
An ode places a person up high
Like an angel up in the sky
It honours the awesome in them
Like you see in a certain Mrs. Betts
Who is super awesome
And smells like a blossom
She really is such a gem
Pastoral
A pastoral idealises a clean, rural life
Often comparing it to dirty, city life
Like the time we left neighbours on our fencelines
And doof doof in the air
To gaze upon green fields and old pines
And wildlife everywhere
Soliloquy
Thoughts spoken out loud:
I wonder if anyone will read this?
Is it even worth writing?
Does writing need a purpose?
Does writing need to be read to be worth the effort?
The act of writing is more important than the result
Who cares about the noise
The tree still ends up on the ground
Sonnet
Originally a love poem, but now can be about anything.
There are different types, all with different rules. I'm not going to attempt this one. Maybe it's a future blog post lol.
Villanelle
Nineteen lines, also has specific rules. Sonnets and villanelles are level ups. I'm still a baby poet. I'll attack these when I grow my poet muscles.
Poem Lingo:
Prose - Written words with no meter or rhyme
Meter - Rhythmic structure
Stanza - Group of lines
Sestet - 6 lines (forms a stanza)
Tercet - 3 lines
Syllable - Contains a single vowel sound but can contain more than one vowel
Quatrain - The first four lines
Iambic Pentameter - A rhythmic pattern
Volta - A change in theme or thought
Epithet - Exaggerated descriptive term
Anapestic - Another rhythmic pattern
Amphibrach - "
Trimeter - "
Refrain - A part that usually repeats
Hendecasyllabic - A line with 11 syllables
Couplet - 2 matching lines, one after the other (rhyming with same length and meter)
There are a LOT of other types of poetry and a lot of other poetry words that I have not covered here.
I used these articles to help me learn and understand:
but I also just did a lot of Googling and Wikipedia searches.
I wrote this blog post to teach myself about different types of poetry, have a go at writing different types of poetry, and to share my learning with others. Disclaimer: I have most likely got something wrong, so please do not use this post as research for your final poetry exam. Feel welcome to leave a comment to correct me about something or provide me with more poetry education.
Is there anything that you would like to see me write a poem or blog post about?
Let me know.
Much love,
Marley
P.S. You can find some of my poetry in these blog posts:
and I also share my poetry on my Facebook Page.
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