By Gabriel Foster
There are many different types of poetry in the world, many with their own rules to achieve consistency of that specific artform. There are also poems with none too little rules. To get you familiarized with what’s out there, keep reading about the uniqueness of many of them listed below. Before you understand the types, you need to understand the poetry terminology listed below as well.
Poetry Terminology
Cinquain – Is a five-line stanza.
Couplet – Is a two-line stanza.
Meter – Is the rhythmic structure in a poem and the amount of syllables in a line along with their emphasis compose the meter of that poem.
Quatrain – Is a four-line stanza.
Rhyme – Is the pattern of rhyme schemes that repeats sounds in two or more words at the end of words themselves (end of poem lines).
Sestet – Is a six-line stanza.
Stanza – Is a set number of lines in poems that are assembled by their lengths, meters, or rhyme schemes.
Syllable – Is the sound of a spoken or written word.
Tercet – Is a three-line stanza.
Poetry Types
Acrostic – The one rule for this type of poem is that the first letter of each line must collectively spell out a word. See below example:
Best be sure of the of the rules before you begin.
All the boys at the school knew the rules well enough.
Lester, the class genius, was on point with his presentation.
Lisa, the class teacher, was on point with her training today.
1-Ballad – This type of poem tells a story in a rhyming quatrain (4-line stanzas). This type of poetry is rhythmic in nature and is used in many of the modern-day pop songs you listen to. The format follows an ABCB or ABAB scheme. See quatrain from the poem My Dear and Only Love by James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, example directly below:
A: Like Alexander I will reign,
B: And I will reign alone,
A: My thoughts shall evermore disdain
B: A rival on my throne.
2-Elegy – This type of poetry does not have rules, save for one requirement, it must be about death. Elegies are often written for a loved one who has passed away but can also be written for a group of people. While the overall mood of the elegy is for sad occasions, the content is usually a positive reflection of the person/people and ends on a theme of hope.
3-Epic – Poetry that narrates long larger than life fantastical storytelling. Stories can sometimes be fictional, historical or a merging of the two.
4-Free verse – This type of poem has no rules. You are free to use or refrain from consistent rhyming schemes, stanzas or lines, or meter. This type of poetry is popular with modern poets.
5-Ghazal – A form of Arabic poetry whose themes cover both romantic and spiritual love, including any loss and separation from these kinds of themed love. Poems are on average short, containing five to fifteen couplets (couplets are a pair of lines containing the same rhyme and meter). Note – It is well known that once ghazal poems are translated into English, it loses its ability to hold its rhyming scheme and meter. The rhyme is then replaced with a repeated word or phrase called the radif/refrain. The word or phrase recurs in the first lines in the first couplet and the second line of the ensuing couplets. The words that come first after each occurrence of the refrain should rhyme. Note again! The last couplet usually contains a signature that references the poet’s name.
6-Haiku – Is a Japanese short three-line poem that contains five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line and another five syllables in the third line. This type of poem does not use a rhyming scheme and is usually about nature. See example below of a haiku poem by Yosa Buson (1716-1783):
The two plum trees —
I love their blooming!
One early, one later.
7-Limerick – Are poems geared to be funny with set rules. Rule one – they contain five lines Rule two – they follow an AABBA rhyme scheme. Rule three – the first two lines contain seven to gen syllables. Rule four – the third and fourth lines contain seven syllables. Rule five – the fifth line anywhere from seven to ten syllables. See an example of this type of poem by Edward Lear (1812-1888), “There Was an Old Man with a Beard”.
There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, ‘It is just as I feared –
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!
8-Ode – Is a very short ancient Greek poem, that was originally recited with a musical instrument in those days. An ode is written to praise someone, an event or thing and does not have a specific rhyme scheme, meter, or length. Here is an example of ode by Thomas Gray (1716-1771), “Ode on the death of a Favourite Cat”.
The hapless nymph with wonder saw;
A whisker first and then a claw,
With many an ardent wish,
She stretched in vain to reach the prize.
What female heart can gold despise?
What cat’s averse to fish?
9-Sonnet – It’s a 14-line love poem made famous by the Italian poet Petrarch, then later by the English poet Shakespeare. Petrarchan poems follow a rhyme scheme ABBA ABBA CDE CDE, while the Shakespearean rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
10-Villanelle – It came from France and consist of many rules as follows:
- The poem contains 19 lines.
- The poem contains five lines (5 tercets).
- Poem has one quatrain.
- Rhyme scheme follows as ABA, ABA, ABA, ABA, ABA, ABAA.
- The first line repeats in lines 6, 12, and 18.
- The third line repeats in lines 9, 15, and 19.
The World of Poetry
There are approximately over 160 types of poetry that exist in the world, but the top 10 listed above are commonly recommended as an introduction to the world of poetry at large. From the above list, you’ll quickly identify similarities of the many types of poetry (not all) out there. Start exploring the many poetry forms and their poems to get greater insight of this great art that has witnessed the eons and many changes of human experience, you’ll be blown away.
GF Poetic Wisdom | Poetry! A long electric eel spanning the centuries of the human experience to finally deliver the shocking trauma that goes beyond humanity. ~ Gabriel Foster
