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- Allegory. An allegory is a story, poem, or other written work that can be interpreted to have a secondary meaning. Aesop’s Fables are examples of allegories, as they are ostensibly about one thing (such as “The Ant and the Grasshopper”) but actually have a secondary meaning.
- Alliteration. Alliteration is the repetition of a sound or letter at the beginning of multiple words in a series. “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary…”
- Allusion. An allusion is an indirect reference to something. “The Cunninghams are country folks, farmers, and the crash hit them hardest.” - Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird.
- Apostrophe. An apostrophe is a poetic device where the writer addresses a person or thing that isn’t present with an exclamation. “O stranger of the future!
- Acrostic. This poetic form spells out a word in a vertical line, most commonly using the initial letter from each line. This popular primary-school exercise dates back hundreds of years, with even the Ancient Greeks and Romans trying their hands at acrostic poetry.
- Ballad. The ballad tells a story, typically in a series of quatrains with an ABAB or ABCB rhyming scheme. Expect thrills and spills, with a plotline, characters and a ‘proper’ ending.
- Blank verse. Blank verse is best known as Shakespeare’s format of choice. It’s made up from unrhymed iambic pentameter. This is a 10-syllable line with every other syllable stressed (say the opening line from Sonnet 18 in your head to get the idea of the rhythm: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”).
- Canzone. Canzone means “song” in Italian. This poetic form dates back to medieval Italy, where it was used by writers including Petrarch and Dante before evolving into the sonnet.
- Sonnet. Sonnets are practically synonymous with Shakespeare, but there are actually two different kinds of this famous poetic form. Having originated in 13 century Italy, the sonnet usually deals with love and has two common forms: the Petrarchan (named for its famous practitioner, the poet Petrarch) and the Shakespearean (also known as the English sonnet).
- Villanelle. Villanelles have even more specific rules than sonnets. Luckily, many of the lines are repetitions, but this means you’ll have to take care to make those lines meaningful.
- Haiku. You might remember writing a few of these back in grade school, because not only are these poems short, but they can be very fun to write. The haiku originated in 17 century Japan.
- Ekphrastic Poems. Ekphrastic poems don’t really have specific rules, but they do speak of another work of art. Ekphrasis comes from the Greek word for “description,” and that’s exactly what this poem should do: vividly describe a painting, statue, photograph, or story.
- Rhyme and rhyme scheme. When we think of poetry, rhyme is probably the first poetic device that comes to mind. From the tales of Mother Goose to the works of the greats, it’s one of the defining characteristics of poetry.
- Meter. Meter is the basic structure of a line of poetry, whereby stressed and unstressed syllables are used in a predetermined way to create rhythm. In a sense, it’s the heartbeat of a poem.
- Lineation. Also known as layout, lineation is about how words and sentences are physically arranged on the page. While poetry is often best enjoyed when spoken aloud, it can also be a visual medium — and lineation is a large part of that.
- Form. Pulling back for a second, let’s take a wider look at poetry in general and talk about form. Form is the actual structure of a poem and consists of three parts: rhyme scheme, meter, and lineation.
- Haiku. A haiku is a Japanese three-line poem composed of simple, striking language in a 5-7-5 structure of moras, or rhythmic sound units similar to a syllable.
- Tanka. The ultra-brief Japanese tanka is traditionally presented as a single unbroken sentence containing 31 syllables; when translated into English, the number of lines typically takes a three, or five-line form in order to highlight the turn or twist at the last third of the poem.
- Sijo. Sijo is a three-line poem that is believed to have first appeared in fourteenth-century Korea. Sijo poems follow a structure familiar to fans of Japanese haiku and tanka: There are three lines in total, each with about 14–16 syllables, for a total syllable count of 44–46.
- Acrostic. Acrostic poems are a type of poem where the first letter of each line (or each paragraph) forms a hidden word or message. Useful for odes to your beloved or forms of dissent—public resignations by disgruntled officials are a particularly popular place to deploy one—acrostics can be very simple and spare, or take a more understated form in full verse, like the below, written by Lewis Carroll as a Christmas present for the Liddell girls, Lorina, Alice, and Edith, in 1861
Apr 13, 2023 · There are many types of poetry, from short stanzas to lengthy ballads. Learn their definitions, history, and rules, with examples.
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Aug 31, 2022 · Like other forms of literature, poetry is written to share ideas, express emotions, and create imagery. Poets choose words for their meaning and acoustics, arranging them to create a tempo known as the meter.
