Types of Poems
Types of Poems
ACROSTIC
In Acrostic poems, the first letters of each line are aligned vertically to form a word. The word often is the subject of the poem.
ALPHABET Poetry
Each line begins with the letters of the alphabet in order. Another type of alphabet poem requires you to use all 26 letters of the alphabet in your poem.
ANALOGY Poetry
An Analogy is a likeness or similarity between things (a subject and an analog) that are otherwise unlike. Analogy is the comparison of two pairs which have the same relationship.
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL Poetry
Write a poem about yourself using this form or another poetry form.
Line 1: __ Your name
Line 2: _, _, _ 3 personal characteristics or physical traits
Line 3: Brother or sister of__ or son/daughter of
Line 4: Who loves__, __, and __ 3 people, things, ideas
Line 5: Who feels__ about__1 emotion about 1 thing
Line 6: Who needs__, __, and __ 3 things you need
Line 7: Who gives __, __, and __3 objects you share
Line 8: Who fears__, __, and __3 items
Line 9: Who'd like to see, __1 place, or person
Line 10: Who dreams of __ 1 item or idea
Line 11: A student of__ your school or teacher's name
Line 12: __ Nickname or repeat your first name
BALLAD
Retell an event in history, in the news, or in your life as a ballad.
You will want the ballad to rhyme. You may copy the style of other poets.
How to Write a Ballad
1. Rhyme scheme
Originally ballads were not written down and were passed down from generation to generation orally. Often ballads were sung to music to help people remember the story.
The ballad’s rhyme scheme is abab, aabb, or abcb and the last line is the chorus line.
2. Structure
The ballad is usually (but of course, not always) arranged in four-line stanzas.
3. Content
The subject matter is usually based on historical or recent events, supernatural happenings, love stories….think of today’s tabloids….tales of love, passion, death, hauntings, political intrigues, conspiracies…that sort of thing. Please note that despite the “rules,” you should write what you feel like writing. If you want to write a ballad about the peanut butter sandwich you had for lunch, go right ahead! (I suppose that could be considered “recent events,” if you want to be a stickler for the rules). Also, “regular” speech (popular terms and lingo, which will vary, naturally) is generally used in this form.
4. Meter
Use a consistent meter. The meter is basically the pattern of syllables in a song or poem. Most ballads use the same meter throughout the song, or the meter for the chorus may differ from that of the verses. This is what dictates the rhythm.
o Every line has the same number of syllables and the same number of accented syllables; or
o Lines that "go together" will have the same number of syllables and accented syllables. For example, in a ballad with an abac rhyme scheme, the "a" lines may each have 7 syllables, of which four are accented, while the "b" and "c" lines each have 6 syllables, of which 3 are accented
To Start…
• Find one phrase, a line or two, that you like, and build your song from there.
Start by writing the chorus - you can repeat that over and over throughout the song leaving it unchanged or changing it only slightly each time.
• Then add the verses.
• If you know the story you want to tell, but you're having trouble putting it into a poetic structure, write out the story first. Don't worry about putting the story into verse yet--just get the key words down. You may find it easier to organize once the story is written.
CINQUAIN
Cinquains have five lines
Line 1: Title (noun) - 1 word
Line 2: Description - 2 words
Line 3: Action - 3 words
Line 4: Feeling (phrase) - 4 words
Line 5: Title (synonym for the title) - 1 word
COLOR Poetry
A poem about your favorite color that express your feelings about a single color with analogies or similes or list nouns which are (or remind you of) that color. Another easy form is to use the 5 senses-looks like, sounds like, smells like, tastes like, feels like.
Color looks like
Color sounds like
Color smells like
Color tastes like
Color feels like
DIAMANTE
The Diamante is a form similar to the Cinquain. The text forms the shape of a diamond.
Line 1: Noun or subject - one word
Line 2: Two Adjectives that describe line 1
Line 3: Three 'ing words that describe line 1
Line 4: Four nouns - the first two are connected with line 1; the last two are connected with line 7
Line 5: Three 'ing words that describe line 7
Line 6: Two adjectives that describe line 7
Line 7: Noun Synonym for the subject
EPITAPH
An epitaph is a commemorative inscription on a tomb or mortuary monument written in praise, or reflecting the life, of a deceased person.
HAIKU
Haiku is Japanese poetry that reflects on nature and feelings. You use your observation skills to write what you see in a new or different way.
How to write a Haiku: ()
1. Think about a theme for your haiku and write down some of the words that come to mind on that theme.
2. Organize your thoughts roughly onto three lines. First, set the scene, then expand on that by expressing a feeling, making an observation or recording an action. Keep it simple.
3. Polish your haiku into three lines, the first with five syllables, the second line with seven syllables and the third line with five syllables. It may take some time and substitution of words to make it fit.
FREE VERSE Poetry
Poetry composed of rhymed or unrhymed lines that have not set patterns. Free verse has a casual irregular rhythm similar to that of everyday speech.
Five steps to free verse.
The best way to write free verse is to start with wild abandon and funnel your choice of words and movement through a tightly-focused editing process. Try these five steps to unleash your inner poet:
• Choose your subject and write about it. Get it all out. Stay deep and true to the rhythm of the poetic movement rolling through you, but get everything about the subject down on paper.
• Check your rough poem to see if anything is missing. If you need to add a line, or even a stanza, do so. If you’re missing a metaphor, simile, or turn of phrase, add it.
• Read the rough poem aloud. Free verse is a rhythmic dance with voice and words, so check the sequence of lines and make sure that one flows into the other.
• Move through your poem with an editor’s pen and make sure you’ve selected the words that give proper accent and cadence to the overall poem.
• Read the poem aloud until it flows like honey and you feel it inside. That’s a sure sign of a well-completed piece of free verse.
LIMERICK: A limerick has five lines.
The last words of lines one, two, and five rhyme.
The last words of lines three and four rhyme.
A limerick has to have a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
U S U U S U U S
U S U U S U U S
U S U U S
U S U U S
U S U U S U U S
HUMOUROUS Poetry
Poetry that deals with amusing happenings
Three Ways to Get Started When Writing a Humorous Poem Tips Offered By: Jack Prelutsky
1. Exaggerate!
This is one of the easiest techniques. You can make almost anything funny if you stretch your imagination and embellish your idea with silly and wild descriptions. Suppose your sister likes to dance, but when she does, it’s so funny her dancing looks like she’s doing weird stuff—it appears as if she’s an octopus doing gymnastics, or she looks like a dog and cat having a fight, or she looks like a house falling down. Here are a couple of lines about a dancing sister…see what bizarre descriptions you can create:
My sister is a dancer and she loves to dance all day,
But when she dances it’s the strangest thing to watch,
She looks like . . . . .
2. Make the Ordinary Special!
One easy way to this is to combine silly ideas with ordinary things you see around you every day. Open up your mind and see if you can concoct some funny dishes to eat. Pretend you have a wacky grandma who loves to make very “special” meals”
My grandma cooked for us today.
We had so much to eat
She started with…
3. Absurd Conclusion!
This technique may be a little bit harder, but if you use your imagination, you’ll come up with some good ideas. In this poem you want an idea to keep escalating until it goes off the deep end. This is what Jack Pretlusky means: Something happens, then it happens again, only BIGGER (louder, funnier, etc.), then it happens again and again until only some silly conclusion remains. He did something like this with my poem “My Mother Made a Meat Loaf,” from the book SOMETHING BIG HAS BEEN HERE. In this poem the meat loaf is so hard that nothing in the world can cut it. Knives, hammers, drills, bows and arrows, and even a power saw couldn’t make a dent in it. At the end of the poem you learn that the meat loaf is so tough, it’s now used to build houses.
Maybe one day your baby brother spills a glass of chocolate milk on a rug and the stain won’t come out. That gives you an idea for a poem . . .
Your dad first uses a paper towel to wipe it up, but the spot won’t go away. Next your dad uses the mop, but the spot still won’t disappear. Then he rubs it with chicken grease, but no luck. He puts it under a waterfall—but the stubborn stain remains. He dumps sand all over the rug and grinds it in with a steam roller. Finally, the spot is gone, but now the rug is completely destroyed! Give it a try yourself. A poem is started for you. Let’s see if you can think of things to do to this rug that are crazier and crazier:
My baby brother dropped a glass of chocolate milk on mama’s new white rug.
When my father tried to clean it up nothing seemed to work.First he used a paper towel, and then he scrubbed it with a mop.
Then he…
LYRICAL
A short poem of personal feelings and emotions, which may or may not be set to music and often, involves the use of regular meter.
An example is—
NARRATIVE
Narrative Poems are poems that tell stories. There is a beginning, which introduces the background to the story, a middle, which tells the action of the event, and an end, which concludes and summarizes the story.
1. Read as many storybooks with rhyming text as possible. Start with the works of Dr. Seuss, whose books, for the most part, are long narrative poems written for children. Read books with simple plots and characters, such as "The Cat and the Hat" and "Green Eggs and Ham," to help familiarize yourself with the genre and spark ideas for narrative poems of your own.
2. Develop your characters. At the core of engaging children's narratives lie strong, likable characters with which young readers can identify. Time-tested children's characters include animals, other children, dinosaurs, athletes and monsters or unusual creatures, as well as dolls, robots and toys that come to life. Write down your characters' names, likes and dislikes, physical descriptions and unusual or defining characteristics.
3. Make a short outline of your plot, to which you'll refer as you write your poem. If your poem is for toddlers or preschoolers, keep your plot very simple. Older children will enjoy more twists, turns and action. Try to recall the types of stories you read and enjoyed as a child, and create conflicts that the protagonist(s) must surmount.
4. Choose a rhyme scheme--your pattern of rhyming lines--for the poem. You can use rhyming couplets, or every other line can rhyme. Other rhyme schemes include "abba," in which the first and fourth lines and the second and third lines rhyme, and "abcb," in which the second and fourth lines rhyme. Whichever scheme you choose, be consistent from start to finish.
5. Write your poem. Include dialogue, which will engage children and give your characters life and personality. Use as many specific, descriptive words as possible. Don't worry that young readers may not understand complex words; often they can figure out meaning from context. Avoid using words that are vague or overused, including "good," "bad," "great" or "beautiful."
Rhyming
COUPLET
Couplets are made up of two lines whose last words rhyme. They are often silly.
TRIPLET
Triplets are made up of three lines. The rhyming pattern can be AAA or ABA.
Quatrain
Quatrains are made up of four lines. The rhyming pattern can be AABB or ABAB.
SHAPE
Shape poems are made up of words that have been placed in such a way that they make the shape of an object and also use words to describe the object.
Steps on How to Write a Shape Poem:
1. Start by making a simple outline of the shape or object (an animal, a football, a fruit etc.) large enough to fill a piece of paper.
2. Then brainstorm a minimum of ten words and phrases that describe the shape. List action and feeling words as well.
3. Next, place a piece of paper over the shape and decide where your words are going to be placed so that they outline your shape but also fit well together.
4. Separate words and phrases with commas.
An example of a Shape Poem
EPIC Poetry
A long narrative poem, usually chronicling the deeds of a folk hero and written using both dramatic and narrative literary techniques (e. g. Homer’s Lliad or John Milton’s Paradise Lost)
How to write an epic poem (): Please research other tips and warnings on how to write an epic poem.
1. Write a brief statement of the poem's purpose before you begin recounting the story - say, to detail your dog Champ's heroic crusade against backyard birds – (optional) followed by an invocation of the Muse.
2. Give a short, general outline of the action of the poem in the statement of the poem's purpose.
3. Invoke the Muse next by first praising her, then by asking her to aid you in the writing of your poem. The Muse of epic poetry was Calliope, but you can also invoke Thalia (Muse of comedy) or Melpomene (Muse of tragedy).
4. Choose a particularly heroic event in the hero's life at which to start. This will be the main action of your poem.
5. Begin the narrative by employing "in medias res" or "framework" narrative. Literally meaning "into the midst of things," this is a poetic convention in which the narrative begins in the middle of the main action and earlier events are retold through flashbacks. The past actions thus form a framework centering around the main action.
6. Confront your hero with dangerous monsters and other incredible adventures. Include vivid and explicit descriptions of warfare (particularly weapons and combat).
7. Use the supernatural to get your protagonist out of tough situations. If your hero or heroine is in a no-win situation, simply send in a god or goddess (or someone) to help out at the last moment.
On-line Sources:
WHAT BUGS ME list poem
Ideas for Poetry in the Classroom
Giggle Poetry
FizzyFunnyFuzzy Poetry for Kids
Gigglepotz - Kids Poetry
Gigglepotz for Teachers and Parents
Shape
Limericks
Diamantes
Haiku
Explorer Poems and
Cinquain
Animal cinquain -
Acrostic poems -
Humorous poems:
Rhyming Zone
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An example of an
Acrostic Poem
Elegantly and efficiently shaped
Good to eat
Great fun to find at Easter
Smooth shelled
An example of an Alphabet Poem
A young girl was busy working on her project for school
But suddenly she had a question.
Could this be her lucky day?
Deciding to find out, she
Entered her backyard and
Found hundreds of green shamrocks waiting for her.
An example of an
Analogy Poem
Nothing Gold Can Stay
By: Robert Frost
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down today.
Nothing gold can stay.
An example of an Autobiographical Poem
Jamie
Funny, friendly, happy, caring
Sister of Jill
Who likes animals and books
Who feels happy in warm weather
Who needs family and friends
Who gives encouragement
Who fears the end of summer
Who would like to see Italy
Resident of Boston
Mills
An example is of a Ballad
Joan of Arc
The day was cold,
Both armies bold,
As hands grasped the ladders,
Ramparts were scaled,
Arrows were sailed,
But the French climbed the Tourelles.
Although Joan was hit in the shoulder,
The French continued to grow bolder,
Even slowly healing in a field,
She raised a fiery French revolt,
Just hit by a crossbow bolt,
Armor glistening white.
The English got cold feet,
And began a hasty retreat,
As French crawled out of Orleans,
Passing the cold river on boards,
Attacking English with sharp swords,
They set the Tourelles on fire.
English Captain Sir Glasdale,
Certainly looked very pale,
When they found him drowned in the river,
Sir Talbot ordered the English forts be left,
To avoid anymore French fort theft,
And so Orleans was freed.
~Pierce
An example of a Cinquain Poem
Mom
Helpful, caring
Loves to garden
Excitable, likes satisfying people
Teacher
An example of a Color Poem
Orange
Orange is feeling in your stomach after an orange soda quenched your thirst.
Orange is the sun after a summer day.
Orange is the sound of a field filled with dandelions blowing in the wind.
Orange is the taste of a pizza that just came out of the oven.
Orange is the sound of a busy bumblebee.
Orange is the taste of cold glass of orange juice.
Orange is the feeling inside you when you accomplish something.
Orange is the sound of a tomato plant growing.
Orange is the color of a carrot that just popped out of the ground.
Orange is the smell of a Tiger-Lily petal.
Orange is the feeling after a baby smiles.
Orange is the color of a brown beaver's incisor.
Orange is the smell of a late July day.
Orange is the feeling of a puppy's fur.
Orange is the color of peach marmalade on a side of toast.
Orange is the sound of a canoe paddling through shallow water.
And orange is a color that is safe and alive.
~Julia
An example of a Diamante Poem
Pencil
Sharp, skinny
Writing, answering, erasing
Wood, lead, ink, plastic
Drawing, smudging, leaking
Durable, comfortable
Pen
By Abbie
An example of an
Epitaph Poem
"Here lies Sam Shay,
Smoked six packs a day.
He started smoking when he was five.
Now that fool is no longer alive."
An example of an Epic Poem
Tiddalick – The Frog Who Caused a Flood
In the time of dreaming
Before the earth was old
Myths were in the making
Legends yet untold
Here began a story
Of one huge enormous frog
Solemn in his glory
He drank from every bog
Tiddalick the great one
Had to quench his mighty thirst
He drank from all the waterholes
So much he nearly burst
He drained the lake and river
The stream and billabong
Soon there was no water left
It was very wrong
Others now grew thirsty
There was no sign of rain
Hot sun scorched the arid earth
No water did remain
Tiddalick's swollen stomach
Was squelchy round and wide
He was so big he couldn't move
The water was inside
Animals assembled
Men gathered with them too
They had to end this great distress
And work out what to do
Boomerangs were useless
Spears bounced off his side
Getting angry didn't help
Even though they tried
The kookaburra had a plan
We need to make him laugh
To hold his side and open wide
We need to show some gaffe
If only we can do that
The water will pour out
We all must work together
To end this mighty drought
C'mon laugh you big fat frog
You're like a bursting pot
If only you could see yourself
Squelching as you squat
Tiddalick moved his mournful head
He had a doleful face
He didn't see the humour
Of smiles there were no trace
The kangaroo and platypus
Wombat and emu
All tried their best to make him laugh
But Tiddalick stayed blue
Some danced and some told stories
Others somersaulted
Tiddalick grew tired and bored
And slept when antics halted
The last to try was Norang the Eel
He was their final hope
He turned himself into a hoop
And wriggled like a rope
The rope stood upright on the sand
Then it began to spin
It went round like a whirlwind
Tiddalick began to grin
Then out slopped some water
Before it reached the sand
Man and beast began to drink
It worked like they had planned
But Norang went on spinning
Till he was scarcely seen
Tiddalick began to chuckle
It really made a scene
As his belly rumbled
The frog rocked to and fro
With his hands upon his sides
A stream began to flow
Tiddalick's mouth was open wide
With water gushing out
A surging tidal river
Spewed like a water spout
It swept away the animals
And covered all the sand
A shining lake of water
Had spread over the land
Now Tiddalick has shrunken
He's just a little frog
Who sometimes hides in desert sands
Or sits upon a log
An example of a Free Verse Poem
BUTTERFLY
I am a Butterfly.
I am one of the most beautiful insects of the world.
I eat nectar, but
I don't harm the flowers.
I have many enemies.
I wander through the forests playing with all my butterfly friends.
Their names are; Hippy, Dippy, Hopi, and Floppy.
I can't forget my best friends.
Poppy and Moppy.
But do you know who really are my best friends?
Could you try to guess?
I think you might have a good idea.
YOU!
I like how you like to be you and not somebody who you aren't.
An example a Haiku Poem
Awakening
Silver dawn awakes
the new day is born again
innocent and fresh
An example of a Humorous Poem
Excerpt from: A Cat Named Joe
“There's a cat named Joe and you wouldn't want to know
But he thinks he'd like to be a Hippopotamus
And it sounds very strange, and he really wants to change
And in that way he's just like a lot of us
Oh, it wouldn't be so bad if he was certified as mad
But he's not... he holds a normal conversation
It's just that within he's in a different kind of skin
And it causes him a lot of botheration”
An example of a Limerick
"There was an old man from Peru
Who dreamed he was eating his shoe
He awoke in the night
With a terrible fright
To discover it was totally true."
An example of a Lyrical Poem
Dying
by: Emily Dickinson
I heard a fly buzz when I died;
The stillness round my form
Was like the stillness in the air
Between the heaves of storm.
The eyes beside had wrung them dry,
And breaths were gathering sure
For that last onset, when the king
Be witnessed in his power.
I willed my keepsakes, signed away
What portion of me I
Could make assignable,-and then
There interposed a fly,
With blue, uncertain, stumbling buzz,
Between the light and me;
And then the windows failed, and then
I could not see to see
An example of a Narrative Poem
Jimmy Goes to the City
by Arthur Read
Jimmy was a happy ape
Until some hunters caught him
He liked the jungle better than
The city where they brought him
The city was louder
The city was meaner
Even the dirt in the jungle was cleaner
So Jimmy made a daring escape!
The hunters were suddenly minus one ape!
He climbed the tallest building
Because from there he'd see
How far away the jungle was
From the middle of the city.
Jimmy jumped into a passing plane
But the pilot didn't wait for him to explain
Jimmy flew back to the jungle
And told his ape friends in their lair
"The city's okay for a visit
But you couldn't make me live there."
An example of a Couplet
The cat ate a mouse
And then brought it in the house.
An example of a Triplet
What a fine day
To go out to play
In the month of May.
An example of a Quatrain
The Purple Cow
by: Gelett Burgess
I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one:
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I'd rather see than be one.
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