Elements of

Poetry
Structure of Poetry
Poetry
Like any other forms of literature, poetry is made to
express thoughts and emotions in a creative and
imaginative way.
It conveys thoughts and feelings, describes a scene or
tells a story in a concentrated, lyrical arrangement of
words
Structure of Poetry
Refers to the overall organization of lines and/or patterns
of sounds

Modern Poems may have no structure

Structure of Poetry

•Stanza

•Form
Stanza
• Series of lines grouped together and separated
by a space from other stanzas

• They correspond to a paragraph in an essay

Stanzas
• Monostich (one line)
• Couplet (two lines)
• Tercet (three lines)
• Quatrain (four lines)
• Cinquain(five lines)
• Sestet (six lines)
• Septet (seven lines)
• Octave (eight lines)
Form
• Most Common Forms:

Lyric, Descriptive, Narrative

Lyric
• short, highly musical verse that conveys
powerful feelings

• may use rhyme, meter, or other literary devices

to create a song-like quality
Lyric Poems
•Ode

•Elegy

•Sonnet
Ode
• An ode is a lyric poem that praises an individual, an idea or
an event.
• Moderate, serious, elaborate, and elevated
Elegy
• written with a purpose to “mourn the dead”
• Uses Apostrophe as a literary technique
Sonnet
• With 14 lines
• For English Version, usually written in iambic pentameter
Narrative Poetry
• tells a story

• its structure resembles the plot line of a story

Narrative Poetry

•Ballad

•Epic
Descriptive
• It describes the world that surrounds
the speaker

• uses elaborate imagery and adjectives