Contents

Page

Introduction 2
Definition of Poetry 3
Types of Poetry 4
Explanation and Description of Types of Poems Selected 5
Examples of Types of Poems Selected 7
Conclusion 10
Bibliography 11

Introduction

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This assignment is based on Poetry. It gives a definition of Poetry and identifies four examples
of poem. It explains and describe the four types of poems identified in terms of definition,
structure and origin and finally it gives two examples for each of the four types of poems
selected.

Definition of Poetry
A poem is a piece of writing that relies on rhyme, rhythm and meter to evoke feeling, or to
convey setting and story. There are dozens of different poetic forms, such as verse, haiku, sonnet,
and ballad. Although poems aren’t defined by their forms, they are distinguished by them.

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 Types of Poems
There are many different types of poems. Such as:
 Sonnets
 Haiku
 Elegies
 Free Verse

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 Explanation and Description of Types of Poems Selected
Sonnet:
Definition:
A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem with a fixed rhyme scheme.
Structure:
The sonnet has three quatrains and a couplet. Each line is typically ten syllables, phrased
in iambic pentameter. A Shakespearean sonnet employs the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD
EFEF
Origin:
The original sonnet form was invented in the 13/14th century by Dante and an Italian
philosopher named Francisco Petrarch.

Haiku
Definition:
Haiku are poems that are written as only 3 lines usually about the seasons.
Structure:
Haiku uses a syllabic 5-7-5 structure
Origin:

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 In 17th century Japan, the haiku was born, albeit under a different name (hokku).

Elegies
Definition:
An elegy is a poetic composition that contemplates death or the experience of loss.
Typically, it delves into themes of grief, sorrow, and introspection. Yet, it may also touch
upon subjects like redemption and solace.
Structure:
Originally, early elegiac poetry commonly employed couplets. In contemporary times,
however, an elegiac stanza typically follows a quatrain structure consisting of four lines.
These lines adhere to an ABAB rhyme scheme and are written in iambic pentameter.
Origin:
In the past, early elegiac poems often used couplets. Nowadays, an elegiac stanza usually
consists of four lines with an ABAB rhyme scheme, and each line is composed in iambic
pentameter.

Free verse
Definition:
A free verse poem is characterized by verses that lack a regular pattern in terms of both
length and rhyme, and they may not rhyme at all. This style of poetry is often seen as a
reflection of the natural flow of everyday speech, where rhyme may occur infrequently.
Structure:
Free verse poetry lacks a predetermined structure, hence the term "free." This means it
doesn't adhere to specific rules regarding line length or the number of lines. In free verse,
a line can be as short as one word or extend to several words. While free verse poems
may include stanzas, there are no strict guidelines; the writer has the freedom to make
these choices based on their artistic preferences.
Origin:
Although free verse may seem like a modern innovation, its origins can be traced back to
medieval alliterative verse and even to ancient texts like the Bible. For instance, the
"Song of Songs" in the Bible is composed in a style resembling what we now identify as
free verse. In the early stages of Ancient Greek poetry, many poets experimented with
lines that were not bound by syllabic measures and beats as they were in the process of
developing what would evolve into lyric poetry. However, in later periods of Ancient
Greece and Rome, literary conventions were dominated by structured forms such as odes,
epics, and various types of measured lyric poetry.

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 Examples of Types of Poems Selected
Sonnet:
William Shakespeare, ‘Sonnet 116’
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me prov'd,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd.

Giacomo da Lentini, ‘Sonnet 26’

I’ve seen it rain on sunny days
And seen the darkness flash with light
And even lightning turn to haze,
Yes, frozen snow turn warm and bright
And sweet things taste of bitterness
And what is bitter taste most sweet
And enemies their love confess
And good, close friends no longer meet.

Yet stranger things I’ve seen of love

Who healed my wounds by wounding me.
The fire in me he quenched before;
The life he gave was the end thereof,

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The fire that slew eluded me.
Once saved from love, love now burns more.

Haiku:
Matsuo Basho
An old silent pond...
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.

Yosa Buson
Light of the moon
Moves west, flowers' shadows
Creep eastward.

Elegy:
Thomas Gray, 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard’
Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth
A youth to Fortune and to Fame unknown.
Fair Science frown'd not on his humble birth,
And Melancholy mark'd him for her own.
Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere,
Heav'n did a recompense as largely send:
He gave to Mis'ry all he had, a tear,
He gain'd from Heav'n ('twas all he wish'd) a friend.

Wordsworth, ‘Elegiac Stanzas’

Farewell, farewell the heart that lives alone,
Housed in a dream, at distance from the Kind!
Such happiness, wherever it be known,
Is to be pitied; for 'tis surely blind.
But welcome fortitude, and patient cheer,
And frequent sights of what is to be borne!
Such sights, or worse, as are before me here.—
Not without hope we suffer and we mourn.

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Free Verse:
Emily Dickenson’s ‘Come Slowly, Eden’
Come slowly, Eden
Lips unused to thee.
Bashful, sip thy jasmines,
As the fainting bee,
Reaching late his flower,
Round her chamber hums,
Counts his nectars—alights,
And is lost in balms!

Langston Hughes’ ‘Mother to Son’

Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor–
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now–
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Conclusion

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This assignment gives a clear understanding of what Poetry is as it relates to definition. It also
shows that there are different types of poems that are structure differently and originated from
different places. Finally, through examples it give a great appreciation for poems.

Bibiography

Elegy. LitCharts. (n.d.). https://www.litcharts.com/literary-devices-and-terms/elegy

Libretexts. (2022, August 9). 6.1: What is poetry?. Humanities LibreTexts.

https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Literature_and_Literacy/

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Literary devices. StudySmarter UK. (n.d.). https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english-
literature/literary-devices/

Poetic devices | definition, types & examples - study.com. (n.d.).

https://study.com/academy/lesson/poetic-devices-definition-types-examples.html

Poetry: Definition and examples. Literary Terms. (2019, August 18).

https://literaryterms.net/poetry/

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