Elements of Poetry:

Structure and Forms

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 Let’s review what we know

Poems are composed of lines which may be

short or long

Are NOT necessarily complete sentences or

even complete thoughts!

The arrangement of lines, spacing, and

whether or not the lines rhyme in some
manner, can define the FORM of a poem.
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Stanza
 A group of lines whose rhyme scheme
is usually followed throughout the
poem.
 A division in poetry like a paragraph in
prose.
 Common stanza patterns include
couplets, triplets, quatrains, etc.
 Free-verse poems follow no rules
regarding where to divide stanzas.
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 The three great divisions of
poetry are the lyric, the
narrative, and the dramatic.
 In lyric poetry the poet utters his/her personal
emotions or reflections.
 In narrative poetry the poet describes an
action or event, giving more prominence to
these than to his/her own reflections about
them.
 In dramatic poetry, the poet sets characters
speaking and acting, and refrains from any
expression
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 Narrative Poetry

 Poetic narrative must, of course, observe

all the essential principles that govern the
construction of a prose narrative
 The features in which poetic narrative
differs from prose narrative are chiefly
these; that the poem is more emotional,
the prose more matter-of-fact

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Narrative Poems
 Tell a story. It is a story told in verse, by
a speaker or persona.
 There is a plot … something happens;
because of this, something else happens.
 Can be true or fictional.
 Poems vary in treatment of character
and setting.
 Forms of narrative poetry include:
 ballad
 epic
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Narrative Poems: Ballad
 A narrative, rhyming poem or song.
 Characterized by short stanzas and
simple words, usually telling a heroic
and/or tragic story (although some are
humorous).
 Can be long.
 Usually rich with imagery(emotionally charged visual images).

 Originated from folk songs that told

exciting or dramatic stories.
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 Ballad continued…
Example from John Henry, a traditional American ballad in ten stanzas.

When John Henry was a tiny little baby

Sitting on his mama’s knee,
He picked up a hammer and a little piece of steel
Saying, “Hammer’s going to be the death of me, Lord, Lord,
Hammer’s going to be the death of me.”

John Henry was a man just six feet high.

Nearly two feet and a half across his chest.
He’d hammer with a nine-pound hammer all day
And never get tired and want to rest. Lord, Lord,
And never get tired and want to rest.
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Narrative Poems: Epic

 Very long narrative (story) poem that

tells of the adventures of a hero.
 Purpose is to help the reader
understand the past and be inspired
to choose good over evil.
 Usually focuses on the heroism of one
person who is a symbol of strength,
virtue, and courage in the face of
conflict.
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 Narrative Poems: Epic continued
 Some are VERY long – for example,
The Odyssey by Homer, (written as 12
books) has over 6,213 lines in the first
half alone!
 Beauwolf (anonymous)

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 Lyric Poetry
 Always expresses some emotion.
 Poems are shorter than epic poems.

 Tend to express the personal feelings of one

speaker (often the poet).
 Originally Greek poets sang or recited poems
accompanied by music played on a lyre (a stringed
instrument like a small harp).

 In the Renaissance, poems were accompanied by a

lute (like a guitar).
Lyric Poetry: Sonnet

 Most sonnets are in a fixed form of 14

lines of 10 syllables, usually written in
iambic pentameter.
 The theme of the poem is summed up
in the last two lines.
 Can be about any subject, but usually
are about love and/or philosophy.
Lyric Poetry: Sonnet
continued…
Example from Sonnet 18 by Shakespeare:

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
Lyric Poetry: Ode

 A tribute to someone or something.

 Often uses exalted language in praise
or celebration.
 Can be serious or humorous.
Lyric Poetry: Ode continued…

Example from Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes by Gary Soto

They wait under Pablo's bed, Now it's night.

Rain-beaten, sun-beaten,
A scuff of green
At their tips
From when he fell
 In the school yard.
He fell leaping for a football
That sailed his way.
But Pablo fell and got up,
Green on his shoes,
With the football
Out of reach.
Pablo is in bed listening
To his mother laughing
to the Mexican novelas on
TV.
His shoes, twin pets
That snuggle his toes,
Are under the bed.
Lyric Poetry: Ode continued…

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Lyric poetry: Elegy

 to express grief or mourning for

someone who has died
 somber, serious, ending on a peaceful
note

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 Elegy for Anne Frank
by Jessica Smith

Elegy example… You blossomed and grew

between the quiet gray walls
of your attic home.
A sidewalk-surrounded flower
pushed up through the cracks,
petals straining for
the light, but your
roots held you down.
In the dim light of your room
you made family trees,
the continuing lives
comforting you in ways
your mother could not.
While concentration camps
built bonfires with the
bones of your neighbors,
you dreamed of the sun and
the love you’d find when the doors
of your prison were unlocked.
When I took your short life from your diary,
I could feel your heartbeat
pulse with my own,
and every breath you took
went into my own lungs,
every desire you felt,
I felt, too.
Your life was held by four silent years,
surrounding you as the four walls did.
And before the last bomb fell,
destroying the last of your love and light,
you died.
18 And I am thankful.
 Dramatic poetry
 It is the essential feature of dramatic poetry
that the poet speaks not in his ow n
character, but represents another as
speaking before us.
 It includes not only tragedy, comedy, and
allied species of the drama proper, but also
dramatic monologues, dialogues, and so-
called dramatic lyrics, —pieces never
intended for scenic representation.
 Dramatic poetry

 A poem intended for representation on the

stage. It must be made up of an action,
external and visible, that is, contain not
merely the discussion of a problem, or the
description of an emotional situation, or the
evolution of a character.
 Examples of dramatic poem comedy:"As
You Like It,“ and tragedy: Hamlet, McBeth,
among others
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 And now several forms
of poetry…

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Couplet

 Two lines that rhyme.

 A complete idea is usually
expressed in a couplet, or in a long
poem made up of many couplets.
 Couplets may be humorous or
serious.

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Couplet continued…

Example:
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.
Shakespeare

Chocolate candy is sweet and yummy

It goes down smoothly in my tummy!
Unknown

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 Limerick

 A FUNNY 5-line poem, written with one

couplet (two lines of poetry that rhyme) and one triplet (three lines of poetry
that rhyme).

 Always follows the same pattern.

 The rhyme scheme (pattern) is – a a b b a.

 The last line contains the “punchline” or “heart

of the joke”.
 Often contain hyperbole, onomatopoeia,
idioms, and other figurative language.
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 Limerick continued…

 You will soon hear the distinctive beat pattern

of all limericks.
a t ion!
r
a llite

 eg: “A fly and a flea in a flue

Were caught, so what could they do?
Said the fly, “Let us flee.”
“Let us fly,” said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.”
Can you id
entify the
rh yme patte
25 rn?
Limerick continued…

By Edward Lear, who made limericks very popular.

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 Haiku

 A Japanese form of poetry; one line of five

syllables; one line of seven syllables; and a
final line of five syllables.
 Fragments (not usually complete sentences)

 Traditionally about nature.

 Written in the present tense.

 Much is left unsaid.

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 Haiku continued…
Examples:

Little sparrow child

plays in the road. “Oh, watch out!
Watch out! Horse tramps by!”

e ry
imag Soft, summer twilight,
suddenly a sound; Frog leaps
in the old pond – Splash!
onom
atop
o eia!

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Cinquain
 A Cinquain is a poem that resembles a
diamond.
 It has 5 lines and begins with one word.
 The 2nd line has two adjectives that
describe that word.
 The 3rd , three verbs.
 The 4th line is a phrase that goes deeper
into the topic.
 The 5th line gives either a synonym for the
first word, or a word that encompasses the
whole poem.

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 Cinquain examples…

Sister
Smart, Outgoing “Tucson Rain”

Loving, playing, Laughing The smell

Everyone moves
Always in for some fun
To the window to look
Friend
Work stops and people
start talking
Rain came

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Blank Verse

 A blank verse is a poem with no

rhyme but does have iambic
pentameter. This means it consists of
lines of five feet, each foot being
iambic, meaning two syllables long,
one unstressed followed by a stressed
syllable.

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Blank verse example

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Free Verse
 Is just that – free!
 Lines of poetry written without rules; no
regular beat or rhyme.
 Unrhymed poetry. ht
Thoug
umn
A u t u g h es;
eg. ng s ton H
by L a mer.
in s u m y.
p p y a w a
r s a r e ha r e b lown
a
Flowe d ie and
u m n they
In au t
it hered,
r y a nd w
t h e wind
D
d a n ce on
e i r p etals r f l ies.
T h bu t t e
r o w n
33 i k e little b
L
and a few other interesting poetry forms…

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 List Poem

 One of the oldest forms of poetry

 Polynesians used list poems to form an inventory of all of their
islands!

 a.k.a Catalog Poem

 Can be long or short, rhymed or unrhymed

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 List Poem continued…
Example: Things a Pigeon Knows

What does a pigeon know? Who throws cracker crumbs the

Eaves and ledges, thickest,
Rafter edges, How thin cats are often
Gutter streams, quickest.
Steel beams, Tennis courts. Trees in parks.
Cars and busses, The highest steeple.
A bridge, with its delightful Swarms
trusses, of people.
Sidewalks,
Culverts,
Popcorn vendors, - Patricia Hubbell
Taxis and their yellow
fenders.
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 Acrostic

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 Poetryininwhich
Poetry whichauthors
authorsuse
use
bothwords
both wordsand
andphysical
physical
shapetotoconvey
shape conveyaamessage.
message.

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Concrete poetry
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Occasional poetry is written for a specific
occasion:

a wedding (then it is called

an epithalamion, for instance Spenser
’s Epithalamion),
the return of a king from exile (for instance 
Dryden’s Annus Mirabilis) or a death (for
example Milton’s Lycidas), etc.
 Your turn !

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