Poetry Forms

When we talk of poetry forms, we are talking about various types of poetry that exist, or the various forms it can be written in.

Here, I will give a list of some of the major kinds of poetry and a brief description of each of these.

Bear in mind that just as there are many forms of prose, there are also many types of verse. Some are more complex than others and require a high level of intelligence to compose.

Here we go:

• Sonnet:

  A sonnet is a very structured poem written in fourteen lines, a consistent meter, and a recognized rhyme scheme. Usually, a sonnet tells a little story, a thought or idea that the poet wants to put across. In the first few lines, he introduces the topic and then expands the topic in the next lines.

  There are basically two types of sonnets: The English Sonnet and the Petrican Sonnet.

  For a detailed article on how to write sonnets, check out this article:

  The Best Way of Writing Sonnets

  For examples of sonnets, follow this link:

  The Ultimate Sonnets Collection



• Epic:

  An epic is a long narrative poem. It is narrative in the sense that it tells a story. The narrative is usually about a legendary, celebrated, national hero.




• Japanese Haiku:

  The haiku is a very concise poem written in three lines and 17 syllables.  The first line consists of five syllables, the second line has seven,and the third line has five. Though brief, the haiku paints astonishing images.

  Watch out for an article on this intriguing of poetry forms.




• Ghazal:

  This form originated in Persia. It consists of several stanzas (usually five or more). Each stanza is a couplet or a verse with two lines.  The Ghazal employs two repetitive techniques: rhyme and refrain. The first couplet introduces a rhyme and this rhyme is repeated in all the other couplets, in the second line. A few words or phrases are often repeated, and this is where the refrain comes in.

  Stay tunned for a detailed article on this poetry form.




• Lyric:

  This poetry form is written in a musical style and often expresses the poets personal emotions or thoughts.




• Idyll:

  This is a type of poetry in which the poet depicts rural, pastoral or country life in a happy, serene imagery. This form is usually short.




• Converstion Poetry:

  This form was developed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Converstional poetry usually depicts deep, personal musings on the poet’s life experiences. 




• Sacred Poetry:

  Sacred poetry is very common in religion. It usually occurs in form of hymns that can be sang. The Hebrew poetry find in the book of Psalms is a very good example of sacred poetry. Repetitive patterns are usually achieved by means of refrain and parallelism.

  For examples on this,check out this article:

  Parallelism in Hebrew poetry

This are by no means the only poetry forms that exist. There are a number of others. Stay in touch and you will be kept posted.

Return from Poetry forms to Poetry World