Poetic Forms and

Genres
Ballad (folk or popular): a short story-song that focuses on a signifcant episode
(e.g., love or adventure). Characteristic ballad eter uses !uatrains in "hich the frst
and third lines are iabic tetraeter and do not rhye, and the second and fourth are
iabic trieter and do rhye (abcb)# : straightfor"ard# easy to understand# fre!uently
tragic and plaintive setting, character, events "ith a clia$# beginning, iddle, end
character otivation and possibly character developent# typically has underlying
thee.
Ballade: %rench in origin and ade up of &' lines, usually three stan(as of eight lines
and a concluding stan(a, called envoy, of four lines. )he last line of each stan(a is the
sae, the schee is ababbcbc, and the envoy is bcbc.
Blank Verse: unrhyed iabic pentaeter.
Concrete Poems: poes in "hich the "ords draati(e their eaning "ith appearance,
dra" attention to their physical appearance on the page. *escendant of shaped
poems, "hich reseble "hat they discuss.
Couplet: t"o rhyed lines. +ay be closed/endstopped (thought or iage is
packaged and copleted in t"o lines) or open/enjambed (second line of the couplet
runs into the ne$t line). Heroic Couplets are t"o lines of rhying iabic pentaeter.
Elegy (fr. ,reek elegia for song of ourning): lyric poe "ritten to coeorate
soeone "ho is dead. -o given for, though soething called an elegiac stan(a
does e$ist (four lines of iabic pentaenter, abab).ho"ever, a poe is called an elegy
because of content, not for. Classical elegies follo" a pattern: identifcation of sub/ect,
laentation, and consolation0acceptance of loss.
Epigram: 1ointed, "itty poe of no prescribed for e$cept brevity.
Epic (fr. ,reek epos for speech, story, song): long narrative story that celebrates hero
.focuses on virtues, acts as inspiration for noble action, preserves history. )ypically
divided into cantos or books and begins in edias res. 2ften "ritten in dactylic
he$aeter.
Epithalamium: poe that celebrates a arriage. -o f$ed for but does follo"
pattern of content: sub/ect is specifc arriage, "edding day is described, bride and
groo are praised, blessings and good "ishes for future happiness are e$pressed.
Free Verse: no identifable eter, ay have rhying and rhythical pattern.
Haiku: )ypically captures essence of a oent in "hich nature is linked to huan
nature. 3sually about nature or people4s relationship to nature# uses etaphor to look
at an ordinary event in a ne", iaginative "ay. %ocuses on everyday e$periences,
appeals to the senses, avoids cople$ "ords0graar, uses fragents, doesn4t often
use etaphor or siile. +any variations.the ost coon for is three short lines:
frst and third are about sae length, the iddle one is a bit longer, and there is no
rhye. (-ote: there is a isconception that haiku ust follo" a strict syllabic structure
of seventeen syllables arranged 50605, but traditional 7apanese haiku poets count
sounds, not syllables. 8t is actually closer, in 9nglish, to t"elve or ffteen syllables.
Limerick: si$-line huorous poe# frst, second, and ffth lines rhying# and the third
and fourth rhying :;;<<;=.
Lyric (fr. ,reek lyre): poe of eotional intensity, describes a feeling# intellectual or
eotional response to a sub/ect# usually focuses on one e$perience# usually brief#
depend heavily on usical and rhythical !ualities.
Narratie: tells a story (priary types are epic and ballad).
!de: poe of indefnite length, divided in ten-line stan(as, rhyed, "ith di>erent
schees for each stan(a, "ritten in iabic eter.
Parody: huorous iitation of a serious poe.
"uatrain: four-line stan(a "ith various eters and rhye schees.
#estina: coplicated verse for that consists of si$ stan(as of si$-lines each and a
three-line concluding stan(a called an envoy. )he sestina uses the sae si$ words to
conclude lines and follo"s a strict pattern "hich culinates in the envoy that includes
all si$ recurrent "ords. (?ere, letters stand for "ords, not rhyes: abcdef, faebdc,
cfdabe, ecbfad, deacfb, bdfeca and eca or ace plus bdf).
#onnet (little song): fourteen-line poe in iabic pentaeter. )he $talian or
Petrarchan has t"o stan(as: an octave (eight lines) abba abba and a sestet (si$ lines)
cdecde or cdcdcd or siilar construction. )he #penserian sonnet, developed by
9dund @penser, has three !uatrains and a heroic couplet, abab bcbc cdcd ee. )he
English sonnet, developed by @hakespeare, has three !uatrains and a heroic couplet,
abab cdcd efef gg.
%ercet: three-line stan(a (called a triplet "hen all three lines rhye).
%er&a 'ima: interlocking three-line rhye schee aba, bcb, etc.
Villanelle: f$ed for consisting of nineteen lines divided into si$ stan(as: fve tercets
and a concluding !uatrain. 9ploys only t"o rhyes.aba, aba, aba, aba, aba, abaa.
Aepeats lines as follo"s: line one is also si$, t"elve, eighteen# line three is also nine,
ffteen, nineteen# and the frst and third lines are repeated as rhyed couplets at end.
@ources: The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics (ed. ;le$ 1reinger, -e"
Bork: 1rinceton 31, CDE5), and The Teacher and Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms (ed.
Aon 1adgett, -e" Bork: )eachers and Friters Collaborative, CD'6.).