Definition of Poetry

Poetry is piece of literature written by a poet in meter or verse expressing various emotions which are expressed by the use of variety of
techniques including metaphors, similes and onomatopoeia. Example of ABC poem. The emphasis on the aesthetics of language and the use of
techniques such as repetition, meter and rhyme are what are commonly used to distinguish poetry from prose. Poems often make heavy use of
imagery and word association to quickly convey emotions. An example of ABC poem is detailed above.

A diamante is a seven line poem, shaped like a diamond.

Line 1: one word

(subject/noun that is contrasting to line 7)
Line 2: two words
(adjectives) that describe line 1
Line 3: three words
(action verbs) that relate to line 1
Line 4: four words (nouns)
first 2 words relate to line 1
last 2 words relate to line 7
Line 5: three words
(action verbs) that relate to line 7
Line 6: two words
(adjectives) that describe line 7
Line 7: one word
( subject/noun that is contrasting to line 1)
DREAMS
SUBCONSCIOUS, IMAGINARY
SLEEPING, WISHING,THINKING
FANTASY, ACTUALITY, VISION, GENUINE
BEING, SEEING, KNOWING, AUTHENTIC, FACTUAL
REALITY

square
symmetrical, conventional
shaping, measuring, balancing
boxes, rooms, clocks, halos
encircling, circumnavigating, enclosing
round, continuous
circle

Fairies
Cute, flying
Exercising, playing, designing
Happy, smart, grumpy, angry
Annoying, mean, silly
Ugly, dumb
Elves.

Acrostic

An acrostic poem is where the initial letters of the lines spell a word (or words).
Acrostic poems date back as far as the fourth century.
Some people believe that the acrostic poem was originally used to help people remember things.
The Old Testament has examples of them in their hyms and psalms to help people remember the words.
Playwriters would also use them in their plays so that people would remember the important bits of speeches.
There is no rhyming pattern in acrostic poems.
Examples of Acrostic poems:
Panthers growl,
Orioles sing,
Eagles soar,
Monkeys swing,
See?

ABC poem

An ABC poem has a series of lines that create a mood, picture, or feeling. Lines are made up of words and phrases. The first word of line 1
begins with an A, the first word of line 2 begins with a B etc.

Example of ABC poem - author unknown

Example:
A lthough things are not perfect
B ecause of trial or pain
C ontinue in thanksgiving
D o not begin to blame
 E ven when the times are hard
F ierce winds are bound to blow

Epitaph

An epitaph is a commemorative inscription on a tomb or mortuary monument written in praise, or reflecting the life, of a deceased person.

Example of a Humorous Epitaph !

I was born
Then I wed
Nagging Wife
Now I'm dead!

Haiku Poetry

Haiku Poetry Type is a Japanese poem composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. Haiku poetry originated in the
sixteenth century and reflects on some aspect of nature and creates images.

Example of Haiku Poetry Type

None is travelling
by
Basho (1644-1694)

None is travelling
Here along this way but I,
This autumn evening.
The first day of the year:
thoughts come - and there is loneliness;
the autumn dusk is here.

Another Example of a Haiku Tercet Stanza by Basho

Ah, summer grasses!

All that remains
Of the warriors dreams.

Cinquain Poetry Type and Term

Cinquain Poetry Type has five lines.

Line 1 is one word (the title)

Line 2 is two words that describe the title.
Line 3 is three words that tell the action
Line 4 is four words that express the feeling
Line 5 is one word that recalls the title

American poet Adelaide Crapsey created the cinquain based on the Japanese haiku

Tree
Strong, Tall
Swaying, swinging, sighing
Memories of summer
Oak

Tanka

Tanka is a Japanese poetry type of five lines, the first and third composed of five syllables and the rest of seven. Tanka is the oldest type of
poetry in Japan.

Example of Tanka

To live is to break
by
Ueda Miyoji

To live is to break
One's heart for the sake of love;
A couple of doves,
 Beaks touching on their way,
Are stepping out in the sun.

Limericks

Limericks are short sometimes bawdy, humorous poems of consisting of five Anapaestic lines. Lines 1, 2, and 5 of a Limerick have seven to ten
syllables and rhyme with one another. Lines 3 and 4 have five to seven syllables and also rhyme with each other. Edward Lear is famous for his
Book of Nonsense which included the poetry form of Limericks.

Example of Limericks

Limerick from the Book of Nonsense

by
Edward Lear

There was an Old Man with a gong,

Who bumped at it all day long;
But they called out, 'O law!
You're a horrid old bore!'
So they smashed that Old Man with a gong.

Pastoral Poetry

A Pastoral Poetry Type is a poem that depicts rural life in a peaceful, idealized way for example of shepherds or country life.

Example of Pastoral Poetry Type - Excerpt

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

by
Christopher Marlowe

Come live with me and be my Love,

And we will all the pleasures prove
That hills and valleys, dale and field,
And all the craggy mountains yield.
There will we sit upon the rocks
And see the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

Odes

Odes are long poems which are serious in nature and written to a set structure. John Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "Ode To A Nightingale"
are probably the most famous examples of this type of poem.

Example of an Ode - Excerpt

Ode To A Nightingale
by
John Keats

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains

My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:

Epigram

An Epigram is a very short, satirical and witty poem usually written as a brief couplet or quatrain. The term epigram is derived from the Greek
word 'epigramma' meaning inscription. The epigram was cultivated in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by poets like Ben Jonson and
John Donne who wrote twenty-one English epigrams.

Example of Epigram

A Lame Begger by
John Donne

I am unable, yonder beggar cries,

To stand, or move; if he say true, he lies.
 Enjambment

The word Enjambment comes from the French word for "to straddle". Enjambment is the
continuation of a sentence form one line or couplet into the next. An example by Joyce Kilmer 1886–1918 in his poem "Trees" is:

I think that I shall never see A poem as lovely as a tree