Poems with fixed form

Poems with fixed form

Haiku

A Japanese form designed to be small and concise by limiting the number of lines and the number of syllables in a line. Japanese haiku are three-line poems with the first and the third line having five syllables and the middle having seven syllables. English-language Haiku may be shorter than seventeen syllables, though some poets prefer to keep to the 5-7-5 format.

Shakespearian sonnet

The sonnet is a European form and at its most basic requires that the total length be fourteen lines. There are two primary forms of the sonnet:

• English (Shakespearian) Sonnet

In addition to above requirements, the English Sonnet must be four stanzas, the first three being quatrains and the last a couplet. Also the rhyme scheme for the quatrains is A-B-A-B and the final couplet is rhyming.

Acrostic

Poetry that certain letters, usually the first in each line form a word or message when read in a sequence. Example: Edgar Allan Poe's "A Valentine".

Ballad

A poem that tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend which often has a repeated refrain

Dramatic monologue

A type of poem which is spoken to a listener. The speaker addresses a specific topic while the listener unwittingly reveals details about him/herself.

Elegy

A sad and thoughtful poem about the death of an individual.

Epitaph

A commemorative inscription on a tomb or mortuary monument written to praise the deceased. Example: Ben Jonson's "On My First Sonne".

Epithalamium (Epithalamion)

A poem written in honor of the bride and groom.

Ghazal

A short lyrical poem that arose in Urdu. It is between 5 and 15 couplets long. Each couplet contains its own poetic thought but is linked in rhyme that is established in the first couplet and continued in the second line of each pair. The lines of each couplet are equal in length. Themes are usually connected to love and romance. The closing signature often includes the poet's name or allusion to it.

It Is with Words as It Is with People

Related Poem Content Details

BY ANTHONY MADRID

It is with words as it is with people: Actual beauty is rare.

We call things beautiful, not as such, but because of what they mean.

Because we commonly attribute beauty to whatever does us a favor,

We are reduced to puzzled despair whenever actual beauty says no.

Indeed, our calling a thing beautiful almost means it is not.

For how can we know it is beautiful until it betrays us?

A sage once said “The trouble with these great philosophers

Is their only way of doing honor to an idea is to say the idea is true.”

It is the same with words as it is with people: Actual beauty is rare.

Humiliated, we are no longer willing to call the beautiful beautiful . . .

Madrid is reading his poetry to a roomful of unearthed cultural relics.

He compares the white hair on their heads | to the flag that signals surrender.

Limerick

A short sometimes vulgar, humorous poem consisting of five anapestic lines. Lines 1, 2, and 5 have seven to ten syllables, rhyme and have the same verbal rhythm. The 3rd and 4th lines have five to seven syllables, rhyme and have the same rhythm.