Types and Structures of Poetry

Blank Verse

Verse consisting of unrhymed lines, usually of iambic pentameter. Commonly associated with Shakespeare.

Free Verse

Unrhymed verse without a consistent metrical pattern.

Shakespearean Sonnet

The sonnet form used by Shakespeare, composed of three quatrains and a terminal couplet in iambic pentameter with the rhyme pattern abab cdcd efef gg. Also called Elizabethan sonnet, English sonnet.

Italian Sonnet

A sonnet containing an octave with the rhyme pattern abbaabba and a sestet of various rhyme patterns such as cdecde or cdcdcd. Also called Petrarchan sonnet.

Ballad

A narrative poem which is, or was originally meant to be, sung. Characterized by repetition and often by a repeated refrain. Example: Kenny Rogers' 'The Gambler'.

Epic

A poem that celebrates the achievements of mighty heroes or heroines in a continuous narrative, usually uses elevated language and a grand high style. Example: The Iliad, The Aeneid, The Odyssey.

Elegy

A formal lament for the death of a particular person. Example: 'O Captain, My Captain'.

Pastoral

A poem that describes the simple life of country folk, usually shepherds who live in a timeless painless life in a world full of beauty, love and music that remains forever green.

Lyric

Used to be sung, now a short poem expressing intense personal emotion rather than describing a narrative or dramatic situation.

Aubade

A morning song in which the coming of dawn is either celebrated or denounced as a nuisance.

Dramatic Monologue

Set in a specific situation and spoken TO someone else.

Satire

Written to ridicule or inspire change in a society, governing body, or group of people. Example: Gulliver's Travels, The Divine Comedy.

Soliloquy

One person talking to himself about events that have transpired in his/her life. Example: 'Tomorrow' from Macbeth, 'Romeo' from Romeo and Juliet, 'Whether 'tis nobler' from Hamlet.

Narrative Structure

Simply put, it tells a story. The story may teach you something or illustrate some larger idea, but on the surface it is simply a story.

Descriptive/Dramatic Structure

Depends most heavily on imagery to help the reader see what the poet wants him/her to see. Dramatic uses vivid imagery and unfolds scene by scene.

Monologue/Reflection

Presents the reader with a voice; offers the persona's thoughts, feelings and opinions. This kind of poem often begins with a brief narrative, but quickly moves into an attempt to explain the meaning of the story.

Confessional

A more modern style of poetry that focuses on intense feelings and emotions that symbolize the modern world.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds in a line or series of lines; may affect pace and the way words included in the pattern seem to be underscored. Example: How now brown cow? Cloud, found, crowd.

Consonance

The repetition of a sequence of consonant sounds. Example: Steep step, Ship Shape.

Alliteration

The repetition of sounds in nearby words, usually involving the initial consonants of the words. Example: Sarah Sylvia Cynthia Stout, tiki tiki tumbo.

Onomatopoeia

The sound of the word imitates the meaning. Example: Buzz, crackle, fizz.

Stanza

A group of lines with a specific cogency of their own and usually set off from each other by a space.

Couplet

Two lines in a stanza related either by rhyme or idea.

Heroic Couplet

A couplet consisting of two rhymed lines of iambic pentameter and written in an elevated style.

Internal Rhyme

When words within the same line rhyme. Example: He tanned on the sand, it's nice to deliver ice.

End Rhyme

The words at the ends of lines rhyme, most common. Example: If you become a pest / I'll give you a big test.

Feminine Rhyme

Two lines that rhyme and end in unstressed syllables. Example: You're all I ever wanted / Your absence leaves me haunted.

Masculine Rhyme

Two lines that rhyme and end in stressed syllables. Example: Tiger, tiger burning bright / in the forest of the night.

Slant Rhyme

Words almost rhyme, but a vowel or consonant sound differs (sometimes called near rhyme). Example: Bent/Want, Backs/Box.

Rime Riche

Words sound the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Example: Night/Knight, Sun/Son.

Prosody

The study of the metrical structure of verse.

Scansion

The process of viewing a line of text, marking the syllables as stressed or unstressed, dividing repetitive patterns into feet, and naming it. This results in a determination of rhythm and meter.

Iamb

(U/) A metrical foot with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

Trochee

(/U) A metrical foot with a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.

Anapest

(UU/) A metrical foot with two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable.

Dactyl

(/UU) A metrical foot with a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.

Number of feet per line

Monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter, heptameter, octameter.

Iambic Pentameter

A line of five metrical feet, each one containing an unstressed syllable, followed by a stressed syllable. Commonly associated with Shakespeare.

Spondee

A metrical foot consisting of two long or stressed syllables.

Caesura

A slight pause within the line for an effect. Need not be indicated by punctuation and does not affect the rhyme.

Monosyllabic

A single syllable in a line, half of a foot, but NOT denoted as a foot of meter if the line ends with it.

Enjambment

The sense of the line carries on into the next line without a pause.

End-stopped

The line concludes with a distinct pause.