Part 3 - Types of Song, Speech, Story, Poem

Haiku

A form of Japanese poetry that states–in 3 lines of 5-7-5 syllables–a clear picture designed to arouse a distinct emotion and suggest a specific spiritual insight

Senryu

Named for the poet Karai Senryu (1718-1790), the senryu has the same form as the haiku with 17 total syllables: 5-7-5. But the senryu will rely more on humor or satire rather than conventions related to the seasons

Tanka

A type of Japanese poetry similar to the Haiku. It consists of 31 syllables, arranged in 5 lines, each with 7 syllables, except the 1st and 3rd, which are each 5

Terza Rima

A 3-line stanza, supposedly devised by Dante with a rhyme scheme aba, bcb, cdc, ded and so on for his Divine Comedy. The English version (Dante was Italian) will usually be in iambic pentameter

Ottava Rima

A stanza consisting of eight iambic pentameter (or hendecasyllabic line of 11 syllables) lines rhyming abababcc. Boccaccio is credited with originating the stanza, which was much used by Taso and Ariosto

Villanelle

fixed, 19 line form, originally French, employing only two rhymes and repeating two of the lines according to a set pattern

French Forms

(Sometimes referred to as the fixed forms) A name for certain prescribed patterns that originated in France largely during the time of the troubadours

Pantoum

May consist of any number of four-lines stanzas, but in any case, the second and fourth lines of one stanza must reappear as the first and third lines of the following stanza. The stanzas are quatrains rhyming abab

Rondeau

A set French verse pattern; artificial but very popular with many English poets. This consists of characteristically of fifteen lines, with the 9th and 15th being a short refrain. Only two rhymes (exclusive of the refrain) are allowed, with the rhyme scheme running aabba aabc aabbac

Ballade

One of the most popular of the artificial French verse forms. This should not be confused with the ballad. Has been liberally interpreted; earliest versions demanded three stanzas and an envoy, without distinction on how many lines per stanza. Usually only had 3-4 rhymes in the whole thing

Triolet

One of the simpler French verse forms. It consists of 8 lines--the first two being repeated as the last two and the first line recurring also as the fourth

Virelay

French verse form (related to lai) of which the number of stanzas and the number of lines to the stanza are unlimited. Each stanza is made up of an indefinite number of tercets rhyming aab for the first stanza, bbc for the second, ccd for the third, etc. This form of poem never became popular with England

Rondel

A French verse form- a variant of the rondeau, to which it is related historically. It consists of fourteen or thirteen liners (depending on whether the two-line refrain is kept at the close or simply one line

Roundel

11 lines - A variation of the rondeau, generally attributed to Swinburne, who wrote "A Century of Roundels." Characterized by its eleven-line form and the presence in the fourth and eleventh lines of a refrain taken, as in the rondeau. from the first part of the first line

Roundelay

A modification of the rondel. The roundelay is a simple poem of about fourteen lines in which part of one line frequently recurs as a refrain

Sestina

One of the most difficult and complex of verse forms. This term consists of six 6-lined stanzas and a 3-lined envoy

Kyrielle

A rare French form, usually composed of short rhymed couplets with a word or larger verbal group repeated as a refrain

Chant Royal

One of the most complex French verse forms. The tradition calls for a dignified, heroic subject. This term consists of sixty lines arranged in five stanzas of eleven lines each and an envoy of five lines

Limerick

A form of light (as in lighthearted) verse that follows a definite pattern: five anapestic lines of which the first, second, and fifth, consisting of three feet, rhyme; and the third and fourth lines, consisting of two feet, rhyme

Clerihew

Form of light verse invented by and named for Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956), who also wrote detective fiction. In its proper form, the clerihew, concerns an actual person, whose name makes up the first line of a quatrain with a strict aabb rhyme scheme and no regularity of rhythm or meter

Abecedary

An acrostic poem so arranged that the initial letters of successive lines form an alphabet

Acrostic

A composition, usually verse, arranged in such a way that it spells words, phrases or sentences when certain letters are selected according to an orderly sequence

Idyll

A term describing one or another of the poetic genres that are short and possess marked descriptive, narrative, and pastoral qualities

Pastoral

Poetic treatment of shepherds and rustic life

Bucolic

Term used for pastoral writing that deals with rural life in a manner rather formal and fanciful

Madrigal

A short lyric, usually dealing with love or pastoral themes

Arcadian

The Greek region of Arcadia

Georgic

A poem ostensibly about farming and the practical aspects of rustic life

Elegy

Sustained formal poem setting forth meditations on death or another solemn theme

Eulogy

A dignified, formal speech or form of writing that praises a person or a thing

Altar Poem

Another term for carmen figuratum, a poem in which the lines are so arranged that they form a design on the page, taking the shape of the subject--frequently an altar or a cross

Carmen Figuratum

A figure poem, one so written that the form of the printed words suggests the subject matter

Concrete Poem

Poetry that exploits the graphic, visual aspect of writing; a specialized application of what Aristotle called opsis (spectacle) and Pound "phanopoeia". A concrete poem is one that is also a work of graphic art

Map Poem

A poem that gives the impression of having been written while the poet was studying a map

Square Poem

A poem with a certain number of syllables per line and the same number of lines in a stanza

Prose Poem

A poem printed as a prose, with both margins justified. Edgar Allan Poe used "prose-poem" as early as 1842

Companion Poem

Poems designed to complement each other. Each is complete by itself, but each is enriched and broadened when viewed with its [this term]

Narrative Poem

A poem that tells a story such as Epics, Ballads, and Metrical Romances

Confessional Poetry

A term applied to the work of a group of modern poets whose work features a public and sometimes painful display of private, personal matters. In this type of poetry, the poet often seems to address the audience directly, without the intervention of a persona

Boasting Poem

A poem in which characters boast their exploits; frequently found in oral literatures and in works such as ballads and epics

Prelude

A short poem, introductory in character, prefixed to a long poem or a to a section of a long poem

Meditative Poetry

A term for certain kinds of metaphysical poetry of the 16th and 17th centuries that yoke religious meditation and Renaissance poetic techniques

Conversation Poem/Piece

Some of Horace's works are called sermones which does not mean "sermon" in the modern homiletic sense but rather "discourse" or "conversation" with an addressee and some element of serious satire

Eclogue

In Greek, meant "selection" and was applied to various kinds of poems. From Virgil, it came to have meaning of pastoral poem following the traditional technique of the idylls of Theocritus

Complaint Poem

A lyric poem common in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in which the poet 1. laments the unresponsiveness of his mistress 2. bemoans his unhappy lot and seeks to remedy it or 3. regrets the sorry state of the world

Elegiac Poem

In classical prosody, the type of distich employed for lamenting or commemorating the dead; it consists of a line of dactylic hexameter followed by one of pentameter

Fixed Forms

A name sometimes given to definite patterns of line and stanza. Although forms such as the sonnet, the Spenserian Sonnet, and Rhyme Royal are "fixed" in this general sense, the term usually refers to a specific group of stanzaic patterns that originated in France

Gnomic Poem

Popular during the 17th and 18th century, the primarily English-language genre whose “fundamental subject” according to Samuel Johnson and practiced by the likes of George Crabbe, “is some particular landscape

Alliterative Verse

Term applied to verse forms, usually Germanic or Celtic in origin, in which the metrical structure is based on patterned repetition of initial sounds within the lines

Chain Verse

Poetry in which the stanzas are linked through some pattern of repetition. The last line of the stanza might be first of the next, creating a chain

Correlative Verse

Verses that take the form of abbreviated sentences having a linear relationship

Echo Verse

Poetry in which the closing syllables of one line are repeated, as by an echo, in the following line--and usually making up that line--with a different meaning and thus forming a reply or a comment

Macaronic Verse

A type of verse that mingles two or more languages

Nonsense Verse

A variety of light verse entertaining because of its strong rhythmic quality and lack of logic, this term is often characterized by the presence of coined nonce words and a mingling of words from various languages

Projective Verse

A kind of free verse that regards meter and form as artificial and in which the poet "projects" a voice primarily through the content and the propulsive quality of breathing, which alone determines the line

Chanson d’adventure

A poem recounting a romantic adventure, often involving a journey on horseback or a sea voyage

Chanson de geste

A "song of great deeds". A term applied to the early French epic. The earliest and best existing example--the Chanson de Roland dates from c. 1100

Monologue Speech

A composition giving the discourse of one speaker

Dramatic Monologue

A poem that reveals “a soul in action” through the speech of one character in a dramatic situation

Soliloquy

A speech delivered while the speaker is alone (solus), calculated to inform the audience of what is passing in the character's mind

Ballad

Form of verse to be sung of recited and characterized by presentation of an exciting episode in narrative or dramatic form

Serenade

A composition written as though intended to be sung out-of-doors at night under a window and in praise of a loved one

Psalm

Lyrical composition of praise. Most frequently, the term is applied to the sacred lyrics in the Book of Psalms by David

Ode

A single, unified strain of exalted lyrical verse, directed to a single purpose and dealing with one theme

Dirge

A wailing song sung at a funeral or in commemoration of death; a short lyrics of lamentation

Blues

An African American folk song developed in the southern U.S. A ___ is characteristically short (three-line stanza), melancholy, marked by frequent repetition and sung slowly in a minor mode

Chantey / Shanty

A sailor's song marked by strong rhythm and, in the days of sail, used to accompany certain forms of repetitious hard labor performed by seamen working in a group

Chanson

A song. Originally composed of two-line stanzas of equal length (couplets), each stanza ending in a refrain, this term is now more broadly interpreted to include almost any simple poem intended to be sung

Threnody

A song of death; a dirge

Keen

An Irish funeral song

Lay or Lai

A song or short narrative poem. The word has been applied to several difference forms in French and English literature. The earliest ones composed in the 12th century, were based on earlier songs or verse tales sung by Breton minstrels on themes from Celtic legend

Madrigal

A short lyric, usually dealing with love or a pastoral theme and designed for--or at least suitable for--a musical setting

Paean

A song of praise or joy

Lament

A poem expressing grief – usually more intense and more personal than in a complaint

Eulogy

A dignified, formal speech or form of writing that praises a person or a thing. Most often delivered as part of services for the dead

Harangue

A vehement speech designed to arouse strong emotions. Today, the term is applied to any form of rabble-rousing address

Panegyric

A formal composition lauding a person for an achievement; a eulogy

Palinode

A piece of writing recanting or retracting a previous writing--particularly such a recanting--in verse of an earlier ode

Psychological Novel

Prose fiction that places unusual emphasis on interior characterization and on the motives, circumstances, and internal action that spring from and develop external action

Picaresque Novel

A chronicle, usually autobiographical, presenting the life story of a rascal of low degree engaged in menial tasks and making his living more through his wits than his industry

Novel of Manners

Novel dominated in social customs, manners, conventions, and habits of definite social class. In the true novel of manners, the mores of a specific group become powerful controls over characters

Apprenticeship Novel

A novel that recounts the youth and young childhood of a protagonist who is attempting to learn the nature of the world

Young Man from the Provinces

Phrase by Lionel Trilling for a kind of novel that deals with experiences of a young provincial in a great city

Bildungsroman

A novel that deals with the development of a young person, usually from adolescence to maturity; frequently autobiographical

Entwicklungsroman

A German term for a type of Bildungsroman that emphasizes the development of the principal character. In English and American criticism, the minute differences in such terms and this one and Erziehungsroman are infrequently encountered

Campus Novel

A work, usually comic, set at a university

Historic Novel

A novel that reconstructs a past age. The classic formula for this novel, as expressed by Scott calls for an age in which two cultures are in conflict

Hollywood Novel

A novel set in Hollywood or about the film industry at large

Kunstlerroman

A form of Apprenticeship Novel in which the protagonist is an artist struggling from childhood to maturity toward an understanding of his or her creative mission

Lyrical Novel

A species of novel in which conventional narration is subordinated to the presentation of inner thoughts, feelings, and moods

Novel of Character

A novel that emphasizes character rather than exciting episode, as in the novel of incident or unity of plot

Novel of Incident

A term for a novel in which episodic action dominates and plot and characters are subordinated

Novel of Manners

A novel dominated by social customs, manners, conventions, and habits of a definite social class

Novel of Sensibility

A novel in which the characters have a heightened emotional response to events producing in the reader a similar response

Novel of the Soil

A special kind of regionalism in the novel, in which the lives of people struggling for existence in remote rural sections are starkly portrayed

Political Novel

A novel in which aspects of political life are essential ingredients

Problem Novel

A narrative that derives its chief interest from some essential problem

Propaganda Novel

A novel dealing with a special social, political, economic, or moral issue or problem and possibly advocating a doctrinaire solution

Realistic Novel

A type of novel that emphasizes truthful representation of the actual

Romantic Novel

A type of novel marked by strong interest and action with episodes based off of love, adventure, and combating