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