Poetry Styles
09:53
Poetry Styles for Beginners
This is a list of poetry styles for beginners, so I have not made a separate list of poetry styles for kids. The same list is useful for kids too.
Acrostic Style
Acrostic style of poetry is one in which the poet uses the letters in a single word to start each line of the poem.
Ballad Style
A ballad is simply a story told in the from of a poem. It is usually related to folk tales and is easy to sing. Example- the Hindu epic Ramayana is a ballad. Each verse of a ballad ends with the same line, which is called ‘a refrain’.
Clerihew Style
It is a comical style of poetry and is named after its inventor Edmund Clerihew Bentley. The rhyme scheme used in this style of poetry is usually a-a-b-b.
Damante Style
A Damante styled poem commonly contains seven lines that are shaped like a diamond. The poem is written in the following format.
Line 1: Noun or subject
Line 2: Two Adjectives
Line 3: Three -ing words
Line 4: Four words about the subject
Line 5: Three -ing words
Line 6: Two adjectives
Line 7: Synonym/antonym for the subject
Epitaph Style
It is a small poem that is inscribed on tombstones telling something about or praising the person on whose grave the stone is placed.
Fable
A fable is a story written in verse or prose with a moral at the end. Generally, it uses animals as characters to teach a valuable lesson.
Free Verse
This is a free form of poetry that most modern poets are following. It does not follow the conventional elements of poetry like meters, rhymes etc. Its emphasis is on the thought behind the poem.
Ghazal
A Ghazal is a style of poetry that is written like an odd numbered chain of couplets where every couplet is an individual poem.
Haiku
Haiku is a Japanese style of poetry. It generally contains three unrhymed verses.
Lanturne
The Lanturne is a poem of five-line stanza that is shaped like a Japanese lantern with a definite syllabic pattern.
Limerick Style
This style of poetry is witty and sometimes vulgar. The limerick format poem has around five lines in a verse. The first, second and fifth line have the same metrical structure and they also rhyme with each other. Here are some limerick styles, to understand the style better.
Minute Poetry
The Minute Poem consists of rhyming verses that have exactly 12 lines of 60 syllables written in strict
iambic meter.
Monody
In this style of poem the poet mourns the death of someone. It is sung by a single singer without a chorus.
Monorhyme
This kind of poems end in the same rhyme. It is very commonly in Welsh, in medieval Latin, and in Arabic.
Nonet
A nonet poem has precisely nine lines. The first line has nine syllables, the second line eight syllables, the third line seven syllables and so on.
An Ode
An ode is a poem that is written to praise some person or a remarkable event.
Palindrome
This type of poem reads the same forward and backward. It is taken from the Greek word palindromos: palin which means again.
Pantoum Poetry
The pantoum style of poetry uses four line stanzas, where you repeat lines. Lines 2 and 4 of a stanza becomes lines 1 and 3 of the next. It is a rhythmic style of poetry.
Quatrain Poetry
The name quatrain has been derived from Latin and French words that mean- four. The quatrain style of poetry means writing a poem of four lines. It is a very well known style of poetry.
Shape Poetry
Also known as concrete poetry, shape poetry are poems whose shape refers to their subject. It is an old form of poetry and its earliest forms come from some greek poets.
Sonnet Style Poetry
A sonnet is a lyrical poem consisting of fourteen lines. There are two types of sonnets Petrarchan sonnet and Shakespearean sonnet. And both are very popular.
Poetry has a long and elaborate history. The earliest forms of poetry were recited and sung. With the passing years, it obtained a structured form that later evolved into a free verse format. Poets dealing with different subjects and presenting their ideas in different ways gave rise to various kinds of poetry. Let us look at the different types of poetry.
Acrostic: In acrostic poems, the first letters of each line of the poem are aligned vertically to form a word. Generally, the word formed thus, is the subject of the poem.
Ballad: Ballads are narrative poems that are supposed to be sung. The narrator usually starts with a dramatic scene and relates the narrative with dialog and actions.
Canzone: The word canzone, which means, a song, signifies any simple song-like composition. It is an Italian song or ballad.
Cinquain: Cinquain poems are five lines long. They do not rhyme.
Concrete: In this kind of poetry, the topographical arrangement of words supports the meaning conveyed by the poem. The poems form a picture of the topic on which they are centered.
Couplet: It is a very simple form of a verse, which contains two rhyming lines.
Diamante: This type of poetry is one of the simplest ones to write. The first line of a diamante is a single word; the second line consists of two adjectives describing that word, third line contains three words about the subject while the fourth line contains four. The fifth line and the lines that follow consist of a similar pattern of words describing the idea opposite to the subject of the poem. It seems this kind of poetry writing is simple and interesting. Doesn’t it?
Dramatic Poetry: A drama that is written in the form of verses to be recited or sung refers to the dramatic genre of poetry. This form of poetry has evolved from Greek and Sanskrit literature.
Epic Poetry: This genre of poetry is a type of narrative literature that narrates stories of mythological heroes. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and the great Indian epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana are a few of the noteworthy examples of epic poetry.
Free Verse: Free verses refer to the different styles of poetry, wherein the poems do not carry a specific meter. Free verses are a poet’s expressions, which are free from any rules or restrictions pertaining to the rhyme schemes of the poem.
Ghazal: This form of poetry is popular in the Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Bengali literature. It is characterized by five to fifteen couplets that have a refrain at the end of every second line. Each couplet of a ghazal can stand individually as each represents a distinct thought.
Haiku: It is an unrhymed form of poetry that is native to Japan. It contains three sections that can be written in a single line, but are written in three lines instead. The way it is broken into, is in essence the poetic effect of this poetic form. This kind of poetry contains a cutting word, which is known as a kireji and a season word, known as a kigo.
Iambic Pentameter: It is a relatively complex form of poetry that uses syllables to bring in a musical element to the poems.
Jintishi: Native to China, Jintishi is a poetic form based on tonal patterns consisting of the four tones of the classical Chinese language in every couplet. Jintishi is composed of eight lines in four couplets, wherein two couplets depict contrasting ideas but similar grammatical patterns. Du Fu, a poet of the 8th century was an important name in the world of Jintishi.
Limerick: Limerick is one of the very popular kinds of poetry. A limerick is a funny little poem with a rhyme scheme of ‘aabba’.
Lyric Poetry: Lyric poetry is of a personal nature, wherein a poet expresses his/her perceptions and ideas through poetry. Lyric poems deal with subjects like love, peace, loss and grief. T. S. Eliot is one of the prominent names in lyric poetry.
Minnesang: It refers to the German tradition of writing lyrics and songs. It became widely popular in the 12th century and continued until the 14th century. The poems belonging to this kind of poetry revolve around the subject of love.
Narrative Poetry: This is a genre of poetry that involves story-telling and is one of the very old forms of poetry. The content of these types of poems is intended to appeal the masses. Ovid, William Langland, Alexander Pope and Shakespeare are some of the notable figures in the field of narrative poetry.
Nursery Rhymes: It is one of the most popular types of poetry, especially a favorite of most of the kids. Nursery rhymes are short poems written for children and are usually handed over from one generation to another.
Ode: Originally developed by the Greek and Latin poets, Odes soon began to appear in different cultures across the world. Odes possess a formal poetic diction and deal with a variety of different subjects.
Pantoum: It is composed of quatrains, where the second and fourth lines of each verse are repeated as the first and third lines of the next stanza.
Pastourelle: It refers to an old French lyrical form. The poems in this category have the romance of a shepherdess as their central idea.
Prose Poetry: This genre of poetry blends prose and poetry. It is very similar to a short story. However, its concise nature and the use of metaphor in it are sufficient to classify it as a poetical form.
Rondeau: It consists of fifteen lines, which make use of two rhymes. It was a French form of poetry.
Ruba’i: This form of poetry is written as a four-line verse. It is written by the poets in Arabia and Persia.
Satirical Poetry: Sarcasm serves as a very powerful means of expressing criticism. An insult can most strongly be expressed through poetry. Romans have been using satirical poetry for political purposes.
Sestina: In this kind of poetry, there are six stanzas, each consisting of six lines without an element of rhyme. The words that appear at the end of the lines in the first stanza are repeated in other stanzas. A concluding stanza of three lines wherein the repeating words reappear in a peculiar way is an important characteristic of Sestina.
Sijo: It is a musical lyric popular among the Korean poets. It is written in three lines with a pause in the middle of every line.
Sonnet: Derived from Occitan and Italian words meaning ‘a little song’, Sonnet was originally a fourteen-line song that was based on a strict rhyme scheme and structure. Shakespeare, who wrote 154 sonnets, was one of the most important figures in the field of sonnets.
Stave: see Stev
Stev: It is a form of lyrical poetry that is prominent in Scandinavia. Stave is the English version of this kind of poetry.
Tanka: It is an unrhymed kind of poetry that originated in Japan. It came up as a shorter version of the Japanese formal poetry and the poems of this type were primarily based on personal themes. The emergence of Tanka dates back to the Nara period. It became popular in the 13th century and is continues being practiced till today.
Verse Fable: The poems that belong to this genre of poetry consist of stories set into verses. Fables involving natural elements and inanimate objects carrying a moral or message for the masses are expressed through verses. Verse fables use different types of rhyming schemes.
Villanelle: The poems of this type consist of nineteen lines made up by five triplets and a concluding quatrain. This form of poetry has received impetus since the late 19th century, giving rise to poets like Elizabeth Bishop and Dylan Thomas.
With this, we covered a detailed list of the different kind of poetry as also the various genres of poetry. Let us now have a glimpse of the different types of poetry categorized on the basis of the subjects they deal with.
This is a list of poetry styles for beginners, so I have not made a separate list of poetry styles for kids. The same list is useful for kids too.
Acrostic Style
Acrostic style of poetry is one in which the poet uses the letters in a single word to start each line of the poem.
Ballad Style
A ballad is simply a story told in the from of a poem. It is usually related to folk tales and is easy to sing. Example- the Hindu epic Ramayana is a ballad. Each verse of a ballad ends with the same line, which is called ‘a refrain’.
Clerihew Style
It is a comical style of poetry and is named after its inventor Edmund Clerihew Bentley. The rhyme scheme used in this style of poetry is usually a-a-b-b.
Damante Style
A Damante styled poem commonly contains seven lines that are shaped like a diamond. The poem is written in the following format.
Line 1: Noun or subject
Line 2: Two Adjectives
Line 3: Three -ing words
Line 4: Four words about the subject
Line 5: Three -ing words
Line 6: Two adjectives
Line 7: Synonym/antonym for the subject
Epitaph Style
It is a small poem that is inscribed on tombstones telling something about or praising the person on whose grave the stone is placed.
Fable
A fable is a story written in verse or prose with a moral at the end. Generally, it uses animals as characters to teach a valuable lesson.
Free Verse
This is a free form of poetry that most modern poets are following. It does not follow the conventional elements of poetry like meters, rhymes etc. Its emphasis is on the thought behind the poem.
Ghazal
A Ghazal is a style of poetry that is written like an odd numbered chain of couplets where every couplet is an individual poem.
Haiku
Haiku is a Japanese style of poetry. It generally contains three unrhymed verses.
Lanturne
The Lanturne is a poem of five-line stanza that is shaped like a Japanese lantern with a definite syllabic pattern.
Limerick Style
This style of poetry is witty and sometimes vulgar. The limerick format poem has around five lines in a verse. The first, second and fifth line have the same metrical structure and they also rhyme with each other. Here are some limerick styles, to understand the style better.
Minute Poetry
The Minute Poem consists of rhyming verses that have exactly 12 lines of 60 syllables written in strict
iambic meter.
Monody
In this style of poem the poet mourns the death of someone. It is sung by a single singer without a chorus.
Monorhyme
This kind of poems end in the same rhyme. It is very commonly in Welsh, in medieval Latin, and in Arabic.
Nonet
A nonet poem has precisely nine lines. The first line has nine syllables, the second line eight syllables, the third line seven syllables and so on.
An Ode
An ode is a poem that is written to praise some person or a remarkable event.
Palindrome
This type of poem reads the same forward and backward. It is taken from the Greek word palindromos: palin which means again.
Pantoum Poetry
The pantoum style of poetry uses four line stanzas, where you repeat lines. Lines 2 and 4 of a stanza becomes lines 1 and 3 of the next. It is a rhythmic style of poetry.
Quatrain Poetry
The name quatrain has been derived from Latin and French words that mean- four. The quatrain style of poetry means writing a poem of four lines. It is a very well known style of poetry.
Shape Poetry
Also known as concrete poetry, shape poetry are poems whose shape refers to their subject. It is an old form of poetry and its earliest forms come from some greek poets.
Sonnet Style Poetry
A sonnet is a lyrical poem consisting of fourteen lines. There are two types of sonnets Petrarchan sonnet and Shakespearean sonnet. And both are very popular.
Poetry has a long and elaborate history. The earliest forms of poetry were recited and sung. With the passing years, it obtained a structured form that later evolved into a free verse format. Poets dealing with different subjects and presenting their ideas in different ways gave rise to various kinds of poetry. Let us look at the different types of poetry.
Acrostic: In acrostic poems, the first letters of each line of the poem are aligned vertically to form a word. Generally, the word formed thus, is the subject of the poem.
Ballad: Ballads are narrative poems that are supposed to be sung. The narrator usually starts with a dramatic scene and relates the narrative with dialog and actions.
Canzone: The word canzone, which means, a song, signifies any simple song-like composition. It is an Italian song or ballad.
Cinquain: Cinquain poems are five lines long. They do not rhyme.
Concrete: In this kind of poetry, the topographical arrangement of words supports the meaning conveyed by the poem. The poems form a picture of the topic on which they are centered.
Couplet: It is a very simple form of a verse, which contains two rhyming lines.
Diamante: This type of poetry is one of the simplest ones to write. The first line of a diamante is a single word; the second line consists of two adjectives describing that word, third line contains three words about the subject while the fourth line contains four. The fifth line and the lines that follow consist of a similar pattern of words describing the idea opposite to the subject of the poem. It seems this kind of poetry writing is simple and interesting. Doesn’t it?
Dramatic Poetry: A drama that is written in the form of verses to be recited or sung refers to the dramatic genre of poetry. This form of poetry has evolved from Greek and Sanskrit literature.
Epic Poetry: This genre of poetry is a type of narrative literature that narrates stories of mythological heroes. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and the great Indian epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana are a few of the noteworthy examples of epic poetry.
Free Verse: Free verses refer to the different styles of poetry, wherein the poems do not carry a specific meter. Free verses are a poet’s expressions, which are free from any rules or restrictions pertaining to the rhyme schemes of the poem.
Ghazal: This form of poetry is popular in the Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Bengali literature. It is characterized by five to fifteen couplets that have a refrain at the end of every second line. Each couplet of a ghazal can stand individually as each represents a distinct thought.
Haiku: It is an unrhymed form of poetry that is native to Japan. It contains three sections that can be written in a single line, but are written in three lines instead. The way it is broken into, is in essence the poetic effect of this poetic form. This kind of poetry contains a cutting word, which is known as a kireji and a season word, known as a kigo.
Iambic Pentameter: It is a relatively complex form of poetry that uses syllables to bring in a musical element to the poems.
Jintishi: Native to China, Jintishi is a poetic form based on tonal patterns consisting of the four tones of the classical Chinese language in every couplet. Jintishi is composed of eight lines in four couplets, wherein two couplets depict contrasting ideas but similar grammatical patterns. Du Fu, a poet of the 8th century was an important name in the world of Jintishi.
Limerick: Limerick is one of the very popular kinds of poetry. A limerick is a funny little poem with a rhyme scheme of ‘aabba’.
Lyric Poetry: Lyric poetry is of a personal nature, wherein a poet expresses his/her perceptions and ideas through poetry. Lyric poems deal with subjects like love, peace, loss and grief. T. S. Eliot is one of the prominent names in lyric poetry.
Minnesang: It refers to the German tradition of writing lyrics and songs. It became widely popular in the 12th century and continued until the 14th century. The poems belonging to this kind of poetry revolve around the subject of love.
Narrative Poetry: This is a genre of poetry that involves story-telling and is one of the very old forms of poetry. The content of these types of poems is intended to appeal the masses. Ovid, William Langland, Alexander Pope and Shakespeare are some of the notable figures in the field of narrative poetry.
Nursery Rhymes: It is one of the most popular types of poetry, especially a favorite of most of the kids. Nursery rhymes are short poems written for children and are usually handed over from one generation to another.
Ode: Originally developed by the Greek and Latin poets, Odes soon began to appear in different cultures across the world. Odes possess a formal poetic diction and deal with a variety of different subjects.
Pantoum: It is composed of quatrains, where the second and fourth lines of each verse are repeated as the first and third lines of the next stanza.
Pastourelle: It refers to an old French lyrical form. The poems in this category have the romance of a shepherdess as their central idea.
Prose Poetry: This genre of poetry blends prose and poetry. It is very similar to a short story. However, its concise nature and the use of metaphor in it are sufficient to classify it as a poetical form.
Rondeau: It consists of fifteen lines, which make use of two rhymes. It was a French form of poetry.
Ruba’i: This form of poetry is written as a four-line verse. It is written by the poets in Arabia and Persia.
Satirical Poetry: Sarcasm serves as a very powerful means of expressing criticism. An insult can most strongly be expressed through poetry. Romans have been using satirical poetry for political purposes.
Sestina: In this kind of poetry, there are six stanzas, each consisting of six lines without an element of rhyme. The words that appear at the end of the lines in the first stanza are repeated in other stanzas. A concluding stanza of three lines wherein the repeating words reappear in a peculiar way is an important characteristic of Sestina.
Sijo: It is a musical lyric popular among the Korean poets. It is written in three lines with a pause in the middle of every line.
Sonnet: Derived from Occitan and Italian words meaning ‘a little song’, Sonnet was originally a fourteen-line song that was based on a strict rhyme scheme and structure. Shakespeare, who wrote 154 sonnets, was one of the most important figures in the field of sonnets.
Stave: see Stev
Stev: It is a form of lyrical poetry that is prominent in Scandinavia. Stave is the English version of this kind of poetry.
Tanka: It is an unrhymed kind of poetry that originated in Japan. It came up as a shorter version of the Japanese formal poetry and the poems of this type were primarily based on personal themes. The emergence of Tanka dates back to the Nara period. It became popular in the 13th century and is continues being practiced till today.
Verse Fable: The poems that belong to this genre of poetry consist of stories set into verses. Fables involving natural elements and inanimate objects carrying a moral or message for the masses are expressed through verses. Verse fables use different types of rhyming schemes.
Villanelle: The poems of this type consist of nineteen lines made up by five triplets and a concluding quatrain. This form of poetry has received impetus since the late 19th century, giving rise to poets like Elizabeth Bishop and Dylan Thomas.
With this, we covered a detailed list of the different kind of poetry as also the various genres of poetry. Let us now have a glimpse of the different types of poetry categorized on the basis of the subjects they deal with.