Forms of Poetry

Defintion

Poetry in which every word begins with a successive letter of the alphabet. The first word begins with A, the second with B, etc. OR A poem that has 5 lines that create a mood, picture, or feeling.Lines 1 through 4 are made up of words, phrases or clauses - and the first word of each line is in alphabetical order from the first word. Line 5 is one sentence, beginning with any letter.

Example

A better cat doesn't exist, four gentle hearts insist. Juggling kittens, leaping, mewing, now overturning pillows--quietly rush, sustain terror--understand: Vitality will explode yawning zzz's!

by LaVerna B. Johnson

Acrostic

Defintion

Poetry that certain letters, usually the first in each line form a word or message when read in a sequence.

Example

Here is an example in English, an Edgar Allan Poe poem titled simply An Acrostic:

Elizabeth it is in vain you say

"Love not" — thou sayest it in so sweet a way:

In vain those words from thee or L.E.L.

Zantippe's talents had enforced so well:

Ah! if that language from thy heart arise,

Breath it less gently forth — and veil thine eyes.

Endymion, recollect, when Luna tried

To cure his love — was cured of all beside —

His follie — pride — and passion — for he died.

Alliteration

Defintion

Alliterations are sentences or phrases that contain words that repeat the same beginning consonant sounds. The initial sounds of a word, beginning either with a consonant or a vowel, are repeated in close succession.

Example

Dogs Destroy Dinosaurs
Athena and Apollo
Nate never knows
People who pen poetry