Catalogue verse is poetry built around a list. Rather than developing one scene or argument, it gathers names, places, objects, events, or ideas in sequence, often to create emphasis, rhythm, abundance, or a sense of range and accumulation.
Writers use catalogue verse to celebrate, remember, organize, or intensify a subject by showing how much it contains. The list can be simple and direct or shaped by repetition and pattern.
Example
The harbor held ropes, gulls, rusted hooks,
blue barrels, nets, spare oars, and salt-crusted books;
the tide kept bringing in another thing
to add to dawn's long, shifting inventory.