| Rank | Form |
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1
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Definition
A lively, often humorous poem that builds toward a punch line.
Length
Five lines in one stanza. Lines 1, 2, and 5 are longer; lines 3 and 4 are shorter.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
Usually anapestic meter with an AABBA rhyme scheme.
Famous Example or Excerpt
There Was an Old Man with a Beard by Edward Lear
There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, 'It is just as I feared!' |
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2
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Definition
A tightly patterned poem that uses repeating lines to deepen a thought or emotion.
Length
Nineteen lines: five tercets followed by one quatrain. The first and third opening lines return as refrains.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
ABA in the tercets and ABAA in the final quatrain, using only two end rhymes. Meter varies.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Theocritus: A Villanelle by Oscar Wilde
O Singer of Persephone!
In the dim meadows desolate
Dost thou remember Sicily? |
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3
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Definition
A reflective poem of mourning, remembrance, or meditation on loss.
Length
No fixed number of lines or stanzas.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
No required rhyme scheme or meter, although traditional elegies often use measured, formal rhythms.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea. |
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4
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Definition
A poem in which the first letters of the lines spell a word, name, or message.
Length
Any number of lines. Usually, each line contributes one letter to the hidden word or phrase.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
No fixed rhyme scheme or meter.
Famous Example or Excerpt
An Acrostic by Edgar Allan Poe
Elizabeth it is in vain you say
'Love not'—thou sayest it in so sweet a way. |
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5
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Definition
A very short poem that captures a single moment, image, or seasonal insight.
Length
Three short lines in one stanza.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
Usually unrhymed. English classroom haiku often use a 5-7-5 syllable pattern, though many modern haiku do not.
Famous Example or Excerpt
The Old Pond by Matsuo Basho
Furu ike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto |
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6
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Definition
A fourteen-line poem that develops an idea, feeling, or argument and often includes a turn in thought.
Length
Fourteen lines. Stanza divisions depend on the sonnet tradition.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
Often written in iambic pentameter. Common schemes include ABAB CDCD EFEF GG and ABBA ABBA with a varied sestet.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate. |
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7
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Definition
A poem or stanza made of four lines.
Length
Four lines, either as a complete poem or as one stanza within a longer poem.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
Common rhyme schemes include ABAB, AABB, ABBA, and ABCB. Meter may be regular or free.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson
Because I could not stop for Death—
He kindly stopped for me—
The Carriage held but just Ourselves—
And Immortality. |
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8
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Definition
A poem that addresses and celebrates a person, object, place, idea, or experience.
Length
No fixed length. It is usually arranged in one or more developed stanzas.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
No single required scheme. Traditional odes often use elevated language, patterned stanzas, and formal meter.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats
My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk. |
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9
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Definition
Poetry shaped by natural speech, imagery, and line breaks rather than a required formal pattern.
Length
No fixed number of lines or stanzas.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
No required rhyme scheme or meter, though rhythm and sound remain important.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Song of Myself by Walt Whitman
I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume. |
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10
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Definition
A poem whose visual arrangement helps create its meaning or represents its subject.
Length
Any length. Lines are arranged to form a recognizable shape or visual pattern.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
No required rhyme scheme or meter. Shape, spacing, and placement carry part of the meaning.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Easter Wings by George Herbert
Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store,
Though foolishly he lost the same. |
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11
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Definition
A long narrative poem about heroic deeds, legendary journeys, or events important to a culture.
Length
Usually book-length and divided into books, cantos, or long sections.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
Traditional epics use elevated, regular meter. Rhyme depends on the language and tradition.
Famous Example or Excerpt
The Iliad by Homer, translated by Alexander Pope
Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring
Of woes unnumber'd, heavenly goddess, sing! |
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12
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Definition
Performance poetry written for a live audience and often judged in a poetry competition.
Length
No fixed stanza pattern. Competition performances are commonly limited to about three minutes.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
No required rhyme scheme or meter. Voice, timing, emphasis, and audience connection shape the rhythm.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Famous practitioner: Marc Smith
No public-domain slam excerpt is available because the form began in the 1980s. |
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13
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Definition
A compact five-line poem that builds one clear image or impression. However, Cinquain can be extended into multi-stanza poems.
Length
Five lines in one stanza.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
Usually unrhymed. The Crapsey cinquain follows a syllable pattern of 2-4-6-8-2.
Famous Example or Excerpt
November Night by Adelaide Crapsey
Listen...
With faint dry sound,
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost-crisp'd, break from the trees
And fall. |
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14
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Definition
A seven-line, diamond-shaped poem that describes one subject or moves between two contrasting subjects.
Length
Seven lines arranged in a diamond shape, commonly following a 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 word pattern.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
Usually unrhymed. Word classes follow a set pattern of nouns, adjectives, and participles.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Form created by: Iris Tiedt
Original PoetrySoup example:
Moon
Silver, silent
Rising, watching, wandering
Night, shadow, dawn, fire
Fading, warming, waking
Golden, bright
Sun |
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15
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Definition
A traditional Japanese poem that expands a brief image into a personal reflection or emotional response.
Length
Five lines in one stanza.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
Usually unrhymed. English versions commonly follow a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable pattern.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Poem 1 from One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each by Emperor Tenji
Coarse the rush-mat roof
Sheltering the harvest-hut
Of the autumn rice-field;
And my sleeves are growing wet
With the moisture dripping through. |
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16
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Definition
A brief, polished poem that ends with a witty, pointed, or memorable observation.
Length
Usually one short stanza of two to eight lines.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
No fixed meter, though rhyme and balanced phrasing are common.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Epigram Engraved on the Collar of a Dog by Alexander Pope
I am His Highness' dog at Kew;
Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you? |
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17
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Definition
A poem that expresses a speaker's feelings, perceptions, or state of mind rather than telling a full story.
Length
No fixed length or stanza pattern.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
No fixed rhyme scheme or meter, though musical sound and concentrated language are common.
Famous Example or Excerpt
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills. |
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18
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Definition
A poem that responds to, describes, or imaginatively enters a work of visual art.
Length
No fixed number of lines or stanzas.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
No required rhyme scheme or meter.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats
Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of silence and slow time. |
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19
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Definition
A complex form that repeats six end-words in a changing order to explore a subject from several angles.
Length
Thirty-nine lines: six six-line stanzas followed by a three-line envoi.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
No required rhyme. The six end-words recur in a fixed rotational order, often in iambic pentameter.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Sestina by Algernon Charles Swinburne
I saw my soul at rest upon a day
As a bird sleeping in the nest of night. |
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20
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Definition
A poem that tells a story through characters, action, setting, and often dialogue.
Length
No fixed length or stanza pattern.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
Rhyme and meter vary; the poem may be formal or written in free verse.
Famous Example or Excerpt
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore. |
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21
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Definition
Two consecutive lines that work together as a complete unit of thought.
Length
Two lines, either as a complete poem or as part of a longer work.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
Often AA rhyme. A heroic couplet uses rhymed iambic pentameter.
Famous Example or Excerpt
An Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope
True wit is nature to advantage dress'd;
What oft was thought, but ne'er so well express'd. |
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22
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Definition
Poetry written in sentences and paragraphs instead of verse lines while retaining poetic compression, imagery, and rhythm.
Length
Written as one or more prose paragraphs, with no required line breaks or stanza pattern.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
No required rhyme scheme or meter; sentence rhythm replaces line-based meter.
Famous Example or Excerpt
The Artist by Oscar Wilde
One evening there came into his soul the desire to fashion an image of The Pleasure that abideth for a Moment. |
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23
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Definition
Poetry composed for performance, where voice, pacing, gesture, and sound are central to the experience.
Length
No fixed line or stanza requirements. The written layout often supports breathing and performance cues.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
No required rhyme scheme or meter. Repetition, internal rhyme, and strong rhythmic phrasing are common.
Famous Example or Excerpt
If We Must Die by Claude McKay
If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot. |
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24
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Definition
A story poem told in direct, memorable language, often involving love, loss, adventure, or folklore.
Length
No fixed total length. It is commonly built from four-line stanzas.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
Traditional ballad stanzas often alternate four and three stresses with an ABCB or ABAB rhyme scheme.
Famous Example or Excerpt
La Belle Dame sans Merci by John Keats
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering? |
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25
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Definition
A poem made by selecting and rearranging words from an existing source text.
Length
No fixed length or stanza pattern. The source words are reused without adding substantial new wording.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
No required rhyme scheme or meter. The poet creates form through selection, order, spacing, and omission.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Famous example: The Unknown by Hart Seely
No excerpt is included because the arranged poem is copyrighted. |
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26
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Definition
A repeating form in which lines return in a braided pattern, allowing their meaning to shift with each new context.
Length
Any number of four-line stanzas. Traditional versions bring opening lines back in the final stanza.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
Often ABAB, with the second and fourth lines of each stanza becoming the first and third lines of the next.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Harmonie du soir by Charles Baudelaire
Voici venir les temps où vibrant sur sa tige
Chaque fleur s'évapore ainsi qu'un encensoir. |
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27
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Definition
A poem that presents rural life, shepherds, or nature, often as a setting for love or reflection.
Length
No fixed line or stanza requirements.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
No single required rhyme scheme or meter.
Famous Example or Excerpt
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe
Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove. |
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28
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Definition
A sequence of rubai, or Persian-style quatrains, often reflecting on love, fate, time, and mortality.
Length
One or more independent four-line stanzas.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
Each quatrain commonly uses an AABA rhyme scheme.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam by Omar Khayyam, translated by Edward FitzGerald
Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night
Hath flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight. |
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29
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Definition
A Persian verse form built from rhyming couplets, often used for long stories, spiritual teaching, or romance.
Length
Any number of two-line couplets, often extending to great length.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
Each couplet has its own rhyme: AA BB CC and so on. Meter normally remains consistent.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Masnavi by Jalal al-Din Rumi, translated by E. H. Whinfield
Hearken to the reed-flute, how it complains,
Lamenting its banishment from its home. |
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30
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Definition
Unrhymed poetry written in a regular meter, most often iambic pentameter.
Length
No fixed length or stanza structure.
Rhyme Scheme or Meter
No rhyme scheme. English blank verse usually uses five iambic feet per line.
Famous Example or Excerpt
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer. |