Full rhyme - sleep, deep
Slant rhyme - feed, dream, hall, hell.
Non rhyme - free verse, blank verse

Free Verse Poem

- not blank verse
- no regular lines or length, any metre no rhyme

We changed his linen before the other children woke, wondered
if empty bed would hurt less than his pain.
A check at dawn revealed
indents in fresh sheets
where earlier his trunk and limbs had pressed,
head hollow in the pillow.

Blank Verse

- unrhymed iambic pentameter
- structured, even form
- runs lines freely into the following or to break lines in the middle

Heroic blank verse 'Michael' by Wordsworth

There is a comfort in the strength of love;
'Twill make a thing endurable, which else
Would overset the brain, or break the heart;
I have conversed with more than one who well
Remember the Old Man, and what he was
Years after he had heard this heavy news.

Rhyme

Dramatic blank verse 'Fra Lippi Lippo'by Browning

I am poor brother Lippo, by your leave!
You need not clap your torches to my face.
Zooks, what's to blame? you think you see a monk!
What, tis past midnight, and you go the rounds,
Where sportive ladies leave their doors ajar?
The Carmine's my cloister: hunt it up,
Do - harry out, if you must show your zeal,
Whatever rat, there, haps on his wrong hole,
And nip each softling of a wee white mouse,
Weke, weke, that's crept to keep him company!

Couplets

- two line stanzas
- any line length, metre,
- rhyme - full, slant or no rhyme

a 'Twas the night before Christmas, the season of peace,
a When all should by merry save turkeys and geese.
b But despite their intentions to rest, share goodwill,
b One family found there was work to do still.
c Mum had bought all the presents a month back or more,
c But still they were scattered, unwrapped, on the floor.
d The kids cut the paper in pieces too small...etc.

Quatrains

- group of four lines
- can be a couplete poem or a stanze
- any line length, rhyme and metre
 

Ballad Stanza

- quatrain
- usually iambic metre, 4 feet 1st & 3rd line, 3 feet 2nd & 4th line
- 2nd and 4th lines rhyme

x No matter that the bell had rung
a To summon her to school,
x She caught a bus the other way,
a And broke the teacher's rule.

- French from Middle Ages used in hymns
- in couplet or quatrain stanzas
- refrain in the 4th line
- refrain may be a line, word or phrase
- usually iambic tetrameter

a Dim shadows, moving through the past
a jolt me, and memories flooding fast
b swamp all my thoughts. I fix my eye
B beyond the clouds to dark, full sky.

c No man shall ever touch my dreams;
c my veins bleed dust of arid streams.
b No man shall ever hear my cry
B beyond the clouds to dark, full sky..

or

a This is the perfect winter day
b with wind to wisp the clouds, a glare
a of low sun breaking from the grey,
B a hint of frost to charge the air..

c No time to linger; hurry down
b familiar paths through woods to where
c green icy waves, unceasing, pound
Band fling their spume to charge the air..

Triolet

- eight lines
- orig. France
- two rhymes
- 1st line recurs at lines 4 and 7
- 2nd line reappears as the last line
- iambic pentameter or tetrameter

Whirlpool

A Wild water whirls in circles, swirls
B and drags its surface down to caverns deep
a beneath the crystal bubble columns, pearls
A wild water whirls in circles, swirls
a froths, eddies thrust out crested plumes and curls
b to draw each living thing to lasting sleep.
A Wild water whirls in circles, swirls
B and drags its surface down to caverns deep.

Chaucerian Roundel

- 10 lines
- 2 rhymes
- full line repetition
- 3 stanzas
- 1st line recurring at the end

Manhunt

A You have to kiss a lot of frogs
b before you find a handsome prince
b Mere froggy speech will not convince

a this princess to search under logs
b and lily pads. It makes me wince,
A to have to kiss a lot of frogs.

a It could be worse, if rats or hogs
b were forms used to disguise a prince.
b But I shall not be looking, since
A you have to kiss a lot of frogs.

Rondeau

- orig. French
- 3 stanzas
- refrain - 1st word or phrase
- full lines none repeated
- any single length and metre

Silver Ring

a I dropped my ring; watched ripples crease a line
a of iced black water, give the only sign
b of movement in the stillness of this cave.
b I stooped, as if I thought that I could save
a my ring from slipping through earth's fissured spine

a In truth, my clumsiness was by design.
a The subterranean channels of the mine
b were tomb black, hushed and colder than the grave.
R I dropped my ring.

a When I am long gone, then my ring will shine,
a reborn and new discovered, crystalline
b reminder I once trod this timeless wave
b whose tide change grips us all. For this I gave
a your gift, full circle, love and soul entwined.
R I dropped my ring.

Villanelle

- orig. song of French countryside
- 2 rhymes
- regular refrains
- any single line length and metre
- odd number of tercets followed by a quatrain
- rhyming 1st and last lines of the stanza recur alternately as closing line of each stanza and together as a couplet at the end
- 2nd line of all stanzas rhyme with each other

Seascape

A1 My son had never seen the sea before.
b   I chose this perfect, heat stained August day,
A2 He reveled in the treasures of the shore.

a   He took delight in everything he saw,
b   and paddled in the ripples of the bay.
A1 My son had never seen the sea before.

a   He heard a seashell echo water's roar
b   and sifted sand from spade to bucket, play
A2 he reveled in the treasures of the shore,

a   of seaweed, crab and driftwood made store,
b   a hoard for home. I told him not to stray.
A1 My son had never seen the sea before.

a   I should have watched more carefully, made sure.
b   I should have known that he would creep away.
A2 He reveled in the treasures of the shore.

a   I knew, before they gave up looking for
b   my child, the breakers gorged themselves on prey.
A1 My son had never seen the sea before.
A2 He reveled in the treasures of the shore.

Shakespearian Sonnet

- 14 lines
- final couplet sum up the poem
- iambic pentameter

Blurred Image

a I paint my pictures, place them on the floor,
b my board and canvas covering cold tiles.
a I nail my palette high behind the door.
b compose my other self in mock-real smiles.
c You burst into my room. Your footprints sink
d impressions in the tar of paint, half-dried;
c and as you shift your weight the imprints link
d in chains which double, oozing squat and wide.
e You lie across my pictures, find your ease
f by molding tints and textures into one
e blurred image, change my colours as you please,
f distort my shapes, blot out my skies, my sun.
g I leave in silence, lock the door to find
g a larger screen than I have left behind.

- quatrain, Arabic
- iambic tetrameter or pentameter

a The Moving Finger Writes, and having writ,
a Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
x Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
a Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it

(from Edward Fitzgerald's translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.)

Pantoum

- Malayan verse used in Europ at beg. noneteenth cent.
- series of quatrains
- any length lines and any meter
- lines 2 and 4 are repetons become lines 1 and 3 of next stanza
- 2nd and 4th lines of final stanza are 3rd and 1st lines of 1st stanza

Still Jjourneying

A1 It came to pass an age ago,
B1 the journey of those nightmare days.
A2 Now there is nothing left to show,
B2 no star where we can fix our gaze.

B1 The journey of those nightmare days
C1 held promises of coming light.
B2 No star where we can fix our gaze
C2 remains to prove the sky-child's might.

C1 Held promises of coming light
D1 filtered away as grains of sand,
C2 remains to prove the sky-child's might
D2 all blown as dust across the land.

D1 Filtered away as grains of sand,
E1 the gifts we gave are lost. Our prayer
D2 all blown as dust across the land,
E2 ignored? we ask from deep despair.

E1 The gifts we gave are lost, our prayer
F1 forgotten. Is our ancient pride
E2 ignored? We ask from deep despair
F2 if birth was born, or if death died.

F1 Forgotten is our ancient pride.
A2 Now there is nothing left to show
F2 if birth was born or if death died.
A1 It came to pass an age ago.

Rondel

- medieval French
- 2 rhymes
- 1st and 2nd lines are refrains (recurring at precise intervals more than once)
- 14 lines
- any length and metre
- 3 stanzas

14th April, 1912

A The people thought their rescuers would come.
B This ship was safer than the frozen sea,
b so passengers ignored the Captain's plea,
a Unsinkable, this ship would not succumb.

a Ripped open by the ice, she still had some
b faint hope of floating. They would soon be free,
A the people thought, Their rescuers would come,
B This ship was safer than the frozen sea.

a Iced inrush jarred her equilibrium
b until she foundered. Then too late to flee
b her passengers screamed their last agony,
a fell silent as a black flood struck them dumb.
A the people thought their rescuers would come-
B This ship was safer than the frozen sea.

Terza Rima

- Italian, used by Dante in his Divine Comedy
- rhyming from one stanza to the next
- written in tercets (stanzas of three lines)
- closes with a single line or couplet
- any length and meter
- iambic pentameter
- 14 line

Good Shepherd

a Yes, I was there the night the heavens rang
b with angel song and dazzled us below.
a I heard each syllable the spirits sang,

b and, yes, I heard them order us to go.
c If I had gone, who would have watched the flock?
b My favourite ewe was lame and pregnant, so

c I had no wish to leave her. And the stock
d is valuable. What if thieves should find
c our beasts? I waited, heard the morning cock

d crow distant sunrise. All at once my mind
e swarmed with portentous murmurings of deep
d betrayal. Was I wrong to stay behind?

e No minute of that night was spent in sleep,
e Good shepherd. I would die to save my sheep.
 

Petrarchan Sonnet

- Italian named after Petrarch
- 14 lines
- iambic pentameter
- octave 8 lines open the poem and sestet the final 6 lines

Sea Dream

a I walked beneath the sea in dreams last night.
b I felt my feet fall, sinking in wet sand.
b Fish single, shoaled, swam by me. I could stand
a and breathe and speak, could see by cobalt light
a weed ribbons, water fossilled wood bleached white.
b rock crops rough-fingered my, shells pearled hand
b sea wrack bound up my hair. salt seared its brand
a to burn me. Water weight pressed me to flight.

c I woke in terror of the fantasy,
d retched wavelets from my lungs, ripped from my hair
e green strands, knew dread of gaping sunken caves.
c And yet some siren drag of ecstasy
d caught me, forced fear aside, wailed out, 'Beware -
e your fate lurks, beckoning, below the waves.'

Cinquain

- unrhymed American
- devised by poet Adelaide Crapsey
- 5 lines
- iambic metre

I see
a shadow on
my mirror, looking past
reflection, warning winter comes -
my ghost.

Rictameter

- unrhymed
- begins and starts with the same word
- meter beat of 2,4,6,8,10,8,6,4,2

Written by Nancy Russell, Canada

Haiku

- Japanese
- syllabic form
- tercet
- 5 syllables in 1st line, 7 in 2nd line, 5 in 3rd line
- examine something of the universe

Robins burn scarlet
against monochrome of frost -
exhorting the sun.

Clogyrnach

- Welsh syllabic
- any length stanza pattern

a Christmas trees are fascinating
a for a kitten, crouched and waiting
b to pounce. She pulls claws,
b pats mischievous paws,
b frees baubles, (slant)
a starts chasing.

- intended to be sung
- short lines, light rhyme
- concluding couplet

'Love Song' from Beaumont and Fletcher's Valentinian:

Now the lustry Spring is seen,
Golden yellow, gaudy Blue,
Daintily invite the view,
Every where, on every Green,
Roses blushing as they blow,
And enticing men to pull,
Lilies whither than the snow,
Woodbines of sweet honey full.
All Love's Emblems and all cry,
Ladies, if not pluck't we die.

- set structure, to celebrate a person or place or situation in elevated style

Wordsworth's Ode: 'Intimations of Immortality':

The Rainbow comes and goes,
And lovely is the Rose,
The Moon doth with delight
Look round her when the heavens are bare,
Waters on a starry night
Are beautiful and fair;
The sunshine is a glorious birth;
But yet I know, where'er I go,
That there hath passed away a glory from the earth.

Visual

D. H. Lawrence, 'Bavarian Gentians':

Bavarian gentians, big and dark, only dark
darkening the daytime torch like with the smoking blueness of
Pluto's gloom,
ribbed and torch like, with their blaze of darkness spreading blue

Aural

Wilfred Owen, 'anthem for doomed Youth':

Only the stuttering rifles rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.

Personfifaction

When and inanimate object or abstract idea is attributed with feelings, thoughts or sensations normally associated with living creatures.

Shelley's

Swiftly walk oe'r the western wave.
Spirit of Night

or

Rough wind that moanest loud..
..Wail for the world's wrong

Hyperbole

Use of deliberate exaggeration.

Marvel, 'To His Coy Mistress':

An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes, and on they Forehead Gaze.
Two hundred to adore each Breast:
But thirty thousand to the rest.

Tactile

Coleridge, 'Ancient Mariner':

And every tongue, through utter drought,
Was withered at the root;
We could not speak, no more than if
We had been choked with soot.

Keats, 'Eve of St. Agnes':

With jellies soother than the creamy curd,
And lucent syrups, tinct with cinnamon'
Manna and dates, in argosy transferred
From Fez; and spiced dainties, every one,
From silken Samarcand to cedard Lebanon...

Metaphor

A word made to stand for something different from its usual, literal meaning.

G. M. Hopkins, ' The Windhover':

I caught this morning morning's minion, king -
dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-drawn-drawn Falcon...

Simile

A comparison - use 'like' or 'as'

W. B. Yeats, 'Long-legged Fly':

Like a long-egged fly upon the stream
His mind moves upon silence.

Assonance

A repeated vowel sound.

The song of Autolycus in Shakespeare's Winter's Tale:

The lark, that tirra-Lyrra chants,
With heigh, with heigh, the thrush and jay

Alliteration

A repetition of the same consonant sound.

Tennyson, 'In Memoriam':

Calm on the seas, and silver sleep,
And waves that sway themselves in rest...

Onomatopoeia

Words that, in some way, sound like or enact their meaning.

'crash', 'scream', 'stutter'.

D. H. Lawrence, 'Piano':

A child under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings.

Metre - a calculated measure that gives rhythm.
Metre - a number of measures (feet) in a line.
Foot - order of accented and unaccented syllables.
/ = accented x = unaccented

Pronouncement of the English language makes an iambic metre.
x     /   x   /    x        /  x     /
before again demand ascend

Metres
monometer    1 feet per line
dimeter        2 feet per line
trimeter
tetrameter
pentameter
hexameter
heptameter
octameter

2-syllable feet
iambus    x/    report, amaze
trochee    /x    careful, whether
pyrrhic    xx    in a, to the
spondee    //    full flow, pack horse

3-syllable feet
anapaest    xx/    recommend, up a tree
dactyl    /xx    character, paperback
amphibrach    x/x    forgetful, depending
amphimacer    /x/    cap in hand, yesterday
bacchic    //x    blue heaven, sea bathing
anti-bacchic    x//    an old dress, by deep streams
tribrach    xxx    if it is, and as a
molossus    ///    ball point pen, wild grey sea

iambic
x /   x         /   x       /    x  /
I go to watch the ships today.

trochaic
/      x     /     x     /   x   /     x
Going dwon today and watching.