Types of Poetry

Acrostic Poetry:

In Acrostic poems, the first letters of each line are aligned vertically to form a word. The word often is the subject of the poem.

Example:

Loves to play on the computer

Always humorous

Unique in every way

Running, jumping, tumbling at gym

Exceptionally bright

Learner

Cinquain Poetry:

Cinquain poems are five lines long with a certain number of syllables or words in each. Cinquain poems do not rhyme. There are many ways to write cinquain poems. Here is an example of one cinquain pattern.

Line 1: Title - one word or two syllables
Line 2: Description or example of the title - 2 words or four syllables
Line 3: Action about the title - a 3 word phrase or six syllables
Line 4: a 4 word phrase describing a feeling about the title or 8 syllables
Line 5: Synonym for the title - one word - 2 syllables

Line 1: Panther

Line 2: Sleek, graceful
Line 3: Running, hiding, emerging
Line 4: Happy to be free
Line 5: Cat

Couplets:

The couplet is the easiest of the verse forms. It consists of two lines with an end rhyme.

Example:

Grandmother sits in her old rocking chair.

She rocks and she rocks all day there.

Diamante:

Diamante poems are easy poems to write. You need to think of a subject and its opposite and then follow the format listed below:

First line: one word (subject).

Second line: two adjectives describing the subject

Third line: three words ending in -ing telling about the subject

Fourth line: four words, the first two describe the subject and the last two describe its opposite

Fifth line: three words ending in -ing telling about the opposite

Sixth line: two adjectives describing the opposite

Seventh line: one word (opposite from the first line)

Haiku:

A form of centuries old Japanese poetry that consists of seventeen syllables and has nature as its subject or theme. Haiku is very short and has a 5-7-5 syllable structure with 5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second line, and 5 syllables in the third line. With just a couple of words, haiku poetry conveys emotion. It suggests that the reader look and listen to the world.

Example:

As I lay and gaze
Blue skies and white clouds
Billowing high above me

Tanka:

Tanka is another form of Japanese poetry that consists of 31 syllables (5-7-5-7-7). The themes for Tanka are love, nature, seasons, and friendships,

Here is an example of Tanka:

Wind

Wind blowing my face

Making my cheeks rosy red

It's biting my nose

And chilling through all my bones

It is pushing me along