10 types of poetry

by Ana @ The Writer Today

I love poetry and I enjoy writing poems. Usually, I like to make my poems rhyme. To me they are quick to write and I usually convey a feeling or emotion in my poems. A friend of mine shared this poetry guide which outlines the different types of poems you can write. It is a good writing exercise too.

1. Acrostic – A poem where the first letter of each line spells a word that can be read vertically.
2. I am – A three-stanza poem made up of six lines (total 18 lines). Add a verb to each line.
3. Quatrain – A four-line poem. The ending words of each line create the rhyme scheme.
4. Limerick – A limerick is a humorous nonsense verse consisting of a triplet and couplet, making it a five line poem. Lines one, two, and five are the triplet and rhyme. Lines three and four a rhyming couplet.
5. Free Verse 1 – Poetry that is written without rhyme. Needs to be 10 lines. Must include 1 simile and 1 onomatopoeia. SIMILE-a figure of speech in which things are compared using the words “like” or “as”. ONOMATOPOEIA-words that sound like the objects are actions they refer to.
6. Cinquain – A type of poetry in which the first line has ONE word (noun), the second line has TWO words describing the first line (adjective), the THIRD line shows action with three words or a phrase (verbs), the FOURTH line has four words that convey feeling, and the FIFTH line has a word that refers to line one (synonym).
7. Haiku – A three lined Japanese poem about nature. The first line has five syllables. The second line has seven syllables. The third line has five syllables.
8. Concrete Poem – Concrete poems combine words and shapes to create powerful auditory and visual image. Concrete poems are basic poems that take some sort of shape. Needs to be 10 lines.
9. Free Verse 2 – Needs to be 10 lines. Must include 1 metaphor and 1 alliteration. METAPHOR-a figure of speech in which things are compared by stating that one thing is another. (Does not use like or as). ALLITERATION-repetition of words with the same beginning sounds.
10. Personification – A figure of speech in which objects or animals are given human qualities. Need to be 10 lines with 2 examples of personification.