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    • Types Of Poetry

    Types of Poetry

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    Poetic form refers to rules followed by different types of poems. The rules may describe the rhythm of the poem, the length of a poem, its rhyming scheme, the use of alliteration, or the poem’s shape on a page. Don’t know your cento from your cinquain? The following sites explain all.

    		Types of Poetry Resource Handout for Classroom or Homeschool: Just $2.00

    Infoplease.com: Glossary of Poetry Terms4 stars

    From "accent" to "verse," Infoplease defines nearly a hundred poetry terms and forms. If you visit in April, you'll find a link in the left-hand column to National Poetry Month. There you'll find an eclectic assortment of poetry features, including Notable Poets, Quizzes, Poetry Collections organized by poet, and lists of Poetry Awards and Poet Laureates. Don't miss the Meter, Rhyme Scheme and Forms of Poetry Quiz.

    Poetry4Kids: Poetry Writing Lessons for Kids5 stars

    Poet Kenn Nesbitt offers dozens of "How to Write" guides to poetic forms. Forms covered include free verse, tongue twister, funny list, clerihew, haiku, playing with your food, and tanka. "Tanka, which means 'short song,' has been an important literary form in Japanese culture for nearly a thousand years. The original Japanese form of tanka had only one line of poetry containing 31 speech sounds – what we would call syllables. However, most tanka poems that are written in English today are broken into five poetic lines with a certain number of syllables in each line."

    Poets.org: Resources for Teachers5 stars

    In glossary format, Poets.org defines thirty poetic forms from "abecedarian" to "villanelle," but doesn't stop there. Each entry is linked to a longer article that provides more detail and example poems. If you are in the mood to meander, each article also contains links to various poets, poems, and external websites. "The influence of haiku on Pound is most evident in his poem 'In a Station of the Metro,' which began as a thirty-line poem, but was eventually pared down to two: 'The apparition of these faces in the crowd; / Petals on a wet, black bough.'"

    Shadow Poetry: Types of Poetry5 stars

    Shadow Poetry is a writers' support site whose goal it is to help poets improve their writing skills and increase their knowledge of poetry forms. This section of their site defines fifty types of poems, and illustrates them with sample poems from their members. In addition to the traditional forms (such as ballad and sonnet), they also list twenty-eight forms invented by their members. Perhaps these new poetic forms will inspire you to try your hand at creating a new form of poetry!

    		Types of Poetry Resource Handout for Classroom or Homeschool: Just $2.00



    Honorable Mentions

    The following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy!

    30 Days of Poetry

    Book Riot: Different Types of Poems

    Poem of Quotes: Types of Poems

    Teach-nology: Step-by-step Forms of Poetry Worksheets


    Cite This Page

    Feldman, Barbara. "Types of Poetry." Surfnetkids. Feldman Publishing. 6 Apr. 2021. Web. 16 Feb. 2025. <https://www.surfnetkids.com/resources/types-of-poetry/ >.


    About This Page

    By . Originally published April 6, 2021. Last modified January 17, 2023.

    Filed Under: Language Arts, Reference, Poetry

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