Types of Poetry Project

I am going to challenge myself. There are about 51 types of poetry. My goal is to write at least one poem for each kind. I’m sure that I’ve written a poem before for some of these poetry types, but I am going to start from scratch. On this page, I am going to list the types of poetry that I have already written. Remember, it all starts today, so any other previous writings that I’ve done does not count.

You may click on the letters in bold if you wish to read my attempts at writing that particular type of poetry. I hope you have fun checking it out. If you’re a pet, you may want to give yourself the same challenge, or you can give yourself a bigger one. Let’s see where my writing takes me. *wink*

ABC

• a poem that has five lines which create mood, picture, or feeling.
• lines 1 through 4 are made up of words, phrases or clauses while the first word of each line is in alphabetical order.
• line 5 is one sentence long and begins with any letter.

Acrostic

• a type of poetry where certain letters, usually the first in each line, form a word or message when read in a sequence.

Ballad

• a poem that tells a story, similar to a folk tale or legend, which often has a repeated refrain.

Blank Verse

• A blank verse is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Cinquain

• Poetry with five lines.
• Line 1 has one word (the title).
• Line 2 has two words that describe the title.
• Line 3 has three words that tell the action.
• Line 4 has four words that express the feeling, and line 5 has one word which recalls the title.

Haiku

• A Japanese poem composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five morae, usually containing a season word.

Shakespearean

• A 14-line sonnet consisting of three quatrains of abab cdcd efef followed by a couplet, gg.
• Shakespearean sonnets generally use iambic pentameter.