This document discusses different forms and structures of poetry. It begins by explaining that poems use arrangement and literary devices to create emotion. Lines in poems may be incomplete thoughts and the arrangement defines the form. A stanza is a group of lines that follow a rhyme scheme throughout the poem. Common stanza patterns include couplets and quatrains. A couplet contains two rhyming lines that usually express a complete idea. A sonnet is 14 lines addressing an idea or problem and resolving it in the final lines. Free verse has no set rhythm or rhyme. Haiku uses three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables in the present tense. Acrostic poems use the first letter of each line to spell a word

1. Understanding
Poetry:
Form and
Structure 1

2. Reminder
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Poems are
writing that is chosen and arranged to create a
certain emotional response through meaning,
sound, and rhythm

3. Lines in a poem
May be short or long.
Are NOT necessarily complete sentences or even
complete thoughts!
The arrangement of lines, spacing, and whether or not
the lines rhyme in some manner, can define the FORM
of a poem.
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4. A verse or stanza is:
A group of lines whose rhyme scheme is usually
followed throughout the poem.
A division in poetry like a paragraph in prose.
Common stanza patterns include couplets, triplets,
quatrains, etc.
Free-verse poems follow no rules regarding where to
divide stanzas.
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5. Couplet
• Two lines that rhyme.
• A complete idea is usually expressed in a couplet, or
in a long poem made up of many couplets.
• Couplets may be humorous or serious.
E.g. Chocolate candy is sweet and yummy
It goes down smoothly in my tummy!
Unknown
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6. Lyric Poetry: Sonnet
Most sonnets are in a fixed form of 14 lines.
A sonnet presents an idea or problem and then
towards the end provides an answer or solution.
The theme of the poem is summed up in the last
two lines.
Can be about any subject, but usually are about love
or a philosophical problem
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7. Example of a Sonnet
Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802
BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
Earth has not any thing to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still! 7

8. Free Verse
• Lines of poetry written without rules; no regular beat or rhyme.
• Unrhymed poetry.
• Example:
That kind of magic
Doesn’t come along often
It’s reserved for best friends,
Kindred spirits,
Harry Potter books
and homemade chocolate cake on a rainy Sunday afternoon
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9. Haiku
• A Japanese form of poetry;
• Three lines in total: one line of five syllables; one line of
seven syllables; and a final line of five syllables.
• Fragments
• Written in the present tense.
• Much is implied but left unsaid.
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10. Haiku
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11. Acrostic Poems
• A poem in which the first letter of each line
spells out a word or message.
• M is for the million things she gave me
O means only that she’s growing old
T is for the tears she shed to save me
H is for her heart of purest gold
E is for her eyes with love-light shining
R means right and right she’ll always be
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12. In closing
• All poems contain a form and a structure.
• Form and structure enhance a poem’s meaning.
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