Poetry Verse and Form
Autonomous Poetry
Celtic Poetry
Poetry Forms of the Orient
Repeating Forms
Three Line Poetry
Four Line Poetry
Five Line Poetry
Six Line Poetry
Seven Line Poetry
Eight Line Poetry
Nine Line Poetry
Ten Line Poetry
Sonnets
Listed below are all the poetry forms including the variations in alphabetical order.
[A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z]
A
An acrostic poem is a poem where certain letters in each line spell out a word or phrase. Typically, the first letters of each line are used to spell the message, but they can appear anywhere.
The Alfred Dorn sonnet is a verse form created for a "Formalist" sonnet contest running since 1980. The contest rules required the applicants to create a new sonnet form. The winning sonnet form is named for the poet who created it, in this case, American poet, Alfred Dorn.
The elements of the Alfred Dorn Sonnet are:
1. the quatorzain is made up of an Italian Sestet and a Sicilian Sestet bridged by a rhymed couplet.
2. metered, iambic pentameter.
3. rhymed, abcabc dd aeaeae (note "a" is a linking rhyme between the 2 sestets)
Example:
Obsession
[An Alfred Dorn sonnet]
As candles gently glow in amber light
The picture centered high upon the wall
appears to take a life form of its own.
Yet, thoughts of her are stronger on this night.
He views her fleeting image in the hall,
as he sits drunk, contented and alone.
He rises, sets the glass upon the sink.
She appears only when he takes a drink.
Yet thoughts of her are stronger on this night
He stumbles through the hall to hesitate
then tremble as his body chokes with fright
to see her form begin to levitate,
sprout angels’ wings then suddenly take flight,
while he remains to curse the hand of fate.
The American sonnet is a looser, more musical and inventive variation than its traditional counterpart. Having no required rhyme scheme or specific meter, the poet has freedom to innovate their own constraints within 14 lines.
The Arabian sonnet is a Sonnet variation composed of two quatrains and two tercets. It has an interesting rhyming pattern which is:
a,a,a,a
b,b,b,b
c,c,c
d,d,d
Arabian Sonnets are metered at 10 syllables per line.
The lines are composed of iambic pentameters (this is one thing I didn’t strictly follow in the example below, like many others, as it tends to bridle inspiration a bit too much!)
It also has a volta — simply meaning a turn or climax in the sonnet.
The volta is on line 9.
Example:
Brigitte Poirson
[“An Arabian sonnet”, 2015]
We never found a way under his sway.
The elephant trampled us in the fray.v
At Lion’s carnal feast we did fall a prey.
The sun blinds us, but we still feel no ray.
For his sake, burning, we flared in his lie.
And his forceful flood left us high and dry.
His shady plot though stared us in our aye.
His sky made us vie to die, not to fly.
He was only bound by our own promise
To follow him and grow in common bliss!
His sweet song was but insane serpent’s bliss!
Over our heads past and future gather.
In the desert we share manna, yonder,
Where angels and beasts will live together.
An aubade is a morning love song (as opposed to a serenade, intended for performance in the evening), or a song or poem about lovers separating at dawn. It has also been defined as "a song or instrumental composition concerning, accompanying, or evoking daybreak".
B
The Balassi Stanza is attributed to Bálint Balassi (1554-1594) who is probably Hungary's best known Renaissance poet. His work included poetry about his battles with the Turks and his love poems to a woman he called Julia. His poetry was known for the richness of its forms and was a blend of Turkish, Polish and Hungarian folk poetry.
It is believed that this stanza form was used by the Hungarian poet Balint Balassi, who rationalised it from a three line form consisting of 19 syllables per line, and broke it up by the use of internal rhymes.
This evolved into a rhyme scheme as follows
x. x. x. x. x. a.
x. x. x. x. x. a.
x. x. x. x. x. x. d
x. x. x. x. x. b
x. x. x. x. x. b
x. x. x. x. x. x. d
x. x. x. x. x. c
x. x. x. x. x. c
x. x. x. x. x. x. d
Source: http://www.thepoetsgarret.com/2007Challenge/eyt.html
Example:
Fun to Watch (Balassi Stanza)
Tournament basketball
is winter's gift from fall.
I went just to watch the best.
A lady sat in front;
her stature made me want
to miss plays and watch her chest.
Her skin was silky smooth
as any point guard's move,
which I missed, it's now confessed.
© Lawrencealot - January 11, 2013
Balassi Stanza Visual Template
