Poetry Style Notes

1. Free Verse

    - contains sensory details

     - can be written from an animals point of view

     - has no rhyming or line requirements

2. Haiku

    - originate in Japan

     - 3 lines long

     - 17 syllables (5, 7, 5)

     - focus on nature; seasonal words or phrases

     - does not rhyme

3. Limerick

    - 5 lines long

    - 1st, 2nd and 5th lines rhyme

    - 3rd and 4th lines rhyme and are shorter

    - originated in France

    - almost 300 years ago

    - has a rhyme or beat

4. Cinquain

    - 5 lines long

     - Latin (for 5)

     - reads as one sentence

     - 22 syllables (2, 4, 6, 8, 2)

    -Line 1: noun, Line 2: description of a noun

    Line 3: action, Line 4: feeling or effect

    Line 5: synonym of initial noun

5. Clerihew

    - 4 lines long

    - pokes fun at a celebrity

    - lines 1 and 2 rhyme (AA)

    - lines 3 and 4 rhyme (BB)

    - English origin

6. Acrostic

    - Greek origin

    - line poem

    - name poem

    - 1 word or phrase

7. Concrete

    - picture poem

    - originate in Europe

8. Found

    - found in essays, quotes, sayings, songs, etc.

9. Tanka

    - originate in Japan

    - means "short poem"

    - 31 syllables (5, 7, 5, 7, 7)

    -5 lines

    - similes/ metaphors

10. Senryu

    - Haiku with an attitude

    - originated in Japan

    - human nature

    - humerous

    -does not rhyme

    -3 lines long

    - found in coffee houses as contests

11. Ballad

    - song about heroes

    - 4 line stanzas

    - 2nd and 4th lines rhyme

12. Blues

    - originated in Africa

    - came to America in the slave fields

    - spirited song

    - 3 long lines or 6 short line stanzas