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Poetry Terms
Couplet: 2 lines of poetry that have rhyming end words
Triplet: 3 lines of poetry that can rhyme in various ways
Quatrain: 4 lines of poetry that rhyme in various ways
3 genres of poetry:
1. Narrative Poetry : A poem that tells a story or recounts events. Has a plot,
characters, and setting.
2. Dramatic Poetry : Also tells a story, but focuses on a single character.
3. Lyric Poetry : Presents the thoughts and feelings of a single speaker.
Types of Poetry
Ballad: a type of narrative poem that tells a story. A ballad is meant to be sung or
recited. Usually has a regular pattern of rhythm and rhyme.
Epic: A long narrative poem about the adventures of a hero whose actions reflect
ideals and values.
Ode: a happy poem, 6 lines or more, to celebrate or show praise for someone or
something.
Elegy: a poem written for someone who has died, to celebrate his or her life
Sonnet: A poem with a formal structure, containing 14 lines and a specific
rhyming scheme and meter.
The 14 lines are arranged as 3 quatrains, followed by a couplet.
The quatrains establish the idea. The final couplet usually serves a summary
statement, a final comment, or a philosophical stance.
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130.
Haiku: a 3line poem, lines containing 575 syllables.
Limerick: a 5line joke of a poem, with a specific rhythm and rhyming scheme.
Couplets
The Smart TwoLiners
The binding together of two things, as in a pair, can be called a couplet. In verse
writing, a couplet is a verse composed of two lines (length depends on the writer)
and most typically appearing in rhymed fashion. Couplets can be simple or
sophisticated.
Example:
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.
-Shakespeare
• Song writers are modern poets
• Ballads deal with social issues like:
1. materialistic values
2. human relationships
3. loneliness and alienation
4. love and commitment
5. war and peace
6. social injustice
7. personal experiences
8. current events
• Ballads are simple narrative poems (poems that tell a story) which may be sung.
• The ballad stanza
Traditional ballads are written in quatrains and have the abab or abcb rhyme
scheme.
In small groups, please answer the following questions about the song lyrics you
brought in today:
1. What is the song about?
2. What social issues are discussed?
3. Is there a rhyme scheme? If so, what is it?
4. What poetic devices are used?
Quatrains
Fancy FourLiners
A quatrain is a poem written in four line stanzas rhymed or unrhymed. When
rhymed, it allows for a variety of rhyming patterns, such as: aabb, abab, abcb, aaaa,
etc. Quatrains are extremely common in verse writing.
Quatrains can be simple or complex with a variety of rhyming patterns. They can
reflect ordinary events in life or profound thoughts.
Example:
He tossed the pizza oh so high (a)
Over his head, up toward the sky (a)
My stomach churned with sheer disgust (b)
To see the pizza hit the dust (b)
G. Lipson
Indicate the rhyming scheme of the following quatrain:
I had a very nasty scheme
I dreamed it in a wicked dream
To point my trusty laser beam
And turn the villains all to steam.
G. Lipson
Again, show the rhyming scheme:
Hippety hop to the barber shop
To get a stick of candy,
One for you and one for me,
And one for Sister Mandy.
Mother Goose
Triplets
Snappy ThreeLiners
The triplet can be rhymed or unrhymed. When rhymed it allows for a variety of
rhyming patterns: aaa, aab, aba, abb.
Example:
Higher than a house, (a)
Higher than a tree, (b)
Oh! Whatever can that be? (b)
Mother Goose
The lines of a triplet can be the same length or they may differ in length. They can
reflect beautiful thoughts or ordinary events.
Example:
Buddies
My friend is mad
He wouldn’t play
Instead he only ran away.
G. Lipson
Rover
I mourn my dog.
I’m not ashamed
To say I loved him.
Scanning a Poem
2 parts
1. Indicate the rhyming scheme
2. Identify and mark the rhythm
Meter- creates a poem’s rhythm. The meter is the pattern of stressed and unstressed
syllables.
Foot- a unit of meter. A foot is a patter of stressed (accented) syllable and it’s
surrounding unstressed syllables