| Poetry Forms | Definitions |
| alexandrine | characteristically twelve syllables may be rhymed or unrhymed |
| aubade | a lyrical love poem about dawn generally with onmatopoeia |
| ballad | a short, simple narrative poem |
| ballade | a poem usually composed of three stanzas and a refrain or envoy (a dedication or a dramatic summary) |
| double ballade | composed of ten line stanzas and refrain |
| blank verse | unrhymed verse; or as in Paradise Lost, English heroic verse without rhyme |
| bouts-rime | Fr. rhymed ends. 17th cent devised by the French poet, Dulot. |
| carmina figurata | also called "concrete poem" and "calligramme" where the words create a shape or pattern identifying what is being referenced. |
| cento | a poem created from passages taken from other sources |
| chanson de geste | French historical epic verse |
| chant royal | changes the ballade structure using five stanzas each with eleven lines followed by an envoi half the length. Rhyme scheme would be ababccddccde. |
| cinquain | American equivalent of the Japanese haiku or tanka. First introduced by Adelaide Crapsey consisting of five lines built upon two, four, six, eight, and two syllables respectively. |
| clerihew | verse consisting of two couplets built around the name of a famous person which prepares the rhyme |
| couplet | two lines of verse in the same meter and rhyme. |
| couplet, closed | complete in two lines |
| couplet, end-stopped or enjambment | where the lines runs logically into the second line |
| couplet, open | where the second line flows into a third line on the same rhyme. |
| couplet, heroic | uses closed, end-stopped and open couplets |
| dirge | ? |
| doggerel | trite, often intentionally humorous verse |
| eclogue | verse on country themes. Other names are bucolic, pastoral. |
| elegy | verse of mourning. |
| epigram | short poem frequently a single couplet |
| epitaph | verse enscribed on headstone |
| free verse | verse that follows the cadence of speech rhythm |
| haiku | Japanese verse in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, usually on a nature topic |
| limerick | humorous verse with three long and two short lines with rhyme scheme of aabbaa |
| octave | verse with eight lines |
| ode, Pindaric | written to celebrate or exalt with an epode or aftersong. For the Greek poet, Pindar |
| ode, Homeric | written to celebrate or exalt without the epode or aftersong |
| ode, Horatian | named for the Italian poet, Horace. |
| quatrain | four line stanza rhymed as abcd |
| rondeau | ? |
| rondel | verse of thirteen lines divided into three stanzas and an unrhymed refrain based on the opening words of the first line. |
| senryu | similar to the rondeau but having fourteen lines on two rhymes with a refrain. |
| sestina | a Japanese verse form with 3 lines with as many as 17 syllables meant to be humorous. |
| sonnet | verse consisting of six stanzas of six lines each concluding with a tercet. |
| sonnet, Shakespearian | a poem of fourteen lines of rhymed couplets on single thought |
| tanka see haiku | fourteen limes however the last couplet is independently rhymed. |
| tercet | three lines of verse that form a group |
| terza rima | three lines of verse that have linked rhymes; ex.aba; bcb, cdc and so on. |
| threnody | see dirge |
| villanelle | verse of nineteen lines on two rhymes in six stanzas, with the first and third lines repeated. |
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