ANDREW WESTBROOK

BRANDY JONES

JENEE’ JAMISON

JULIA SHARPE

Poem Structure

Poem Structure

Poem structure is the way that lines are set, stanzas are arranged and rhyme and rhyme are prepared.

Different types of poetry such as; free verse, sonnets, ballads, haikus, concrete poems, odes, and many others are written in different forms.

Some poems have syllable and word limits in each line, some poems are long, while others are relatively short ,and some poems rhyme while others may not.

Haiku

Three Lines Five syllables in the

first lineSeven syllables in the

second line.Five syllables in the

last line. Unrhymed

Example: I walk across sand

And find myself blistering

In the hot, hot heat

Concrete Poems

Uses a word plan that forms the shape of the subject or theme.

Example:

Cinquain

Line 1 - One word (a noun) naming the subject of the verse.Line 2 - Two words (adjectives) describing the subject.Line 3 - Three words (verbs) describing the subject's actions.Line 4 - Four words giving the writer's opinion of the subject.Line 5 - One word (noun) giving another name for the subject.

ExampleViolin

Brown, shapelySinging, shrieking,

sobbingA moody music maker

Fiddle

(C.Alfonzetti)

Shakespearean Sonnet

Contains 14 lineWritten in

iambic pentameter

Each line is ten syllables long.

ExampleSonnet I

From fairest creatures we desire increase,That thereby beauty's rose might never die,But as the riper should by time decease,His tender heir might bear his memory:But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,Feed'st thy light'st flame with self-substantial fuel,Making a famine where abundance lies,Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.Thou that art now the world's fresh ornamentAnd only herald to the gaudy spring,Within thine own bud buriest thy contentAnd, tender churl, makest waste in niggarding.Pity the world, or else this glutton be,To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee.

Poem Structure (continued)

Poetry is written in a poetic line which is a single line of words in a poem. Poets decide how long each line of the poem will be and also where the line will end.

Poetic lines are combined together in groups called stanzas. Each form of poetry contains stanzas. Stanzas are used to organize thoughts and ideas. They are similar to paragraphs.

Rhyme scheme is another important factor of poem structure. Rhyme scheme is the ordered pattern of rhymes in a poem.