Different Styles of Poetry

Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry. This poem is written with a specific set of lines with a certain number of syllables per line. The most popular would be three lines with a 5,7,5 syllable pattern. Another version is called a Tanka, which utilizes the 5.7.5.7.5 pattern.

There are Ballads, which are stories. These stories are told in a narrative poetry style. When spoken, it should be very smooth almost like singing a song. Typically these ballads are written in sets of four sentences with the ending word of the second and fourth ones rhyming with each other. Ballads don’t have rigid rules to follow like Haikus but they should sound very musical to the ear.

Sonnets consists of fourteen lines each having the same specific number of syllables each.There is also a form of poetry designed to be written for a specific thing or person. This is called The Ode. The title will always begin with the word “ode”. The subject directly following the word ode will be the topic of the poem. This is a simple poem about a particular topic that also follows some type of rhyming pattern. It’s a poem that shows the readers what the poet thinks of a certain subject in a flowing poetic way.

The Dramatic Monologue defines a monologue which would be the poem acted out by someone other than the poet in a dramatic way. These types of poems are typically written to show the action as well as the character.

There are a few more styles such as the Villanelle, Sestina, along with some others. Personally my favorite is free-form poetry. That is poetry without any rules. Even though some poems mgiht not have alot of ryhmes in it, there can still be a rhythm to it. Which is done by carefully selecting your words. My advice is to try out free-form poetry so as to get used to using words in a a certain way to create a desired effect. Afterwards to improve your level, practice the other styles and incorporate them into your free-form poetry.