Last updated on April 22, 2019
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| 15-10 Alternating | A poem where 15 syllable stanzas which begin with an anapest foot and having couplet rhyme alternates with 10 syllable iambic stanzas with cross rhyme. Rhyme Pattern: aabb cdcd |
| 5/3 Meter | Alternating lines of 5 and 3 syllables, where the odd lines consist of an IAMB and an ANAPEST and the even lines consist of a DACTYL |
| 7/3 Trochee | Meter: Trochaic Syllabic: 7/5/7/5 Rhyme Scheme: a/b/c/b or a/b/a/b |
| A L’Arora | A poem with no required meter or line length, requiring one rhyme between the sestet and couplet in each 8 line stanza. |
| a la Bartholomew Griffin | Light verse in 14 lines or less. Metered or not at the discretion of the poet written repeating the same end word throughout the poem. |
| Abhanga | A form from India. Any number of quatrains. Syllabic 6/6/6/4 Rhymed: xaax |
| Abbreviated Haiku | Written in either 2 lines with syllable count 7/2 or 3 lines with syllable count 3/5/3 or 2/3/2. This is sometimes called Miku. |
| Acrostic | A form not requiring rhyme, but requiring letters or words to form word(s) or messages when read from consecutive lines. |
| Acrostic Decima | Two vertical five letter words provide the starting letters for each line. Syllable Count: 8 syllables per line. Rhyme Scheme: a-a-b-a-b a-a-b-b-a. |
| Adonics Poetry Form | An Adonic is a two foot line: Xxx XX or maybe Xxx Xx. It depends on the expert one consults. It is more often found as a tagline on the end of a stanza than as separate stanzas. |
| Alcmanic Verse | A metric line of dactylic tetrameter. It was named for the ancient Greek poet Alcman. |
| Alliterisen | The Alliterisen (Complex and Rhyming), a form created by UditBhatia, is a simple seven-lined poem with a specific syllable pattern and two alliterations per line. |
| Alouette | Two or more stanzas of 6 lines each, with the following set rules: Syllables: 5, 5, 7, 5, 5, 7 Rhyme Scheme: aabccb |
| Alphabet Haiku | Modern haiku form created by Beatrice Evans, aka Ronnica at Allpoetry It requires only strict 5 7 5 syllable construction with all words beginning with the same letter. |
| Alphacouplets | A stanza of any length, consisting entirely of rhymed couplets. The final word of the first line of each couplet must be a noun Three alliterative words must precede that noun. The next line must rhyme with the first. There are NO metric or line-length requirements, nor prohibitions. |
| Amanda’s Pinch | Syllabic form: 12/12/10/8/8/10/12/12 Rhyme Scheme: abcDDcba, (with line 5 a refrain of line 4) Alliteration is required in every line. |
| Amaranth | 9 line strophe. It is a stand-alone poem. metric, the 9 most common metric feet are used in sequence. |
| American 767 poetry from | A poem of 3 lines Syllabic: 7/6/7 Meter or Rhyme not required Formulaic: Must mention some type of bug. |
| American Sentence poetry form | An American haiku variation invented by Allen Ginsberg. 17 syllables written in a sentence. Any topic. In a series if more than single line. |
| Amphibrach Trimeter | The amphibrach is a trisyllabic metrical foot, which in accentual meter consists of an accented syllable between two unaccented syllables |
| Amphion | A 10 line poem, metered, tetrameter lines alternate with sets of rhymed dimeter couplets. Rhyme scheme abbaccdeed. |
| Analogue | A 9 line poem metered iambic pentameter rhyme scheme abbaabbcc. |
| Anaduo | Any number of sestets Syllalbic 11/11/8/11/11/8 Meter: All lines are acephalous anapestic Rhyme Scheme: aabccb |
| Anapeat | The poem consists of five stanzas of five lines each. The repeated phrase/line is the first line of the first stanza, the second line of the second stanzas, etc. |
| Anapestic tetrameter | Simply four feet of anapest. da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM |
| Andaree | It is syllabic, with lines of 11/9/7/5/3/1/3/5/7/9/11 Rhyme Scheme: AabbcbcbbaA It requires a Refrain: Line 1 is repeated as Line 11. |
| Aquarian | Unrhymed. Invented by A. Maris Mazz Each stanza has lines of 2-4-6-2 syllables Any number of stanzas permitted. |
| Arkquain | Syllablic: 1/2/3/4 5/7/7/5 4/3/2/1 The two 7-syllable lines, must use end rhyme. |
| Arkquain String | Syllabic: with a break between stanzas. 1-2-3-4 5-7-7-5 4-3-2-1 1-2-3-4 5-7-7-5 4-3-2-1 1-2-3-4 5-7-7-5 4-3-2-1 |
| Arkquain Swirl | Basically 1234~5775~4321234~5775~4321234~5775~4321 *7 syllable lines end rhyme |
| Argonelles | Any number of 5-line stanzas (quintains). The syllable count is 2-6-8-8-6 Rhyme scheme: a-b-c-c-b. |
| Atarlis Fileata | Stanzaic, written in any number of septets measured by number of words with 2-3-4-5-4-3-2 words per line. rhymed, A B a x a B A. Composed with a refrain, L1 is repeated as L7 and L2 is repeated as L6, |
| Atom | Stnzaic: tercets. Count letters: 5-7-5. This poem linked tercets under title. No punctuation or capitalization like haiku. |
| Atrina | A complex refrain from of four verses. |
| Awdl Gywydd | Pronounced ‘owdl gow-widd’. Seven syllable quatrains with end rhymes and couplet binding. Welsh origin. |
| Awdl – Hir a Thmooddaid | The Hir a Thoddaid is the most common Awdl from. Isosyllabic – 10 syllables Rhymed: aaaa(ab)(ba) |
| Awit | Dodecasyllabic, mono-rhymed quatrain. Filipino form. |
Baccresiezé |
Stanzaic, written in 3 quatrains. Syllabic, L1,L2,L3 are 8 syllables and L4 is 4 syllables. refrained, rhymed, with a complicated rhyme scheme AaxB bxAB xxxB x being unrhymed. |
| Badger’s Hexastitch | A poem in 6 lines. syllabic, 2-4-6-6-4-2. unrhymed, optional rising and falling end-words. |
| Bagarthach | Funny or clever but mean spirited quatrain. Syllabic 8-9-8-9 syllables per line, sometimes all lines are 8 syllables. Rhymed abab. |
| Balada | Stanzaic: 3 stanzas (or more), each at least 5 lines Rhyme scheme AbAbA bAbaA bAbaA No required meter. |
| Balassi Stanza | The Rhyme Scheme is: bbaccadda Syllable count is: 667667667 Any number of stanzas. |
| Ballad | A short narrative poem with stanzas of two or four lines and usually a refrain. The story of a ballad can originate from a wide range of subject matter but most frequently deals with folk-lore or popular legends. |
| Ballade | The ballade typically consists of three stanzas of 8 lines each, with a concluding 4-line envoi often addressed to a prince. |
| Ballade Stanza | Also called Monk’s Tale Stanza. An 8 syllable octave rhyming: ababbcbc |
| Ballade Supreme | 3 – 10 line stanzas, 10 syllables per line, 5 line envoy, Refrain ababbccdcD ababbccdcD ababbccdcD ccdcD |
| Ballata, Balete, or Dansa | Ballata, Balete, or Dansa Stanzaic: Quintain and 2 quatrains. Meter not required. Rhyme scheme AbbaA bbaA bbaA |
| Balance | See The Balance |
| Barbee | It is twelve lines long It is syllabic 10/10/10/6/6/10/10/6/6/10/10/10 A form the rhymes on the end syllable and has normal end rhyme, both with separate rhyme patterns. |
| Bar Form | Stanzaic, any number of octaves made up of 2 couplets followed by a quatrain. Metered, at the discretion of the poet Rhymed, ababccdd |
| Barzelletta | See link for 2 different forms. |
| Beacon of Hope | 21 line Stanzaic Syllabic poem Meter and rhyme optional Themed: Spiritaul and uplifting |
| Behrquain | A shaped form invented by Madison Shaw, syllable count 2-4-6-8-6-4-2-4-6-8-6-4-2-4-6-8-6-4-2-4-6-8-6-4-2-4-6-8-6-4-2 form should be centered with care given to appearance. |
| Bema’s Best | Stanzaic: 3 quatrains plus a couplet Word based: 3/5/3/5 3/3/5/5/ 5/3/5/3 [3/5 or 5/3] |
| Benison | A blessing in any verse form at poet’s discretion. |
| Bibliographic Profile Acrostic | The composition in this form must paint a profile on the Tributee, and use title (s) of the tributee’s literary production within the stanzas or stanza. |
| Bina | A fun easy 5 line sestina type poem, by Bob Newman |
| Black Narcissus Tercet Rima | As it turns out this is NOT a new form, indicated be the comment below: but the poet thought it was, and I am not knowledgeable enough to recognize historic precedents all of the time. |
| Blason | A genre of poetry committed to the praise or blame of something through the use of a series of images that support the theme |
| Blind Rhyme or Hidden Rhyme | Composed with the end-word of each line rhymed internally in the following line. Often but not always, written with the first line rhyming with the last line. |
| Blitz Poem | Stanzaic, unmetered, unrhymed, 25 couplets for a poem of 50 lines. Rapid fire, short lines. |
| Blood Quill | Stanzaic: Two Sestets Syllabic: 6/6/9/6/6/9 Rhymed: abcabc defdef |
| Blues Stanza | • stanzaic, written in any number of triplets. • accentual verse with 4 to 6 stresses a line, or whatever. The syllable count is 12 or close enough. You can see, there is lots of room to wiggle here. The meter changes to iambic pentameter when the stanza is used in the Blues Sonnet. • structured. L1 makes a statement, L2 repeats L1 with minor variation, often a beat or two short, and L3 responds, with a “climatic parallel” to the first 2 lines. (a culminating contrast or extension of the statement) In effect you are writing a rhyming couplet posing as a triplet. • rhymed, rhyme scheme aaa, bbb, ccc, ddd. |
| Bragi | stanzaic, written in 2 sixains. syllabic, 6-8-10-10-8-6 10-8-6-6-8-10 syllables per line. rhyme scheme abccba cbaabc. |
| Brazilian Haiku | Rhyming haiku x x x x A x B x x x x B x x x x A |
| Bref Double | A fourteen-line French form. Like many French forms, the rules are a bit complex. It is composed of three quatrains and a couplet, all isosyllabic. It has three rhymes: a, b, and c. It has five lines that are not part of the rhyme scheme |
| Brevee | Terse syllabic poem, 2/2/4/2/2/4 Any number of stanzas Rhyme Pattern: aabccb ddeffe |
| Brevette | 2 Word Poem. subject (noun), verb, and object (noun), in this exact order. The verb should show an ongoing action. This is done by spacing out the letters in the verb. There are only three words in the poem. |
| Brhati | Stanzaic, 36 syllables written in any number of 4 line stanzas. Syllabic, 9 syllables each. Metric, the metric pattern of the line requires 2 heavy syllables. |
| Bryant | Stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains metered, L1,L4 trimeter and L2,L3 are pentameter. Short lines are indented. rhymed, alternating rhymed quatrains, abab cdcd etc a pastoral metaphor |
| Bush Ballad Meter | Informal name created by Mary Boren Sullivan, aka Meter Maid on Allpoetry.com. Am adding it so others can have a go at a delightful metric experience. |
| Butterfly Cinquain | An unrhymed 9 line poem. syllabic, 2-4-6-8-2-8-6-4-2 syllables per line. |
| Butterfly Quintet | A quintet with separate stanzas having different line lengths, call penned in iambic meter. |
| Byr a Thoddaid | Byr a Thoddaid (beer ah TOE-thy’d), one of the 24 traditional Welsh stanza forms, consists of four lines of syllable count 10-6-8-8 (or 8-8-10-6) |
| Caccia | Syllabic Composed favoring onomatopoeia, incomplete phrases and the exclamatory statement. Lyrics framed by stanza and rhyme at the discretion of the poet. |
| Cadae | The form of a cadae is based on Pi on two levels. The fourteen lines represent Pi to 12 decimal places (3.1415926535897) and each line has the corresponding Pi number of syllables. |
| Canción | Isostrophic, written in any number of lines in a stanza or strophe Syllabic, Italianate lines, mixed lines of 7 and 11 syllables make up a stanza or strophe. L6 and L13 are ALWAYS 11 syllables. |
| Cadence | syllabic, the Cadence written with 1-2-3-4-4-8-5 syllables per line. unrhymed, but end words should be strong, no articles or prepositions. |
| Cantar | A 4 line strophe written as a stand alone poem or combined with other forms such as the Seguidilla or Flamenca. Octosyllabic, all lines written in 8 syllables. Rhymed, L2 and L4 rhyme with assonance, sometimes true rhyme but generally not. |
| Candlelight | A poem in 17 lines. Syllabic, 5-5-5-4-4-3-2-2-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-7 syllables per line, Centered on the page. Rhymed aabbccxxxxxxxxxxxx x being unrhymed. |
| Canzonetta | At least 2 octaves, made up of 2 quatrains of alternating rhyme. written with no fixed meter or line length. composed with a refrain, repeated in L8 of each octave. rhymed, ababcdcD, efefgdgD. |
| Cascade | No set meter, rhyme scheme, or stanza length, but the poem must have one more stanza than there are lines in stanza one. Refrain. |
| Catalectic Verse | A catalectic line is a metrically incomplete line of verse, lacking a syllable at the end or ending with an incomplete foot. One form of catalexis is headlessness, where the unstressed syllable is dropped from the beginning of the line. |
| Catena Rondo | Stanzaic, written in any number of 3 or more quatrains made up of 2 rhymed lines enveloping a rhymed couplet. Meter at the discretion of the poet rhyme scheme ABbA BCcb CDdc DEed etc… |
| Caudate or Tail Rhymed Stanza | Stanzaic: Often sixains Metered: Often iambic or trochaic tetrameter with one or two line dimeter. Rhymed: the most common schemes are aabaab or aabccb |
| Cento | From the Latin word for “patchwork,” the cento (or collage poem) is a poetic form made up of lines from poems by other poets. |
| Cethramtu Rannaigheacht Mor | Written in any number of quatrains, syllabic, each line has 3 syllables. rhymed xaxa xbxb etc, x being unrhymed. |
| Chain of Abolition | Syllable Count: 4/5/6/7 3/4/5/6/7 2/3/4/5/6/7 1/2/3/4/5/6/7 Rhyme Scheme: abcd eabcd feabcd gfeabcd |
| Chain Verse – Reference | Chain Verse is a poetic technique rather than a stanzaic form. |
| Chandlerian | A poem in 22 lines, written in 3 quatrains, an octave and a couplet in that order. |
| Chanso | Stanzaic, usually 5 or 6 nonce stanzas of identical pattern. expected to be original in form. The metric length of the line, the number of lines in a stanza, the rhyme scheme was expected to be original. |
| Chante Fable – Reference | Reference only. |
| Chant Royal | A French poetic form and variation of the ballad form, it consists of five (or three) 11-line stanzas |
| Chatushka | A Russian Quatrain form. The name derives from the Russian meaning ”to speak fast”. Covering subject that range across the whole human experience and written in a manner that is usually satirical, ironic or humorous this is the Russian equivalent to the Limerick |
| Chaucerian Roundel | a decastich, made up of 2 tercets followed by a quatrain. written in no particular line length or meter although the form is often written in lines of equal length. Iambic tetrameter or pentameter lines are common. rhymed Abb abA abbA , the A is a refrain. |
| Cheyenelle | This syllabic form was invented by Silent_Cougar and it’s structure honors native American Heritage. |
Thailand Poetry – Reference
| Ch’i Yen Shih | Syllabic, 5 to 7 syllable lines.rhymed, rhyme scheme either xaxa xaxa etc or xaxa xbxb etc. | |
| Chinese Poetry – Reference | Reference only. | |
| Choka | A series of Katuata joined together. This gives a choice of form structures of ….. 5 – 7 – 7 – 5 – 7 – 7.. etc, or .. 5 – 7 – 5 – 5 – 7 – 5, or an alternative version of alternating 5 and 7 syllable lines. | |
| Choriambic dactylic fusion | Stanzaic: any number of quatrains Metric: each stanza L1 & L3 Choriambic dimeter, L2 catelectic dactylic tetrameter, L4 catelectic dactylic trimeter Rhyme pattern:(a/a)x(b/b)x |
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| Choriambics | Schematic: Xx Xx xX Xx xX Xx xX xX Rhythm/Stanza Length: 2 Line/Poem Length: 16 Couplet rhyme. |
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| Cinq Trois DecalLa Rhyme | A poem consisting of 10 lines with15 syllables per line Rhyme scheme of aabbcccabc |
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| Cinq-Cinquain | A poem of five cinquains. | |
| Cinquain | The cinquain, also known as a quintain or quintet, is a poem or stanza composed of five lines. | |
| Cinquain Chain | A series of Crapsey cinquains where line 5 of one, is line 1 of the next. |
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| Cinquo | a poem in 5 lines. syllabic, 2-8-6-4-2 syllables per line. unrhymed |
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| Cinquetin | A hexastich, a poem in 6 lines. syllabic, lines of 8-6-10-6-8-2 syllables each. rhyme scheme axbaxb, x being unrhymed. |
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| Clarity Pyramid | Syllabic verse. Two tercets plus a final line. | |
| Classical Hendecasyllable | A trochee, a dactyl, then three trochees. The first and last trochess may be spondees. |
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| Clerihew | A whimsical, four-line biographical poem invented by Edmund Clerihew Bently, at age 16. | |
| Clogynach | Welsh form with three versions. Quintet Version: Syllabic 8/8/4/4/6, Rhymed aabba |
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| Compound Word Verse | Five 3-line stanzas, for a total of 15 lines. The last line of each stanza ends in a compound word and root of that word is in the title. |
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| Compression | A syllabic sestet with syllables 4/5/6/6/5/4 Rhyme pattern axaxxa |
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| Concrete poetry – Shaped Poetry | Simply a poem that the presented in the shape of an object. Most often the titles. | |
| Constanza | Five or more 3-line stanzas, each line has eight syllables. The first lines of all the stanzas can be read successively as an independent poem, |
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| Copla Real | A decastich made up of 2 Quintillas (Spanish 8 syllable line quintains turned on only 2 rhymes of any combination other than never ending with a rhymed couplet.) syllabic, all lines are 8 syllables. Rhymed, the rhyme scheme established in the first quintain is repeated in the 2nd quintilla |
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| Coraline | A poem consists of exactly two stanzas, each being an octave. The rhyme scheme is: abbaccab |
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| Coronach | Commonly written in any number of quatrains, each line 7 syllables (give or take a syllable). rhymed, rhyme scheme is either xaxa xbxb etc or abab cdcd etc |
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| Cortes Nonet | First stanza: 5-7-9-11-13-15-17 Second stanza: 17-15-13-11-9-7-5 The last word of each line is the first word of the next line. |
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| Couplet: Closed, Complete, Heroic | Reference. | |
| Crapsey Cinquain | On the Cinquain page. | |
| Cro Cumaisc Etir Casbairdni Lethrannaigecht | 4-line stanzas rhyming abab, with syllable counts of 7, 5, 7, 5. Being Irish, the lengths of the rhyming words are also specified, in this case as 3, 1, 3, 1. The 3’s indicate the rhyming words MUST be three syllables long. |
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| Cromorna | Stanzaic, written in 3 quatrains. Syllabic, with 5-3-5-3 5-3-5-3 5-3-5-3 syllables per line. Rhymed, rhyme scheme abab cbcb dbdb. |
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| Crystalline | An English Haiku analog. Two lines of 17 syllables, 8/9 or 9/8 | |
| Cuaderna Via | stanzaic, written in any # of mono-rhymed quatrains. syllabic, 14 syllable lines divided into hemistiches of 7 syllables each, often broken by caesura. mono-rhymed: Rhyme scheme aaaa, bbbb etc |
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| Cuarteto | stanzaic, a poem made up of any number of quatrains. syllabic, hendecasyllabic (11 syllable) lines. rhymed, either abab or abba rhyme scheme |
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| Cueca Chilena | Stanzaic, consisting of any number of 8 line stanzas. Syllabic: 9/7/9/7/8/9/9/9 Rhymed: Rhyme pattern: abcBBded Refrained: The 4th line, which should be end stopped is repeated in line 5. Formulaic: The word, “yes” is inserted as the first word in line 5. |
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| Curtal Long Hymnal Stanza | A stanzaic form composed of three lines of iambic tetrameter and one of iambic dimeter rhymed abab. The only difference from the Curtail Quatrain is the rhyme scheme. |
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| Curtal Quatrain | stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. metered, primarily iambic. L1, L2, L3 are pentameter and L4 is dimeter. Rhymed. Rhyme scheme xaxa |
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| Cyclone | A cyclone is a poem that wraps around to form a loop it is made of 10 stanzas where the last 3 say what the first 3 said. | |
| Cyclus | a 12 line poem. syllabic, syllables per line 2-4-6-6-4-2-2-4-6-6-4-2 unrhymed, displayed centered |
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| Cyhdedd hir | Written in any number of single lines made up of 19 syllables divided into 3 rhymed 5 syllable phrases and ending in a 4 syllable phrase carrying a linking rhyme to the next line. | |
| Cyhydedd fer | Any number of rhymed couplets. Octosyllabic -made up of 8 syllable lines. rhymed aa bb cc dd etc. |
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| Cyhydedd Naw Ban | Cyhydedd Naw Banh Any number of rhymed couplets. made up of 9 syllable lines. rhymed, aa etc. |
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| Cyrch Gymeriad | Earliest strata of British Celtic poetry | |
| Cywydd deuair fyrion | Four syllable lines in rhymed couplets. It can be true or half-rhyme. |
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| Cywydd deuair hirion | Stanzaic, written in any number of couplets. made up of 7 syllable lines, wrenched rhyme |
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| Cywydd llosgyrnog | Stanzaic, written in any number of sixains. Syllabic, the sixain is made up of 8-8-7-8-8-7 syllable lines. Rhymed, L1 and L2 end-rhyme is echoed somewhere in the middle of L3 (3rd, 4th, or 5th syllables). L4 and L5 end-rhyme is echoed somewhere in the middle of L6. L3 and L6 end rhyme. |
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| Dahquain | A minimum of Iambic Tetrameter Quatrains axAA bxBB cxCC dxDD, etc. Ends with a separate rhyming couplet. |
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| Daisy Chain | The last word in the line becomes the first word of the next line. To end the poem, the last word is the same as the first word | |
| Dandizette | syllables first two stanzas is 8, 6, 8, 8, 6, 8. Syllables for last stanza 6, 6, 6, 6, 8, 8 . The rhyme scheme is ababcb cbcdcd bcbcee. |
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| Dansa | Poem begins with quintain and is followed by any number of quatrains. The first line of the poem is the last line of every verse. They are isosyllabic, all having six syllalbles Rhyme pattern: aabb |
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| Done | kill | |
| Decquain | Decastich written in iambic pentameter. By Shelly A. Cephas. There are 3 set choices of rhyme scheme: ababbcbcaa, ababbcbcbb, or ababbcbccc |
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| Decrina | A decasticth version of the sestina by Bob Newman | |
| Dectina Refrain | Syllabic:1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10 Your 10th line is comprised of your first four lines all together as one stand-alone line in quotation marks. |
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| Deibhidhe Guilbnech Dialtach | Written in any number of quatrains, each line has 7 syllables. rhymed, aabb. alliterated, alliteration between two words in each line, all end-words should consonate. |
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| Deibhidhe | Each stanza has 4 lines of 7 syllables each, rhyming aabb, and both of these rhymes are deibide rhymes i.e. in the first line of each rhyming pair, the rhyming syllable is stressed, and in the second it is unstressed. | |
| Deibide Baise Fri Toin | The syllable count is 3, 7, 7, 1 and it rhymes aabb. It is essential to the form that the a rhymes have two syllables, and the b rhymes have one syllable. | |
| Dekaaz | Dekaaz has ten syllables in three lines: 2 syllables in the first line, 3 syllables in the second, 5 syllable |
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| Denturn | A rhymed poem with two iambic tetrameter stanzas, and two trochaic tetrameter stanzas, separated by a one, two or three syllable turn. | |
| Descort | A genre of poetry that is written with differing verse forms utilized from strophe to strophe. Each strophe is structured in a minimum of 2 elements, the verse forms chosen can be recognized verse or nonce forms. Elements such as line number, meter, rhyme, and language are all factors. | |
| Diabolo | A poem of two 6-line stanza, each with four lines of iambic tetrameter and two lines of iambic dimeter, with two rhymes per line. | |
| Diamante | A Diamante is a seven-lined contrast poem set up in a diamond shape. | |
| Diatelle | Syllabic: 1/2/3/4/6/8/10/12/10/8/6/4/3/2/1 Rhyme Pattern abbcbccaccbcbba. |
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| Dibi | Stanzaic, consisting of two or more octains. Metered, consisting of alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. Rhymed: abcbabcb. |
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| Didactic Cinquain | Noun, Adjective, Description,Feeling, Synonym | |
| Diminishing Hexaverse | A six stanza poem where the first stanza has six line of six syllable, the next has five lines of 5 syllables, etc.. | |
| Dinggedicht or Object Poem | A things poem. This is a genre of poetry in which communication of mood or thought is made through acute observation of things and symbolic concentration | |
| Dipodic Quatrain | Dipodic Quatrain Stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. Podic, written with 2 heavy stresses per line with no regard to the number of unstressed syllables. Rhyme scheme either abab cdcd etc. or aabb ccdd etc. |
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| Distorted Diablo | Stanzaic, a sixain, a 9 line stanza, a sixain, in that order. Syllabic, both sixains are written with 6 syllables per line and the 9 line stanza is written with 9 syllables per line. Rhymed at the discretion of the poet. |
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| Dithyramb | Dithyramb is a genre of “frenzied” lyric in praise of wine and revelry. | |
| Dixdeux | A syllabic three line poem. 10/10/2, Unrhymed | |
| Dizain | An 8 or 10 line single stanza poem, isosyllabic, Rhyming ababcdcd or ababbccdcd |
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| Dodoitsu | It has 26 syllables: 7 in the first, second and third lines, and 5 in the last line. (7-7-7-5). | |
| Doha | A Hindu stanzaic, written in any number of couplets. Syllabic, each line is made up of 24 syllables and is paused by caesura at the end of the 13th syllable, making the line two phrases of 13 and 11 syllables. The couplet can be arranged as a quatrain breaking the line at the caesura. Commonly used for proverbs and/or for longer narratives or didactic poetry. |
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| Domino Rhyme | A fun form by Bob Newman using remote rhyme. No rhyme within individual stanas, but in following stanzas. | |
| Dorsimbra | A 12-line poem: a quatrain of iambic pentameter rhyming abab (2) a quatrain of “short and snappy” free verse, and (3) a quatrain of blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter). The final (12th) line is the same as the first line. |
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| Double Ballade | A ballade on steroids, this form has six octaves and may have a quatrain envoy. | |
| Double Ballad Stanza | An octastich made up of 2 quatrains. Metric, accentual, (The ballad utilizes an accentual line and the stress is what counts not the meter, alternating 4 stress, 3 stress.) Rhyme scheme of xa(b-b)axcxc (x being unrhymed) with an internal rhyme in the 3rd and expletive line |
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| Double Ballade Supreme | Six decastitch verses of ababbccdcD where the rhymes are consistent throughout and a possible envoy of ccdcD with D being a repeated refrain. | |
| Double Refrain Kyrielle | Stanzaic, any number of quatrains Syllabic, each line is 8 syllables. In English it is often written in iambic tetrameter. Written with 2 refrains. Rhymed, aB1aB2 cB1cB2 dB1dB2 etc., B1 and B2 are rhymed refrains. |
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| Double Dactyl | The first line of the first stanza is repetitive nonsense. The second line of the first stanza is the subject of the poem, 8 Lines. | |
| Double Five | Two quintet stanzas. (A somewhat useless entry) | |
| Double Glose | Begins with texte or cabeza Stanzaic: consisting of as many stanzas, as there are lines in your texte, each having a line length of the poets choosing Metered: With a consistent meter of the poet’s choosing Rhymed or not with a pattern of the poet’s choosing Formulaic: Each line of the texte shall be both the first and list lines of succeeding stanzas. |
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| Double Refrain Ballade | This is identical to the Ballade, except that both Lines 4 and 8 from the first stanza become refrains in succeeding stanzas. Rhyme pattern: abaBbcbC bBcC |
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| Double Refrain Ballade Supreme | A 35 line isosyllabic form divided into three ten line verses and a five-line envoi. Each line is usually eight or ten syllables long. Rhyming Scheme: ababbCcdcD |
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| Double Rondeau | Double Rondeau is simply doubling the pattern of the Rondeau. It can either be doubled in sequence (1 Rondeau following another Rondeau) or the like stanzas could be doubled and paired. | |
| Double Seven | Each quatrain will have its own abab rhyme pattern, Where the a-rhymes will always be feminine. It is isosyllabic, each line being seven syllables. |
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| Double Swap Octet | Begin with any octet with any rhyme scheme and meter. Break lines 1 and 4 into segments which can be broken in concert with that rhyme scheme. Swap Line 1 to Line eight, after reversing those aforementioned sections Swap Line 4 to Line seven in the same manner. |
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| Double Swap Ottava | Ottava Rima framework with refrain Minimum length 8 Lines, no maximum Meter: Iambic pentameter Rhyme: ababaabcc |
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| Doublet | A distich with an integrated title which in effect creates a 3 line poem. Syllabic, each line 10 syllables or less. Rhymed, aa. The title is not rhymed |
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| Dream Song | Stanzaic: written in 3 sixains, 18 lines. Metric, Accentual, usually L1,L2,L4,& L5 5 stresses and L3 & L6 have 3 stresses. As long as 4 lines are longer and L3 & L6 are shorter, the rhythm is jerky much like the content. Rhymed, rhyme patterns vary from stanza to stanza however there are normally 3 rhymes per stanza. abcabc abccba, aabccb, abbacc are a few of the patterns. |
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| Dreamscape | There are two tercet stanzas. The first two lines in each have rhyming beginning and ending words. The third line needs no rhyme, and summarize the first two. No line length or meter requirements. |
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| Dribble | The dribble is a brief poem consisting of exactly 100 letters | |
| Droighneach | A loose stanzaic form usually written with any number of octaves but it could be quatrains. Syllabic with each line with 9 to 13 syllables. Terminated, written with 3 syllable end words. Rhymed, with alternating end rhyme abab cdcd etc. Composed with cross rhyme. There are at least two cross-rhymes in each couplet and alliteration in each line; usually the final word of the line alliterates with the preceding stressed word, this is always true of the last line. Written with the defining features of most Celtic poems, cywddydd (harmony of sound) and dunadh (beginning and ending the poem with the same word, phrase or line.) |
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| Drottkvaet | Stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. Accentual, lines of 12 syllables each, broken into two halves of 6 syllables each. Each half line has 3 stressed and 3 unstressed syllables, the last two syllable of the half line must be a trochee. Rhymed, rhyme scheme aBaB a being near rhymed by assonance, B being true rhyme. Linked as couplets by assonance. Odd lines should have double alliteration. |
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| Dr Stella | An octave made up of 2 quatrains. Metered, alternating iambic tetrameter and trimeter. Rhymed, abcdabcd. L2 and L6 have feminine end words. |
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| Dryden’s Roundelay | Meter: Xx Xx Xx Xx (Trochaic tetrameter) Rhythm/Stanza Length: 6 Line/Poem Length: 24 Rhyme Scheme: abA1B1A2B2 A1B1A3B3A2B2 A3B3A4B4A2B2 A4B4abA2B2. |
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| Duodora | Syllabic, 4-6-5-5-5-10-10 / 4-6-5-5-5-10-10 rhymed Axxxxxb Axxxxxb , where A is a refrain. |
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| Duo-Rhyme | The Duo-rhyme, a poetic form created by Mary L. Ports, is a 10 or 12-line poem, with the first two and last two lines having the same rhyme scheme, and the center of the poem (lines #3 through #8 or #10) having their own separate mono-rhyme scheme. | |
| Duotrain | It has no metric requirement but each stanza alternates between 8 and six syllable lines. Each Stanza is required to begin with the same character of the alphabet. Rhyme Scheme: xaxa xbxb xcxc xdxd |
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| Echo Verse – Reference | Reference | |
| Edda Measures – Reference | Reference | |
| Egg Timer | A decastich (10 line poem) Syllabic 5/4/3/2/1/1/2/3/4/5 Unrhymed Formulaic: The last five lines are the mirror image of the first five line. Centered or not, at poets discretion. |
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| Eight-ette | Eight-ette: 8 lines. Syllable Count: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 Rhyme Scheme: a-b-a-b-c-d-c-d or a-a-b-b-c-c-d-d. Display Centered |
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| Eintou | The Eintou is an African American poetry form consisting seven lines with a total of 32 syllables or words. Structure: 2/4/6/8/4/2 (Words or Syllables) |
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| Emmett | 1.The first line of the Emmett is five WORDS long. Each word of the first line becomes the first word of the following lines. So the second word in line one becomes the first word of line two, the third word becomes the first word of line three, etc. 2. To make things a little more complex the Emmett has a Rhyme scheme of a,b,b,a,b. |
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| Empat Empat | Staircase refrain of line 1 Meter: 8 or 10 syllable per line – though I have see it with but 4 Rhyme Scheme Abab cAca adAd eaeA |
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| Endecha | Stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. Syllabic, written with 7-7-7-11 syllables per line. Rhymed, rhyme scheme xaxa xbxb etc., x being unrhymed. |
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| English Ballet (bal-lett) | Metered when quatrains, L1-L3 tetrameter, L4 dimeter. Rhymee Pattern: aaaB cccB dddB, etc. Metered when quintains, L1, L2, and L5 dimeter, L3 & L4 tetrameter. Rhyme Pattern: AbbbA AcccA AdddA, etc. |
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| English Quintet | Stanzaic, written in any number of quintets metered, most commonly iambic pentameter, although meter is optional. This is a popular form of Quintain having no set measure or foot rhyme scheme ababb, cdcdd etc. |
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| Englyn byr cwca | Stanzaic, written in any number of tercets. Syllabic, 7-10-6 syllable lines. Rhymed, rhyme scheme aba, cdc, etc. The L2 end rhyme appears internally midway in L3. |
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| Englyn cyrch | stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains made up of 2 Cywydd couplets, the Cywydd deuair hirion[1] and Awdl gywydd [2]. syllablic, 7 syllable lines. rhymed, AaBA with the end syllable of L3 rhymed somewhere in the first half of L4. |
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| Englyn lleddfbroest | Stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. Syllabic, 7 syllable lines. Rhymed, all of the lines half rhymes but the four half-rhymes must be the diphthongs ae, oe, wy, and ei in whatever order. |
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| Englyn Milwr | The traditional Welsh form Englyn Milwr (soldier’s englyn): three 7-syllable lines rimed on the last syllable. | |
| Englyn penfyr | Stanzaic, written in any number of tercets. Syllabic, a 10 syllable line followed by two 7 syllable lines. Rhymed, mono rhymed, the main rhyme (the dominant rhyme of the stanza) of L1 found in the last half of the line followed by caesura end rhymes with L2 and L3. |
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| englyn proest dalgron | Stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. Syllabic, made up of 7 syllable lines. Rhymed, all of the lines half rhyme. |
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| Englyn proest gadwynog | Stanzaic, written in a chain of quatrains. Syllabic, 7 syllable lines. Rhymed, each line half rhymes with the next line and fully rhymes with the next. L1 and L3 fully rhyme with each other, L2 and L4 half rhyme with the rhyme of L1 and L3 and should fully rhyme with each other. The full rhymes of L1 and L3 half rhyme with the full rhyme of L1 and L3. Chained, the last word of the stanza begins the next stanza. |
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| Englyn unodl crwca | Englyn unodl crwc is: Stanzaic, written as any number of quatrains, Syllabic, 7-7-10-6 syllable per line. Rhymed, mono rhymed. In L3 the main rhyme is found in the last half of the line followed by caesura and gair cyrch. |
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| Englyn unodle union | A most difficult Welsh form. | |
| Ethnographic Haiku | 7 stanzas. Syllable Count: 5-7-5 Relationship of particular subject or community with the environment. Evoke at least 3 of the 5 senses ( touch, taste, smell, hearing, sight ). |
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| Entwined | The form consists of three or more trimeter quintets, usually in Iambic where the 3rd line of each stanza rhymes with the first line of the following stanza, until the final stanza which rhymes with the first line of the poem. | |
| EP Johnson Quintet | Syllalbic 8/9/9/9/8; Word Refrain A1bbbA2 A1cccA2…etc | |
| Epulaeryu | In essence, the poem is about delicious cuisine and drinks from the culinary arts. It consists of seven lines with thirty-three (33) syllables. | |
| Essence | One or more hexasyllabic couplets with interlaced rhyme and end rhyme. xbxcxa, where c rhyme is optional, and both b and c rhyme may occur at any syllable in the line (in proper order). |
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| Etheree | The first line is a monosyllabic word; the second line has two syllables, and so on, until the tenth line with, ultimately, ten syllables. | |
| Fable | A fable is a poetic story composed in verse or prose with a moral summed up at the end. Usually using animals as characters to teach a valuable lesson. | |
| Faceted Diamond | Faceted Diamond is a verse form that is probably as complicated to read as to write. | |
| Fantasy | A three stanza, structured, syllabic poem of 20 lines Rhymed: abccaba deffed gghhiii |
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| Fatras | A poem in 11 lines composed in a way that the 1st and last lines form a distich, a poem in 2 lines, that holds the entire theme of the larger poem. This is known as the fatras simple. Unmetered. Unrhymed. Written with clever wordplay and disconnected nonsense which set the tone. |
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| Feghoot | A poem with a humorous pun as the conclusion. | |
| Fibonacci Spiral | A form based on the first 7 numbers of the fibonacci sequence 1,1,2,3,5,8,13. | |
| Fifteener | I find references to the fifteener as being a very old poetic form, but with no specifications as to meter or rhyme. Jeff’s form requires lyrical meter and couplet rhyme. | |
| First and Last | 15 lines, 8 syllables per line Stanza 1: Aaabb Stanza 2: cccbb Stanza 3: dddaA |
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| Florette | Two forms, a quatrain or a quintet, both iambic tetrameter for all lines buts the last, which is iambic hexamter. Rhymed: aaba (with interlaced rhyme) or aabba. |
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| Flung | Meter: Tetrameter or Pentameter Presented as two or more Octaves Rhyming pattern: ababcccc ddeeffff |
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| Fold | Syllabic, No set meter, No set line-length, Rhymed, Refrain. Haiku observations | |
| For-Get-Me-Not | A small poem, a complete couplet. syllabic, 4 syllable lines. rhymed. titled. |
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| Forlorn Suicide | Syllabic verse where rhyme letter correspondes to syllable count. | |
| Forward/Backward Poetry | Simply poetry that reads as a coherent verse from top to bottom or when read from bottom to top. | |
| Frost’s Fire and Ice | Stanzaic: One or more 9 line stanzas. Rhymed: abaabcbca Metric: Lines 1 and 3 through 7 are Iambic tetrameter and Lines 2,8, and 9 are iambic dimeter. |
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| Galloping Denturn | Two each dactylic tetrameter and anapestic tetrameter stanzas, | |
| Garland Cinquain | Syllabic, where the nth line of the nth stanza becomes the nth line of the 6th Stanza. | |
| Gemstone poetry form | It is a 32 line poem made up of four 8 line stanzas. Each stanza consists of 5 iambic tetrameter lines, and 3 iambic trimeter lines The Rhyme pattern for each stanza is ababccba (with independent rhyme) Meter: Lines 2,4, and 7 are iambic trimeter, the rest are iambic tetrameter. |
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| Ghazal | Extensive end-line refrains. | |
| Glosa, Glose, or Gloss | A poem beginning with another poet’s single stanza, which become lines in your subsequent stanzas. | |
| Golda | A 12 line titled poem. It is syllabic: 2/2/4/1/4/2/1/2/1/4/4/2 It is rhymed: xxxxxaxxxxxa It may be centered or not. |
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| Goliardic Verse | Syllabic, 13 syllable lines, in hemistiches of 6 and 7 syllables. Sometimes L4 is only 12 syllables. Stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. Mono-rhymed, lines end in feminine rhyme. Rhyme scheme aaaa bbbb. |
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| Grá Reformata | A Villanelle type poem with tercets alternating with rhymed or unrhymed couplets. | |
| Gratitude | two or more 8 line stanzas, each with the refrain rhyming scheme of ababcCab with ONLY the “c-rhyme” requiring the same sound each stanza. There is NO metric or line length requirement, EXCEPT that lines 5 and 6 are shorter than the others. |
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| Gregory’s Refrain | Syllable: 8/7/8/7/7/7/7/7 Rhyme: ababxcxc Refrain: Lines 5 through 7, first four syllables |
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| Grook | The grooks are characterized by irony, paradox, brevity, precise use of language, sophisticated rhythms and rhymes and often satiric nature. | |
| Guzzanelle | 1. The form is created from 6 triplets and a quatrain. 2. Line one is repeated as lines 6, 12, 18, 21. 3. Line three is repeated as lines 9, 15, 22. |
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| Gwadodyn | Complex Welsh form with two primary versions. | |
| Gzha | Tibetan syllabic poem, written in 6 syllable lines, usually trochaic. The form ends with a spondee SS. Written in 4 lines. Unrhymed but parallelism is expected. The poem often employs internal consonance and assonance |
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| Haibun | A haibun may record a scene, or a special moment, in a highly descriptive and objective manner or may occupy a wholly fictional or dream-like space | |
| Haiga | A Haiga is a Haiku accompanied by a picture. | |
| Haikuette | Tristitch with 17 or fewer syllable, no verbs, each line separate entity but contributing to whole. Created by Louise Sipfle. | |
| Haiku | English-language Haiku may be shorter than seventeen syllables, though some poets prefer to keep to the 5-7-5 format. | |
| Haiku Related form Links – Reference | Ever growing list | |
| Harrisham Rhyme | This form consists of a six-line rhyming stanza. In this form, the last letter of the first word of each line is the first letter of the first word of next line. Rhyming scheme : ababab. |
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| Haynaku | Vividly short poetry, like haikus only very different… 1 word, 2 words, 3 words and visa Vera. Creating imagery or conclusions with only six words in all.. |
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| Hex Sonnata | Meter: Iambic Trimeter Rhyme Scheme: a/bb/aa/b c/dd/cc/d ee |
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| Hexaduad | An Old English poetic form that consists of 2, 2, 6, 6, 8, 8, 4, 4, 6, 6, 4, 4 syllable line lengths – a total of 12 lines. |
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| Huitain | The true Huitain is a single verse, eight line poem with eight syllables per line. The rhyme scheme is: ababbcbc | |
| Imaginaerium | abcaba deed ff 12 syllables per line Written as follows: Sestet/ Quatrain/Couplet |
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| Impressionist | It is a nine stanza poem. It is syllabic. The first eight stanzas consist of both a four and five syllable line, in either order, followed by a “quip” of one or two words limited to three syllables. |
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| Individualtean | Syllabic, Rhymed abcbac def abcbac def gg | |
| Insane Cinquain | Stanza 1 4/6/5/7/8 rhymed a b c a b Stanza 2 8/7/5/6/4 Rhymed d e f d e |
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| Interlocke | Your title must be 8 syllables in length 3 sestets (6 lines) 1 ending line 19 lines in all |
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| Intramirroral | Every word in the first line should rhyme with the corresponding word in line 2 – Except for one word; those words must have contrary meanings, but same syllable count. Invented by Mark Andrew J Terry |
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| Inverted Refrain | A poem consisting of any number of sestets, each having 8 syllables, and rhyming abababor ababba, with the final couplet indented, and inverting the meaning of the first four lines. | |
| Italian Sestet | abcabc, iambic tetrameter | |
| Jay’s Way | Syllabic: 3-7-11-9-5-3-3-5-9-11-7-3 Rhyme Scheme: abbccddeeffa |
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| Joseph’s Star | Syllablic 1/3/5/7/7/5/3/1 Unrhymed, Centered | |
| Joybell | A hexastich, a poem in 6 lines. syllabic, 1/2/3/3/4/4/1 syllables per line. unrhymed. |
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| Jram | 5 quatrain REFRAIN stanzas 10 syllables to each line Rhyme scheme: aabb bbcc bbdd aadd aaff |
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| Jue Ju | Metered, 5 or 7 character or word lines. (lines should be same length) composed of 4 lines. Often erotic. |
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| Jumping Rhyme | Mono-rhyme quintet with line length growing from 6 to ten syllables Internal rhyme require for every line, starts with word two of line 1 then “jumps” up a word each line until the last, where it jumps back one word. |
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| Katuata | Syllabic, 19 syllables or less. Usually a tercet. 5-7-7. This can also be reduced to a 5-7-5 syllable count if desired. emotive, not necessarily logical. |
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| Kimo | An Israeli version of the Haiku. 10/7/6 syllables | |
| Kloon |
Stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains Syllabic, 4 to 8 syllables per line. Composed with each line made up of 2 to 3 phrases. Rhymed with an intricate rhyme pattern. |
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| Knittelvers | Stanzaic, written in any number of couplets. Rhymed. The rhyme can be true or assonant rhyme. aa bb cc dd etc. Syllabic, strict count of 8 syllable lines or free count of 8 or 9 syllable lines each |
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| Kolang | Syllabic. L1, L2, L3 are 7 syllables each, L4 is 9 syllables. Stanzaic, written with any number of quatrains. Composed with an interweaving or cross rhyme scheme. The end word of L1 rhymes with the 5th syllables of L2 and L3. The end word of L2 rhymes with the 5th syllable of L4. L3 and L4 end rhyme. It is most often a poem of nature. |
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| Kouta | A Japanese poetry form of 4 lines. Syllabic, written in lines of alternating 7-5-7-5 syllables or 7-7-7-5 syllables. |
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| Kwansaba | a celebration of family and African-American culture, a praise poem. a septastich, a poem in 7 lines measured by 7 words in each line. written with no word exceeding 7 letters. |
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| KyRenn | It consist of six quatrains, each set of three having only two rhymes. Verse one and two being mono-rhyme, and verse three being alternating or cross rhyme. |
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| Kyrielle | Quatrains with last line refrain. | |
| LaCalma | Rhyme scheme aaa,bB,cc,dd,bB. Syllabic: 8 syllables per line in iambic tetrameter. 11 lines per stanza. 3 stanzas (33 lines) total. Content must be nurturing, spiritual. |
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| LaDán | Quatrains, Syllabic: 11/9/11/9 9/7/7/9 11/9/11/9 9/7/9/7 11/9/11/9 Rhymed: abab baab abab baab abab or abab cddc efef ghhg ijij Every line starts with an anapest |
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| LaGrange Quatrain | Syllabic 8/7/8/7 Rhymed abab, Anapestic | |
| Lai | Syllabic, 5/5/2,Rhymed aab Minimum of two triplets per stanza Any number of stanzas. |
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| LaJemme | The LaJemme is a 5 stanza form created by poets Laura Lamarca and Jem Farmer. Syllalbic:10/10/10/10 8/8/8/6 8/8/8/6 10/10/10/10 10/10/10/10 a(ab)(ba)(ab)(dc)(cd)(fe)(ef)g(gf)(fd)(df)h(hi)(ih)(hi)a(ab)(ba)(ab) |
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| Lakelet | Stanzaic: Consisting of 3 or more sestets. Metric: Each stanza consisting of five lines of iambic tetrameter and one line of iambic trimeter. Rhyme scheme: abcccb |
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| Landay | An Afghan syllabic form, Syllabic, unrhymed couplet 9/13 | |
| La’Tuin | It contains a minimum of 4 stanzas, with no maximum length limit. A strict syllable count of 9/8/9/8 is required per stanza. A1BCA2 abca abca A1BCA2 |
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| La’Tuin LaFemme | It contains a minimum of 4 stanzas, with no maximum length limit. A strict syllable count of 9/8/9/8 is required per stanza. A B A2 C abac abac … AB A2 B C |
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| Lanturne | The Lanturne is a five-line CENTERED verse shaped like a Japanese lantern with a syllabic pattern of one, two, three, four, one. |
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| Lauranelle | A hybrid (variation) of both the Villanelle and the Terzanelle forms. It consists of 6 tercets and 1 quatrain ending with a refrain made up of lines 1 and 3. A1bA2 bcb cdc ded efe fbf ggA1A2 |
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| Le Jeune | Three to five six line stanzas, where each line has 5 syllables Internal mono-rhyme at syllable 2 in lines 2 and 4 throughout the poem. The Final word in each stanza is the same word, and must rhyme with the other mono-end-rhymes. No meter required. |
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| Leigh Hunt Rondeau | An 8 line poem with the final line being only four syllables Simply Trochaic Tetrameter, with catalectic feet providing the bold rhyme Rhyme pattern: ababcdcd |
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| Le Jeune | Tree or more sestets, internal rhyme, x(a/b)a(a/b)x(cB), pentasyllabic, Meter not required. |
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| Lento | Two quatrains with a fixed rhyme scheme of abcb, defe. The fun part of this poem is thrown in here as all the FIRST words of each verse should rhyme. There is no fixed syllable structure to the Lento, but keeping a good, flowing rhythm is recommended. | |
| Licentia Rhyme Form | A long refrain poem with 3 or more 12 line stanzas. The Rhyme pattern is AABBCCDDEEAA, BBffgghhiiAA, CCjjkkllmmAA etc. |
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| Lilibonelle | A Retourne-like refrain poem | |
| Lilit | Stanzaic, alternating Raay couplets with Kloang quatrains. Syllabic, the couplets are 5 syllable lines and the quatrains are L1-L3 7 syllable lines and L4 is a 9 syllable line. Couplets composed with a chain, linking the lines of the couplet and linking the stanzas. Rhymed, composed with cross, interlaced and end rhyme |
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| Lilt | A 16 LINE poem, consisting of four quatrain stanzas Accentual with odd lines of each stanza having 3 stressed syllable and even lines having two stressed syllables Rhyme Scheme: abab cdcd efef ghgh Rentrement requirement: The 2nd line of each stanza becomes part of the first line of the next stanza |
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| Limerick | There once was a guy from Nantucket…. | |
| Line Messaging | A poetic form wherein the poet utilizes the last line of each stanza to help represent an overall idea. (Or in my interpretation, any consistent line.) | |
| Linked Refrain | Stanzaic: Consisting of 3 or more quatrains Metered: Iambic Pentameter Rhymed: aabb cdcd efef, etc Refrain: The last portion of the last line of each stanza becomes the first part of the next stanza, except for the final stanza. It’s last portion is the first portion of the first stanza. |
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| Lira | Stanzaic, popularly written in one or a short number of cinquains. The form is occasionally found in sixains and on rare occasions, quatrains. Syllabic, the lines are usually in a fixed pattern of Italianate lines, (7 and 11 syllables). The last line of the stanza is always 11 syllables. The first stanza establishes the fixed pattern. Often written with L2 repeated as L5. Rhymed, often using only consonant rhyme. The most common rhyme scheme is aBabB. |
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| Lisa Rima | Consists of two or more quatrains of set syllabic length. 8/8/8/3 and with a specified rhyme pattern zzza Invented by Lisa LaGrange |
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| Logolilt | 2 Sixains made up of 2 tercets each. syllabic, 8-4-2-8-4-2 8-4-2-8-4-2. Rhymed, rhyme scheme aabccb ddeffe. |
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| Loonies | 5 line, 13 word poem. It is word-based with 1/5/5/1/1 words per line. It is formulaic: the words in the final two lines must be hyphenated. |
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| Loop Poetry | Word structured stanzas with several options | |
| Loose Sapphic | Quatrains,4 with 11 syllable, 1 with 5 syllables. Unrhymed. | |
| Luc Bat | Syllabic, 6/8/6/8/6/8…, a(a/b)b(b/c)c(c/d)d(d/a) | |
| Lucubration | 2 octave stanzas followed by a single line 12 syllables each line – formulistic abababab cdcdcdcd d rhyme scheme |
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| Lune | Kelly Lune, Syllables: 5-3-5 Collom Lune, Words: 3-5-3 Any topic, meter, rhyme, metaphor allowed. |
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| Lushi | A isosyllabic (all lines the same number of syllables) octet, with 5,6, or 7 syllable lines. It is formulistic and unrhymed. | |
| Lyrette | a heptastich, a poem in 7 lines. syllabic, 2-3-4-5-4-3-2 syllables per line. unrhymed, each line should end with strong word. |
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Mad Calf |
A 20 line poem Stanzaic: 4 quintains Isosyllabic: All lines six syllables. Rhyme scheme: abcde fghij klmno eieio. |
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| Mad Cow | A pastoral poem Stanzaic: 7 quintains Metric: Alexandines (Iambic hexameter) rhyme scheme: ababc cdede fgfgh hijij klklm mnono eieio |
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| Mad Song Stanza | Stanzaic: One or more quintains Syllabic: 6/6/4/4/6 Rhymed: xabba Metric: Iambic |
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| Magic 9 | A 9 line poem Line-length and metrics at the discretion of the poet Rhyme pattern: abacadaba |
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| Manardina | Single stanza 12 line poem Syllabic 4/8/8/8/8/4/4/8/8/8/4/4 Rhymed: axbbxxxbbxaa |
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| Margerinesoar Noir | All lines are 10 syllables. All end-rhyme is mono-rhyme. Internal separate mono-rhyme occurs on syllable 5 of each line. |
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| Marianne | a pentastich, a poem in 5 lines. syllabic, 4-6-8-4-2 syllables per line.rhymed, axaxa x being unrhymed. titled and centered on the page. |
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| Markette | Stanzaic: 4 quatrains Syllablic: 11/10/9/5 Rhyme Scheme: aaab cccd ddde fffe |
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| Mathnawi | Most Persian Mathnawi are normally eleven (11) syllables, occasionally ten (10). There is no limit to the number of rhymed couplets. Arabic Mathnawi (Also called Musdawidj) simial but presented as mono-rhymed triplets |
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| Meisenheimer Sestet | It is syllabic, each stanza being a sestet of 11/8/11/11/11/8 syllables. It is metrical, with the long lines consisting of three anapestic feet and an iamb, and each short line consisting of two anapestic feet and an iamb. Rhyme pattern: xabbba |
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| McWhirtle | dactylic, formulistic, hexasyllabic, stanzaic | |
| Melodic | abcabc defdef ghigg, Created by chasingtheday of AP. cross-rhyme, formulistic, stanzaic |
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| Memento | Themed: about a holiday or anniversary. Stanzaic: sestet consisting of two tercets Syllabic: 8/6/2/8/6/2 Rhymed: abcabc |
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| Michelle’s Quatrain Wrap | It consists of four or more quatrains, the first three lines being written in iambic tetrameter and the last line being written in iambic trimeter. Of course poets so inclined may substitute trochaic meter. |
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| Miniature | syllabic, 7-5-7-5-7-6-7-6-7-7 syllables per line. All but L6 & L8 begin and end on a stressed syllable. L6 & L8 have feminine endings. rhyme x a x a x b x b c c, x being unrhymed. Word Refrain. |
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| Minuette | Syllabic, all lines 4 syllables long. rhymed, rhyme scheme xxaxxa xxbxxb. composed with L3,L6,L9,L12 indented. |
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| Minute | The Minute Poem is a 60 syllable verse form, one syllable for each second in a minute. The theme should be an event that is over and done completely, as in a minute. Since the dominant line is short the effect is likely humorous, whimsical or semi-serious. | |
| Mirror Cinquain | A titled, unrhymed decastich (10 line poem) syllabic, 2-4-6-8-2 2-8-6-4-2 syllables per line. |
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| Mirror Oddquain | Created by Glenda L. Hand. Usually unrhymed. 17 syllables in five lines. Syllable Count: 1-3-5-7-1 |
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| Mirror Sestet | Created by Shelly A. Cephas, formulistic l or more stanzas of 6 lines, word repeat rhymed or not |
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| Mirrored Refrain | The poem is formed by three or more quatrains where two lines within the quatrain are the “mirrored refrain” or alternating refrain. The rhyme scheme is as follows: xaBA, xbAB, xaBA, xbAB, etc.. |
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| MLou Quintet | Created by Mary Lou Healy. 5/3/5/3/4, ababa | |
| Monchielle |
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| Monk’s Tale Stanza | See Ballade Stanza | |
| Monololiquie | It starts, ends and is titled after a single word. It follows a mono rhyme scheme. Each line is typically as short as possible, and the scenarios expressed become increasingly absurd. | |
| Monometric | This form requires the poet to begin with a couplet, then augment each succeeding stanza with one more line Each stanza is to be independent mono-rhyme. |
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| Mononet | An 18 line poem consisting of two octaves and a couplet, with part-line and full-line refrains. | |
| Monotetra | Each stanza contains four lines in monorhyme. Each line is in tetrameter (four metrical feet) for a total of eight syllables. What makes the monotetra so powerful as a poetic form, is that the last line contains two metrical feet, repeated. It can have as few as one or two stanzas, or as many as desired. | |
| Muzdawidj | Most are normally eleven (11) syllables, occasionally ten (10). There is no limit to the number of rhymed couplets. Presented as mono-rhymed triplets |
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| Musette | 9 line syllalbic poem, 2/4/2 2/4/2 2/4/2 Rhymed aba cdc efe. Invent by Emily Romano |
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| Mystic Butterfly | 2 Sestets (6 lines per stanza) Rhyme scheme: abcddd Internal and External rhyme using the same pattern, on every line. |
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| Mystique Sonetillo Acróstico | 8 syllables : Stanzas 1 -3 7 syllables :Stanza 2 and couplet Rhyming Scheme is: abba bccb cddc ee |
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| Naani | A four line poem consisting of from 20 to 25 syllables. | |
| Nibor | Complex Syllabic Stanza arrangement | |
| Nocturna | A 9 line poem based upon a nocturnal theme Rhyme Scheme: abacbcdbd Metered in iambic pentameter. |
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| Nonnet | 9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1, centered, lines 9, rhyme any, syllabic | |
| Nove Otto | A nine line poem, Syllabic, 8 syllables per line Rhyme Scheme: aabccbddb Created by Scott J. Alcorn |
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| Novelinee | Created by Sarah Rayburn, the novelinee is a 9 line stanza derived from the Spencerian stanza but written in iambic pentameter or decasyllabic lines. Rhyme Scheme: ababcdcdd. |
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Ocarina |
12345678 85274163 34567812 27416385 56781234 41638527 78123456 63852741 With the envoy: 12 / 34 / 56 / 78 |
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| Ocarina – Rhymed | 1st abbacddc 2nd cdcdabab 3rd baabdccd 4th dcdcbaba 5th abbacddc 6th cdcdabab 7th baabdccd 8th dcdcbaba Envoy: (b/a) (b/c) (d/a) (d/c) |
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| Ochtfochlach | An Irish octet with unspecified line length and meter. Rhyming aaab cccb. |
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| Octain | syllabic, 2-4-6-8-8-6-4-3 syllables per line. Not a typo, the last line takes 3 syllables but the last word must be the same as the first. rhymed or unrhymed. If it is rhymed the rhyme scheme is AbcdbcdA. |
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| Octain Refrain | It comprises eight lines as TWO TERCETS and a COUPLET Refrain line, internal rhyme in one line Abb a(c/c)a bA or A bba (c/c)ab A |
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| Octameter | Two stanzas of 8 lines each. By Shelly A. Cephas Each line has a syllable count of 5 The set rhyme scheme is: abcdedfd ghcgigdd |
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| Octava Real | Stanzaic, written in any number of octaves. Hendecasyllabic, written in 11 syllable lines. Rhymed, abababcc. A narrative, tells a story. |
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| Octelle | The Octelle, created by Emily Romano, is a poem consisting of eight lines using personification and symbolism in a telling manner. The syllable count structure for this verse is 8, 8, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, and the rhyme scheme is aa/bb/cc/aa. The first two lines and the last two lines are identical. | |
| Octet Poetry Form | An octastich, a poem in 8 lines. Syllabic, 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 syllables per line. Unrhymed. Variable and can be written as a mirror or can be reversed. |
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| Octo | An octastich, a poem in 8 lines. Syllabic, all lines are 8 syllables each. Rhymed ABCxxCBA, x being unrhymed. Refrain: with L1 repeated as L8, L2 repeated as L7 and L3 repeated as L6. |
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| Octodil | A poem in 8 lines, an octastich. Syllabic, 4-4-6-6-8-8-6-6 syllables per line. Unrhymed and no feminine or falling end words |
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| Oddquain | Created by Glenda L. Hand. Usually unrhymed. 17 syllables in five lines. Syllable Count: 1-3-5-7-1 |
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| Oddquain Butterfly | Also by Glenda L. Hand; 1/3/5/7/1/7/5/3/1 | |
| Ode | A poem praising a person place or thing. | |
| Onda Mel | An octastich, a poem in 8 lines made up of 2 quatrains. Syllabic, 8/4/4/8/8/4/4/8 syllables per line. Rhymed abbacddc. |
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| Onzain or Onzijn | 11 Lines, Isosyllabic: 11 syllables per line. Rhymed: abcbcbcdcdee |
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| Oriental Octet | An octastich, a poem in 8 lines, nature related. Syllabic, 5/7/5/7/7/5/7/5 syllables per line. Unrhymed. |
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| Ottava Anna | Internal and end-rhyme schemes. Internal rhyme is on syllable 4 or 5 each line. Internal ~ abbaaccb External ~ deeddffe |
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| Ottava Rima | A Ottava Rima is a poem written in 8-line octaves. Each line is of a 10 or 11 syllable count in the following rhyme: one octave poem. abababcc |
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| Ovi | Stanzaic, written in any number of 4 line stanzas. Syllabic, 8-8-8-(less than 8 ) syllables Rhymed, with L1, L2, L3 mono-rhymed L4 unrhymed. aaax, x being unrhymed. |
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| Ovillejo | 10-line verse that rolls out in measured segments, then goes back and picks up the short threads for the final unraveling. aa bb cc cddc |
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| Oxylet | A very difficult poem to compose with specified metric feet, required alliteration, intenal rhyme and consonant rhyme. | |
| Palidrome Poetry | A palindrome, by definition, is a word, phrase, verse, sentence, or even poem that reads the same forward or backward. | |
| Pantoum | The pantoum consists of a series of quatrains rhyming abab in which the second and fourth lines of a quatrain recur as the first and third lines in the succeeding quatrain; each quatrain introduces a new second rhyme as bcbc, cdcd. | |
| Paradelle | Complex- The first two lines as well as the third and fourth lines of the first three stanzas must be the same (repeat). Where it begins to get difficult and become more of a poetic puzzle is when reaching fifth and sixth lines. These lines must contain all the words from the preceding four lines within the stanza using them only once to form completely new lines. | |
| Parallelogram de Crystalline | A poem in 12 lines, Stanzaic: made up of 4 tercets. Syllabic 3-6-9 syllables per line for each tercet. Unrhymed. |
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| Parallelismus Membrorum | Grammatical parallelism is of traditional Hebrew origin and dates back to biblical times. It is an independent clause presenting parallels or opposites in balance using contrasting and complimentary extensions. | |
| Paraphrased Great Poetry | Take a well-known poem, then rewrite it in four lines of iambic trimeter (six-syllable lines with the stressed syllables in position 2, 4, and 6). These are monorhyme poems, meaning all of the lines end with the same rhyming word (rhyme scheme aaaa). | |
| Pareado | A single distich, a poem in 2 lines. Syllabic, often the same length at the discretion of the poet. Rhymed, the rhyme can be consonant rhyme which in Spanish prosody is full rhyme or the rhyme can be assonant rhyme. |
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| Park’s Triad | A poem in 22 lines made up of an octave, sixain and an octave in that order. Metric, all lines are iambic tetrameter accept the last line of each stanza which is a refrain in iambic dimeter. Rhymed, turned on only 2 rhymes, rhyme scheme xxxaxabA xxxabA xxxaxabA – b rhyme linking the stanzas and A being the refrain. |
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| Partenze Represa | it maintains strict syllable line count of your choosing: 8*6*8*6, 8*8*8*8, 10*10*10*10, etc…and that each line must begin (anywhere you like) with the last portion of the preceding line. |
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| Pathya vat | Cambodian verse – four lines of four syllables each, where lines two and three rhyme. When a poem consists more than one stanza, the last line of the previous stanza rhymes with the second and third lines of the following one. | |
| Patrol Poem | A 12 line poem made up of 3 quatrains. Accentual verse, giving importance to stress count. There are 4 stresses in each of the 4 lines of the first quatrain, 3 stresses in each of the 4 lines of the second quatrain and the stress count alternates stresses from 4, 3, 4, 3 in the third quatrain. Rhymed, rhyme scheme is xaxa xbxb xcxc. x being unrhymed. Composed with repetition of words as a criteria of this form. |
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| Paulo Comitatu | Line 1 of each verse in Iambic Tetrameter Lines 2-4 are Iambic trimeter. The trimeter lines share mono-rhyme. |
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| Paulo Ludibrium Comitato | The form consists of one or more octaves where the 1st and 5th lines are Iambic Trimeter with and extra unaccented syllable da DUM da DUM da DUM da (Technically two iambs and an amphibrach) The remaining lines are proper Iambic Trimeter |
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| Payar | Stanzaic, written in any number of couplets. Rhymed. aa bb cc etc. Syllabic, 14 syllables lines which are normally broken into 4 units. |
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| Pendrangle | Two or more hexameter mono-rhyme quatrain stanzas, each followed by the same mono-rhyme couplet. Rhyme pattern: aaaa BB cccc BB.. Created by Penelope Allen. |
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| Pendulum | Syllabic, 8-6-4-2-2-4-6-8 syllables per line. rhymed, rhyme scheme aabbccdd. |
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| Pentibrach | L1 & L3 two pentibrach feet L2 a pentibrach followed by a secundus paeon L4 a pentibrach followed by an iamb |
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| Pensee | syllabic count 2-4-7-8-6; line 1 is the subject; line 2 gives description line 3, action; line 4, the setting; line 5, final thought. |
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| Phyquain | Form Created by John Madison Shaw, Sr., aka Arkbear on Allpoetry MUST have 5 Quatrains – No Set Line length – No Set Meter The Nth line of each quatrain must rhyme with each other. Letter use restrictions. |
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| Piaku | The Piaku form takes part of its name from the fact that the syllable count for each line matches the digits in Pi. | |
| Pi-Archimedes | A hexastich, a poem in 6 lines. Measured by the number of words in each line 3-1-4-1-5-9 to match the numerical sequence of the first six digits of Pi. Unrhymed. |
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| Pictorial | The entire poem must be printed in slanting lines indicative of the thought in those lines. The poem should consist of three lines with five words or less per line. There should be rhyme somewhere in the poem, either end rhyme or internal rhyme. | |
| Pie Quebrado | Two Stanzaic forms: 1. A couplet of two 8 syllable lines followed by a tail, a 4 syllable line. 2. A couplet made of 8 syllable line followed by 4 syllable line. |
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| Pixiku | A three line form related to Haiku with no restrictions. | |
| Pleiades | Only one word is allowed in the title followed by a single seven-line stanza. The first word in each line begins with the same letter as the title. | |
| Pruntiform | An invented acrostic form created by Randy Prunty in which the words of the first line of the poem are sequentially the first word of each subsequent line. The structure of the poem is at the discretion of the poet | |
| Punte | Two stanzas with different thoughts, linked by a one line stanza set off with tildes. | |
| Purely Hopeful | 9/8/7/6: abab 7/8/9: cdc 9/8/7: cdc 6/7/8/9: fgfg | |
| Quadrilew | This is a stanzaic, form requiring 4 quatrains. It is syllabic with two forms, either 5/6/5/6 repeating or 6/5/6/5 repeating. Minimum 16 lines, No meter specified. Refrains: The Nth line of the first quatrain is the first line of the Nth quatrain. |
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| Quadrilou | Two octets with rhyme pattern abcdabcd abcdabcd Each Octet consists of two Quatrains, where Line 1 is tetrameter Line 2 Dimeter Line 3 Trimeter Line 4 Dimeter |
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| Quaintrell | 3 or more Octets, each having the following syllable count: 8/8/8/6/8/8/8/6, that is to say Iambic Tetrameter in lines 1/2/3/ and 5/6/7, and Iambic Trimeter in lines 4 and 8. The rhyme scheme is as follows: a/a/(bb)/c, d/d/(ee)/c. |
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| Quatern | The first line of stanza 1 is repeated as a refrain line as the second line of stanza 2, the third line of stanza 3 and the last line of stanza 4. There is no set meter or rhyme scheme. |
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| Questrain | Questrain is a four line stanza with abab rhyme scheme and a 9/7/8/6 syllable count. The first three lines introduce a topic and the last line asks a question. Form invented by Michelle Campbell. | |
| Quintilla | Syllabic verse, octasyllabic (8 syllable lines). Stanzaic, written in any number of quintains (5 line stanzas). Rhymed. In each quintain only 2 rhymes can be used and it cannot end in a rhyming couplet. |
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| Quintina | A sestina-like form with 5 keywords and a couplet envoi. | |
| Quinzaine | A syllabic 3-line poem, 7/5/3, unrhymed, where L1 poses a question and L2 an L3 provide answers. | |
| Raay or Rai | Stanzaic, written in a series of couplets. Syllabic, 5 syllables per line. Chain rhymed, the last syllable of L1 rhymes with the first syllable of L2 |
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| Raccontino | A single stanza consisting of any even number of lines. Rhymed: the rhyme pattern is xaxaxaxa Formulaic: The end words in the un-rhymed lines tell a brief story. Isosyllabic: All lines having the same number of syllables, at the poet’s discretion |
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| Raconteur | abCabC DeFdeF D, syllabic, no meter requierment | |
| Ragonelle | Created by Adaline Reilly, aka -AJ on Allpoetry Rhyming: abab – Syllable Count: 12/7/12/7 There are no requirements for specific meter. |
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| Rannaigheacht beagh | A traditional Irish quatrain of 7-syllable lines (‘old-school’), or 8-6-8-6, ending in 2-syllable words all linked by consonance (in its old meaning, having the same vowels’), with at least two cross-rimes in each couplet (can be consonance in first but should be rime in second)and alliteration in every line, which in the second couplet must be between the last two stressed words in each line, and with the dunedh, of course (ending in the same word, phrase, or line it began with). |
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| Rannaigecht chethar-chubaid garit rocamarcach | Written in any number of quatrains. Syllabic 3-7-7-7. Alliterated, 2 word alliteration in each line. Written with aicill rhyme, the end word of L3 internally rhymes with L4. |
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| Rannaigheacht mhor | Very Difficult Ancient Irish quatrain. | |
| Ravenfly | It consists of two quatrains and a couplet with syllables of 8/7/8/7/10/10 rhyming abab cdcd ee |
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| Redondilla | aabb,or abab, or abcb, 4 quatrains, Spanish, stanzaic, tetrameter | |
| Remy LaRhyme | The RemyLa Rhyme Form, a form c, consists of 4 quatrain stanzas. The syllable count per stanza is 8/10/12/8 rhymed abca defd ghig jklj. Created by Laura Lamarca |
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| Renga – Reference | Reference | |
| RenRhyme | It consists of three, four-line (Quatrain) stanzas (12 lines) Lines 1-4 in the opening stanza are the refrain lines Invented by Renee Mathews Jackson |
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| Retourne | Each line of the first of four quatrains, is successively the first line of the following quatrains | |
| Retournello | Stanzaic: Any number of quatrains. Syllabic: Count: 4/6/8/4 Rhyme Scheme: abba cddc effe etc. |
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| Retrac | A poem of 12 lines, displayed centered. Syllable Counts: 2/3/4/6/8/10/10/10/8/6/4/3/2 Rhyme Scheme: aabbccccbbaa. |
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| Reverse Word | The ONLY requirement of this form, is that you use reverse words where ever you might otherwise choose to use rhyme. Instead of rhyming, the last words of the lines are backwards (reversed) where rhymes would be. |
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| Rhaiku Verse | A poem consisting of One stanza of Rhyme, one stanza of haiku, and one stanza of free verse. The order of the components is up to the poet. |
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| Rhopalic Couplet | The Rhopalic Couplet is a poetic unit of 2 rhopalic lines, each word progresses adding 1 more syllable than the preceeding word in the line. The lines can either be parallel or the order can be reversed in the second line. The lines need not be rhymed. | |
| Rhophalic Verse | A poem wherein the Nth word of every line in each stanza has N-syllables. | |
| Rhupunt | Welsh form. A four syllable line, each stanza can be of three, four or five lines a..a..a..B. The next stanza rhymes the similar c..c..c..B. |
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| Rhupunt hir | Simply a Rhupunt presented as a long line with internal rhyme. It is isosyllabic (all lines the same length) with 3, 4, or 5 tetrameter feet. |
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| Rhyme Royal | Seven lines, usually in iambic pentameter. Rhyme scheme is a-b-a-b-b-c-c. The stanza can be constructed either as a tercet and two couplets (aba bb cc) or (abab bcc) |
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| Rhymethor | Stanazaic: Consisting of three quatrains plus a single line. Syllabic: 6/6/6/6/ 6/6/6/6 6/6/6/6 12 Rhymed: AABB ccdd BBAA x, Refrained: Where the final quatrain is the inverse of the first quatrain. |
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| Rhyming Wave | Stanzaic: 2 or more quatains plus an ending couplet Metric: Iambic tetrameter, except the final line is iambic trimeter Rhymed and Refrained: Rhyme Pattern AAab BBbc CCcd DDde AE |
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| Rick’s 32 | Stanzaic, consisting of 2 or more stanzas, Syllabic: 3/4/3/6/6/3/4/3 Rhyme is optional |
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| Rictameter | Starting your first line with a two syllable word, you then consecutively increase the number of syllables per line by two. i.e. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 Then down again, 8, 6, 4, 2 Making the final line the same two syllable word you began with. | |
| Ridotto | 1. Pen a line with any number of syllables. 2. For the next line, add one syllable and rhyme with the preceding line. 3. Subtract two syllables and choose a new rhyme word. Repeat instructions 2 thru 3 until instruction 3 would create a zero syllable line. Invented by Thomas Horton |
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| Rime Couée | Stanzaic, any number of sixains made up of two tercets. accentual, folk meter of normal speech. L1,L2, L4, L5 are longer lines of a similar length, L3 and L6 are shorter lines of the same length. rhymed, rhyme scheme aabccb, ddeffe, etc |
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| Rimas Dissolutas | French origin. External rhyme only. Isosyllabic. | |
| Rionnaird tri-nard | Old Irish form. Stanzaic, isosyllabic, syllables 6,rhymed, cross-rhyme, | |
| Ripple | It is similar to the Monometic form but with the additional constraint of line-length in feet being required to match the stanza line count. | |
| Rishal | Four or more tercet stanzas plus concluding single line. aba cdc efe ghg x, meter not required, refrain required Internal rhyme in line 2 of each stanza |
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| Rispetto | Tuscan form, octave, rhyming | |
| Roger’s Refrain | It is written in iambic tetrameter with Any number of mono-rhyme quatrain stanzas, and an ending rhyming couplet. (Becomes Sonnet with 3 stanzas and volta |
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| Romantic Stanza | Any number of dactylic stanzas rhymed abab, with cross-rhyme where the first 7 syllables of line 1 become line 4. Syllabic variations. | |
| Rondeau | It is composed of fifteen lines, eight to ten syllables each, divided stanzaically into a quintet, a quatrain, and a sestet. The rentrement consists of the first few words or the entire first line of the first stanza, rhyme: aabba aabR aabbaR | |
| Rondeau Prime | A 12 line poem of French origin, (variation of the Rondeau) Syllabic in French, often iambic in English Isosyllabic lines, except for the shorter refrain lines Rhyme Scheme: (Ra)bbaabR abbaR, where R is the first part of the first line and becomes the refrain. |
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| Rondeau Redoublé | It uses only two rhymes throughout, repeats whole lines, and has an awkward repeated half-line at the end. | |
| Rondelet | Syllabic 4/8/4/8/8/8/4 Rhymed A b A a b b A Where A is the refrain |
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| Rondel Grand | Rhyme Pattern: ababR cdcdR..etc. Syllables: 8/8/8/8/6 Created by Victoria Sutton |
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| Rondine | A sestet and a quintet, each ending with a short line taken from the beginning of line 1. |
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| Rosardian Ode | The only kind of ode that specifies a particular rhyming scheme – ababccddc, with syllable counts of 10, 4, 10, 4, 10, 10, 4, 4, 8. | |
| Rossetti Stanza | Two different syllabic sestets, rhymed abaaba or ababba | |
| Roundabout | A 20 line poem, attributed to David Edwards Stanzaic: Consisting of 4 five-line stanza Metered: Iambic with feet of 4/3/2/2/3 per line Rhyme Scheme: aBccB bCddC cDaaD dAbbA Refrain: L2 is repeated as L5 in each stanza |
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| Roundel | Refrain poetry, two quatrains plus either a quintet or sestet. ABba abAB abbaA or ABba abAB abbaAB |
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| Roundelay | Complex four sestet poem with 12 repeating couplets, one of which repeats as each stanzas last two lines. | |
| Royal Spiral | A syllabic, stanzaic for consisting of five quintains Rhyming aabbc ccdde eeffg gghhc, refrains similare to a Rondeau. Created by Mary Sullivan Boren |
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| Rubai – Rubaiyat – Interlocking Rubaiyat | Persian origin. Rhymed aaxa. | |
| Rubliw | A single stanza, 9 line, centered poem. Metric: Completely written in iambs Formulaic: Begins with one foot for line 1, then add a foot to each succeeding line until a pentameter line is reached, the decrease each succeeding line by a foot until then end. Rhyme is optional |
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| Rustavelain Quatrain | 15 or 16 syllable isosyllabic lines Any number of quatrains rhymed in two or three syllable mono-rhyme. |
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| Ruthless Rhyme | Deplorably funny couplet poems, frequently not in best of taste. | |
| San Gabriel Refrain |
A poem with one or more 10 line stanzas of optional specific lengths with two line refrains taken from the three preceding long lines. Rhyming pattern: ababccddee |
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| Sapphic Stanza | Syllabic, each stanza consisting 3 Sapphic Lines plus a Adonic line. Metrical. The Sapphic lines being trochaic with the central foot being a dactyl (11 syllables), and The Adonic lines being a dactyl followed by a trochee (5 syllables) Rhymed, the pattern being abab. |
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| Saraband | Septet stanza, usually in iambic tetrameter Rhyming axa bcbc |
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| Scallop | syllabic, 2-4-6-6-4-2 syllables per line. rhymed, rhyme scheme abccba deffed ghiihg etc. |
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| Scallop | Stanzaic, written in any number of sixains. Syllabic, 2/4/6/6/4/2 syllables per line. Rhymed, rhyme scheme abccba deffed ghiihg etc. |
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| Scifaiku | Minimal, in the moment with human insight. Written with a haiku frame |
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| Scupham Stanza | isosyllabic, stanzaic one or more sextets ,abccba | |
| Séadna | Complex syllabic quatrain, 8/7/8/7 with end-rhyme, cross-rhyme, internal rhyme, word repeat |
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| Séadna mheadhanach | Séadna mheadhanach is: the same as the Séadna. except the 1st and 3rd lines of the quatrain are 3 syllable words and the 2nd and 4th lines are 2 syllable words. |
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| Séadna Mòr | Séadna Mòr (shay’-na mor) stanza is: the same as Séadna. except L2 and L4 end in three-syllable words instead of monosyllable words. |
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| Sedoka | Japanese, syllabic 5/7/7 5/7/7 | |
| Seguidilla | Stanzaic, written in any number of 2 part septets. (7 lines) Syllabic, 7-5-7-5 : 5-7-5 per line. There is a slight pause between L4 and L5 suggesting L4 should be end-stopped. Rhymed by assonance xaxabxb or xaxabab. x being unrhymed. True rhyme is generally not used. |
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| Senryu | A poem in 3 lines or less. Syllabic, 17 syllables or less. Commonly written in 3 lines but can be written in 2 lines and can be written with fewer syllables, never more. |
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| Seox | A poem in six lines, a hexastich. syllabic, 3-7-6-5-4-3 syllables per lines. unrhymed. |
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| Sept | Seven line poem, beings with one syllable, increases by one each line until 4, then decreases by one until done. |
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| Septanelle | a heptastich, a poem in seven lines. syllabic, 4-6-10-4-6-10-4 syllables per line. rhymed, rhyme scheme ababcca. |
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| Septolet | Verse requiring exactly 14 words in tercet and quatrain in either order. |
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| Serena | Syllabic, L1,L9,L11 are 4 syllables each. L2 & L10 are 3 syllables each and L3 thru L8 are 7 sylables each. Rhymed: head and tail rhymed The head rhyme is AAbbccddAAx and the tail rhyme is ABcxccddABb, x being unrhymed. Refrained: L1 & L2 are repeated as L9 & L10. |
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| Serenity Refrain | It is a stanzaic poem, with six 5-line stanzsa It is isosyllabic, requiring 7 syllable per line.Rhyme Scheme: aabba Sliding Refrain |
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| Sestalena | Syllabic 6/8/8/6/8/6, rhyme abbaba a Lines Iambic Trimeter, b Lines Iambic Tetrameter Created by Caroline Ann Gordon |
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| Sestina | A fairly difficult 39 line poem consisting of six septets and one tercet, all reqired to re-use the end words from the first stanza, in different lines as the end-word. Metered, Un-rhymed. | |
| Sestina -Rhymed | Rhymed: ababab, iambic pentameter, specific word-scheme Invented by Algernon Swinburne |
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| Sestina – Swinburne’s Double | Algernon Charles Swinburne developed the double sestina, a twelve-line, twelve stanza form with a six line envoi for the masochistic poet | |
| Seven-Eleven Couplet Rhyme | Stanzaic, any number of couplets. Syllabic, mixed or irregular 7 and 11 syllabic line. 7-7 7-11 11-11 11-7 etc or 7-11 7-7 11-7 11-7 11-11 or whatever combination at the discretion of the poet. (although L6 and if there is a L11 are always 11 syllables.) Rhymed, consonant-full rhyme |
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| Sevenling | Lines one to three should contain three connected or contrasting statements, or a list of three details, names or possibilities. This can take up all of the three lines or be contained anywhere within them. Lines four to six should similarly have three elements (statements, details, names, or possibilities) connected directly or indirectly or not at all. The seventh line should act as a narrative summary or punchline or an unusual juxtaposition. |
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| Sevenelle | Stanzaic, written in no less than 2 septets, each made up of a rhymed couplet, tercet and couplet in that order. Metric, iambic tetrameter. Rhymed, aabbbCC ddeeeCC etc. Composed with L6&L7 of the first stanza repeated as refrain in the last 2 lines of all subsequent stanzas. |
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| Shanzi | This is a syllabic, unrhymhttps://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/sicilian-sestet/ed poem in seven lines 4/5 5/4 4/4/5 | |
| Sheshire | Three sestets and a couplet with last line extended with caesura Rhyme scheme: ababab cdcdcd efefef gg or abcabc defdef ghighi jj |
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| Shoe Laces | Eleven line brevity form. 8/2/8/2/8/2/8/2/8/2/8 Rhymed abbacddceff |
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| Short Measure | Meter: Iambic trimeter, EXCEPT line three which is iambic tetrameter Rhymed: xaxa xbxb … Any number of stanzas |
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| Short Particular Measure | All the authorities seem to agree that this has 6-line stanzas rhyming aabaab, with syllable counts of 668668 (that’s 334334 in feet). Mysteriously, all the authorities then go on to give examples with syllable counts of 448448! | |
| Short Rondel | A poem in 11 lines made up of sixain followd by a quintain. Isosyllabic, often 8 syllalbe lines, except for L6 & L11 which are the shorter first phrase of L1. Rhymed, rhyme scheme aabbcC ddeeC. |
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| Shrinking Verse | Stanzaic: It consists of three or more stanzas of diminishing length written in common meter, followed by a single rhyming iambic tetrameter couplet. Usually the stanza preceding the couplet is four lines in length. Metric: It is written in common meter (alternating lines 0f iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.) |
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| Sicilian Sestet | Sicilian sestet had no set meter, but the anglicized version uses Iambic tetrameter or pentameter. The rhyme pattern is as follows; ababab |
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| SIJO | Korean form. Syllabic, structured, unrhymed. Each of three lines being from 14 to 16 syllables. |
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| Silva de consonantes | Stanzaic, any number of couplets. Syllabic, alternating 7-11 syllabic lines. 7-11 7-11 7-11 7-11 7-11 etc. Rhymed, consonant-full rhyme aabbccdd etc. |
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| Skeltonic Verse | Lines of verse without stanza breaks, written in mono-rhyme changed at the whim of the poet. All lines have two accented syllables | |
| Slide Ballad | A common meter poem, where with rhyme pattern (ax)axa Where (ax) indicates that end-line is unrhymed, but that there is interleaved rhyme from the first section of the first line to end following end-rhyme. There is a partial refrain from first to last stanza. |
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| Solage | It has three lines (called the hook, the line and the sinker) of irregular length. The rhyming structure is AAB. | |
| Soft-songed tercet | Three line poem: 6/12/6, a(b/b)a | |
| Sonnetina Rispetto | It can be written in 3 quatrain stanzas and a couplet or with an Octave(8) and a Sestet(6) lines. The rhyme scheme is as follows:A1,A2,B1,c,c,B2,A1,A2,d,d,B1,B2,A1,A2. |
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| Sonnetina (Five Forms Here) | Each documented below | |
| Sonnetina Uno | A ten line poem Requires: IAMBIC PENTAMER using BLANK VERSE |
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| Sonnetina Due | Five couplets Rhyme Scheme: aabbccddee Usually Iambic tetrameter or petameter |
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| Sonnetina Tre | 1. The form is created from three stanzas. These consist of two quatrains and one couplet. Variations include the Mini-Dorn with the couplet in the middle. |
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| Sonnetina Quatro | 1. The form comprises of two stanzas. These are a sestet and a quatrain. 2. The sestet and quatrain may appear either way round, but the more usual design is the sestet first. Rhyme Scheme: ababab cdcd |
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| Sonnetina Cinque | 1. This form comprises of two cinquains. 2. There is no set meter or rhyme scheme, though iambic pentameter or tetrameter is common. |
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| Sonnette | Invented by Sherman Ripley. It consists of 7 lines in pentameter, predominately iambic, with two stanzas, rhyming abba cbc. It is, essentially, half of a sonnet. | |
| Spenserian Quintilla | Stanzaic, written in any number of cinquains. Syllabic, L1-L4 are 8 syllables each, L5 is 12 syllables. Rhymed, axabb cxcdd etc x being unrhymed. |
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| Spenserian Stanza | The stanza has Nine lines and the main meter is iambic pentameter (10 syllables) over the first eight lines with a final line in iambic hexameter (12 syllables) Rhyme Scheme: ababbcbcc, and typically has a caesura, or break, after the first three feet |
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| Spiral Quatrain | Stanzaic, 4 centered quatrains Rhyme Scheme: abba ccdd efef abba syllabic 5/6/7/8 8/7/6/5 5/6/7/8 8/7/6/5 |
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| Staccato | Created by Jan Turner, consists of two or more 6-line stanzas. Interlaced rhyme betweent lines 1 and two Rhyme scheme: a,a,b,b,c,c |
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| Star Sevlin | A heptastich, a poem in 7 lines. iambic syllabic, iambic 4/6/8/6/8/6/4 syllables per line. Rhyme scheme abbcaca. centered on the page. |
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| Strambotto | A lyrical octave with three major versions. | |
| Stave Stanza | Sestet, metrical, isosyllabic lines, one or two refrain lines Rhymed: aabbcC or AabbaA for three or more stanzas. |
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| Streambed Quintet | Stanzaic, consisting of two or more quintets. Each stanza is syllabic 7/4/5/3/5 Rhyme pattern: aabba |
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| Streambed’s Ripple | Syllabic: 10/8/10/8/10/10/10/8/10/8 Refrain: Requires the last half of L5 to repeat in each stanza Rhymed: xaxaBbxaxa xcxcBbxcxc xdxdBbxdxd |
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| Stress Matrix Dectet | This is a form Invented by British Poet Luke Prater it comprises ten lines, ten syllables per line, following the rhyme-scheme/structure aBa BcBc DcD where lowercase are iambic pentameter and uppercase are trochaic pentameter |
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| Swap Ottava | The form has an Ottava Rima framework in which the sections of the first line are swapped to become the last line of the stanza. | |
| Swap Quatrain | Within the Swap Quatrain each stanza in the poem must be a quatrain (four lines) where the first line is reversed in the fourth line. | |
| Sweetbriar | stanzaic, written in 2 sixains. syllabic, 4-4-6-4-4-6 syllables per line. rhymed, rhyme scheme xxaxxa xxaxxa. |
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| Swinburne Decastitch | It is stanzaic, consisting of any number of stanzas. It is Syllabic: 10/10/6/10/10/10/6/10/10/10 It is Rhymed: abbacdecde It is composed in iambic meter. |
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| Swinburne’s Double Sestina | See Sestina – Swinburne’s Double, above. | |
| Swinburne Octain Iambic and Trochaic Versions | Rhyming pattern: ABccdbAB, The “b” rhymes are all iambic trimeter, all other lines are feminine rhymes utilizing footless iambic tetrameter. Plus there is a trochaic version. |
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| Swinburne Quintet | Unlimited number of quatrains, rhyming abbab, with the first stanza repeated as closing refrain. Syllable 11/8/11/11/8. | |
| Swinburne’s Rhymed Sestina | Twelve-line, twelve stanza form with a six line envoi for the masochistic poet. | |
| Symetrelle | Stanzas of 1,2,4,2 and 1 lines Syllabic: 7/9/11/9/7 Rhymed: AbbccccbbA Refrain: 1st and last line. |
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| Tableau | Stanzaic, any number of sixains or sestets. isosyllabic, 5 syllable lines. rhyme at the discretion of the poet. written describing a single image. written with a title that includes the word “tableau” |
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| Tanaga | A Filipino isosyllabic rhymed statzaic poem. 7/7/7/7 | |
| Tanaga | Stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. Syllabic, 7-7-7-7 syllables per line. Rhymed, originally aaaa bbbb cccc etc., modern Tanagas also use aabb ccdd etc or abba cddc etc or any combination rhyme can be used. |
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| Tan Renga | North America’s answer to the Japanese linked form Renku or Renga is to shorten the pattern and involve fewer poets. | |
| Tanka | The tanka is defined more by content and style than syllabic prescription, still most tanka like its ancestor the waka are confined by 31 onji or syllables and broken into 5 lines of 5-7-5-7-7. | |
| Tawddgyrch Cadwynog | Tawddgyrch Cadwynog (TOWDD-girch ca-DOY-nog) This is a Welsh line form consisting of three to five sections of tetrasyllabic verse with abbc or abba rhyme that continues into the next line |
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| Taylor | Stanzaic, written in any number of cinquains. Metric, iambic, L1 trimeter, L2 and L4 dimeter, L3 tetrameter, L5 monometer. Rhymed or at least near rhymed ababb cdcdd efeff etc Stanzaic, written in any number of cinquains. Metric, iambic, L1 trimeter, L2 and L4 dimeter, L3 tetrameter, L5 monometer. Rhymed or at least near rhymed ababb cdcdd efeff etc |
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| Teacup Dictionary | The dictionary word is the title. Each line must define the word but drops one syllable per line. Last line is an observation containing the number of syllables in the title. Poem is usually centered. |
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| Teddy Poem | Three sestets and a couple all in Alexandrine meter. | |
| Tengahan Wukir | Stanzaic, any number of 9 line stanzas. Syllabic, 10-6-8-7-8-8-8-8-8 syllables per line. Composed in a pattern of vowel sounds in the end syllable, not necessarily rhyme. |
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| Tempo Composto | Four quatrain stanzas,3 (2/3/3/12) + 2/3/3/4,, aaxx bbxx ccxx ddxx, Sponndee + Dactyl + Free Verse created by L. Allen Bacon aka Allen A Dale | |
| Termelay | A hexastich, a poem in 6 lines. syllabic, 4-4-4-8-8-4 syllables per line. unrhymed. Composed with a refrain, L3 is repeated as L6. |
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| Tercou | It is syllabic 5/4/5 5/4/5 8/6 Rhyme pattern aba aba aa No meter is required. Invented by Amanda J. Norton |
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| Terza Rima | Chained rhyme aba bcb cdc ded d or aba bcb cdc ded dd , iambic pentameter optional, Line-length 11 syllables | |
| Terzanelle | ABA’ bCB cDc dED eFE fAFA’, iambic pentameter, Exactly 19 Lines refrain, rhymed, stanzaic | |
| Tetractys | 5 lines of 1, 2, 3, 4, 10 syllables (total of 20). If more than one verse must follow suit with an inverted syllable count.Tetractys can also be reversed and written 10, 4, 3, 2, 1. Ray Stebbing. |
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| Thailand Poetry | ||
| The Abercrombie | Stanzaic, written in any number of octaves made up of 2 quatrains. Metric, written in sprung rhythm with L1,L3,L5,L7 are pentameter, L2 & L6 are tetrameter and L4 & L8 is trimeter. Rhymed, interlocking rhyme scheme abac dbdc, efeg hfhg, etc. L4 and L8 are feminine rhyme. The interlocking rhyme is within the octave and does not extend to the next octave |
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| The Anna | The Anna A heptastich, a poem in 7 lines. Metric, iambic pattern, L1 dimeter, L2 trimeter, L3 tetrameter, L4 pentameter, L5 tetrameter, L6 trimeter and L7 dimeter. Unrhymed. |
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| The Arnold | Stanzaic, written in any even number of cinquains. Metered, L1 through L4 are trimeter, L5 is hexameter. Rhymed. L1 through L4 are alternating rhyme, L5 rhymes with line 5 of the next stanza. The L5 rhyme changes every 2 stanzas. Rhyme scheme: ababc dedec fgfgh ijijh etc. |
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| The Balance | 4 cinquains. The patterns of the cinquains change from stanza to stanza. rhyme scheme Abcde edcba abcde edcbA. |
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| The Bridges | The Bridges is a stanzaic form with a formal tone created by the long and short lines and exact rhyme scheme. It is patterned after Nightingales by English poet Robert Bridges(1844-1930). | |
| The Binyon | A heptastich, a poem in 7 lines. Metered, iambic tetrameter. Rhymed, rhyme scheme AbccbaA. |
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| The Blunden | Metered, L1, L3, L4, L5 iambic tetrameter and L2, L6 iambic trimeter. Stanzaic, any number of sexains or sixains (6 line stanzas). Rhymed, rhyme scheme abccab deffde etc. |
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| The Chesterson | Stanzaic: Any number of sestets. Metered: The 2nd and 6th line are Iambic trimeter, the rest iambic tetrameter. Rhymed: abaaab |
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| The de la Mare | Stanzaic, written in any number of octaves made up of 2 quatrains. Metered, quatrains of 3 tetrameter lines followed by a dimeter line. Rhymed, xaxaxbxb xcxcxdxd etc. x being unrhymed. Composed with alternating feminine and masculine end words, only the masculine end words are rhymed |
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| The de Tabley | Stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. Metric, alternating iambic pentameter and iambic trimeter lines. L1 of each stanza begins with a trochee Rhymed, rhymed scheme abab cdcd etc. |
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| The Dixon | Stanzaic, written in any number of sixains made up of 2 tercets. Metered, iambic trimeter Rhymed, rhyme scheme aab ccb. The b rhymes are strong, masculine, the rhyme on a stressed end syllable. The a and c rhymes are feminine or falling rhymes, the rhyme is in the stressed syllable of an end word ending in an unstressed syllable. |
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| The Dobson | Stanzaic, written in any number of sixains made up of 3 Rhymed couplets. Metered, most often written in tetrameter. Rhyme scheme aabbcc ddeeff etc. |
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| The Donna | A syllabic limerick without metric requirements syllabic, lines of 8-6-4-4-6. rhyme xabba, xcddc etc. |
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| The Donne | stanzaic, written in any number of sixains. Metered, L1 through L4 are pentameter, L5 tetrameter and L6 is dimeter. Rhymed, with an alternating rhyme scheme ababab. The rhyme scheme maintains the same 2 rhymes throughout the poem ababab ababab etc. |
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| The Dowson | Stanzaic, 2 quatrains. Metered, L1-L3 pentameter, L2 trimeter, L4 dimeter. Rhymed abab cdcd, L1-L3 of each stanza ends in feminine rhyme and L2-L4 is masculine rhyme. |
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| The Fletcher | The Fletcher 2 octaves made up of 2 quatrains each. Metered, L1, L3, L5, L8 are pentameter and L2, L4, L6, L7 are dimeter*. Rhymed ababcdcd efefghgh, L1 and L3 of each octave are feminine rhyme. |
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| The Gilbert | Stanzaic written in 3 septets. Metered, L1,L3,L4,L6,L7 are tetrameter , L2 and L5 are trimeter. Rhymed, rhyme scheme xabbacc xdeedff etc. x being unrhymed. |
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| The Herrick | Stanzaic, a poem of 4 quatrains. (16 lines) Metered, alternating tetrameter and trimeter lines. Odd number lines are tetrameter ,even numbered lines are trimeter. Rhymed, rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef ghgh. Odd numbered lines are masculine rhyme, even numbered lines have feminine rhyme. |
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| The Kerf | A poem in 12 lines made up of 4 tercets. syllabic, 6-7-10 per line. rhymed, rhyme scheme abc abc dec dec. |
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| The Kipling | Stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. Metered, the odd numbered lines are hexameter, the even numbered lines are trimeter. The first metric foot of each line is an anapest followed by either 5 iambs or 2 iambs depending on the length of the line. Rhymed, rhyme scheme (aa)b(cc)b (dd)e(ff)e etc. The odd numbered lines employ internal rhyme. |
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| The Noyes | Stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. Metered, iambic: L1,L2,L4 are trimeter, L3 is monometer. Rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efeg ghgh. |
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| The O’Shaughnessy | Stanzaic, written in any number of octaves. Metered, sprung rhythm, alternating trimeter and tetrameter lines. The odd number lines are trimeter and the even number lines are tetrameter. Rhymed, rhyme scheme abababab. The odd numbered lines are feminine rhyme and the even numbered lines are masculine rhyme. |
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| The Phillimore | Stanzaic written in any number of octaves. (original poem has 6 octaves) Metered, L1, L4,L6 and L8 are dimeter, L2,L3,L5, and L7 are pentameter. Rhymed, aabbccdd. |
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| The Russell | Stanzaic written in any number of octaves. (original poem has 6 octaves) Metered, L1, L4,L6 and L8 are dimeter, L2,L3,L5, and L7 are pentameter. Rhymed, aabbccdd. |
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| The Stephens | Stanzaic, written in any number of sixains. (original poem has 5 sixains) Accentual, dimeter. Rhymed, ababxb cdcdxd etc. x being unrhymed. Composed with feminine endings in the odd numbered lines L1, L3 and L5 and masculine rhyme in the even numbered lines L2, L4, L6. |
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| The Stevenson | An Octastitch made up of two quatrains. Metric with L1-L3 and L5-L8 composed in IAMBIC TETRAMETER, and with L4 and L8 composed of ANAPESTIC TRIMETER. Each tetrameter line begins with a trochee foot substitution, and each trimeter line contains an iamb foot substitution as foot two. |
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| The Swinburne | stanzaic, written in any number of septets. metric, L1,L3,L5, & L6 are trimeter, L2 & L4 are dimeter, and L7 is pentameter. rhymed ababcc(c/b) dedeff(f/e) etc, L1 & L3 have feminine or falling rhyme. The sixth syllable of L7 rhymes with L5 and L6. |
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| The Tennyson | Metric, iambic, L1-L4 are pentameter and L5 is dimeter. Rhymed, rhyme scheme abbaC deedC fggfC etc. Refrain: Written in with L5 as a refrain repeated from stanza to stanza. |
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| The Thorley | Stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. Metered, accentual with alternating lines of L1 & L3 with 5 heavy stesses and L2 & L4 with 3 heavy stresses. The trimeter lines have feminine endings. Unrhymed. |
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| The Trench | Stanzaic, may be written in any number of cinquains. Metered, L1, L2, L4 pentameter, L3 dimeter, L5 trimeter. Rhymed axbab, cxdcd etc., x being unrhymed |
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| The Yeats | An octastich, a poem in 8 lines. Metric, accentual 3 heavy stresses per line. Rhymed, rhyme scheme xaxaxaxa x being unrhymed. The even numbered lines have feminine or falling end syllables. |
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| Tho Bay Chu | Stanzaic: any number of quatrains, 7 words per line Tonal rhyme at discretion of poet. |
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| Tho Bon Chu | Tho Bon Chu or Four Word Verse is written as its name implies, measuring the number of words per line rather than syllables. | |
| Tho Sau Chu | Tho Sau Chu or Six Word Verse is measured by word count and uses either alternate or envelope rhyme. It can be written in quatrains or octaves. When written in octaves it is called Six-Eight Poetry | |
| Tho Tam Chu | Stanzaic, written in any number of either tercets, quatrains or septets. measured by the number of words in the line, 8 word per line. Rhymed |
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| Time Coupletnelle | Syllabic,9/8/7/6/7/8/9/9,Stanzaic,rhymed,AabbccddccddaA*AA*,refrain, Exactly 16 lines,meter optional. Alberto Jose Alvarez Gonzalez | |
| Tina’s Zigzag Rhyme | Tina’s Zigzag Rhyme It starts with a sestet, refrain, quatrain, refrain and quatrain. It must be uplifting subject. Rhyme in first two lines is at left, next rhyme is center in lines 3 and 4, and rhyme in lines 5 and 6 is an end rhyme. Refrain is first two lines of poem. |
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| Toddaid | Codified Welsh meter Stanzac, written in any number of couplets. Syllabic, L1 is a 10 syllable line and L2 is a 9 syllable line. Rhymed, the main rhyme aa – cc – dd etc. |
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| Top Glose | Stanzaic: consisting of as many stanzas, as there are lines in your texte, (which is the first few lines of another’s peom) each having a line length of the poets choosing Metered: With a consistent meter of the poet’s choosing Rhymed or not with a pattern of the poet’s choosing Formulaic: Each line of the texte shall be the first line of a stanza |
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| Tory Meter | Syllabic, 2/4/6/8/10/12/10/8/6/4/2, refrain, rhymed, Created by Victoria Sutton |
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| Totok | A poem in 4 lines. Accentual syllabic, anapestic tetrameter. Unrhymed. |
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| Tree of Life | A poem in 19 lines. Syllabic, 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/4/4/4/4/4/4. Unrhymed. Centered on the page. |
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| Trian Rannaigechta Moire | Trian Rannaigechta Moire is a dan direach meter of ancient Celtic or Irish Verse Forms written in short lines with consonant rhyme, cywddydd (harmony of sound) and dunadh (beginning and ending the poem with the same word, syllable or phrase. | |
| Trianglet | A decastich, a poem in 10 lines. Syllabic, 1/2/3/4/5/5/4/3/2/1 syllables per line. Rhymed, rhyme scheme AbcxddxcbA Centered. |
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| Trichain | Stanzaic: Consisting of 3 or more quatrains. Metered: Each quatrain consists of 3 lines of iambic tetrameter and one line of iambic trimeter. Rhyme Scheme: aaab cccb dddb … |
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| Trick Poetry | Various examples and LINKS from this blog and my sonnet blog of various kinds of trick poetry. | |
| Tri-Duet | The author provided no other specifications than that the poem must consist of six or more tercets, but in his sample poem the first two lines were shorter than the third. Rhyme pattern aab ccb dde ffe ggh iif |
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| Tri-Fall | The Tri-fall, created by Jan Turner, consists three 6-line stanzas, for a total of 18 lines. Rhyme Scheme: abcabc Line-length for each stanza is as follows: 6/3/8/6/3/8. |
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| Trifrain | This is a form with any number of quatrains, usually written in iambic tetrameter. All lines except the last are mono-rhymed. The last is a refrain, being the first four syllables of line one repeated. |
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| Trijan Refrain | 3 nine line stanzas, refrain, rhymed ababccddc, Syllabic 8/6/8/6/8/4/8/4/8, Created by Jan Turner |
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| Trilinea | A tristitch, syllabic, 4/8/4, rhyming aba, using the word “rose” | |
| Trimeric | A four stanza poem in which the first stanza has four lines and the last three stanzas have three lines each, with the first line of each repeating the respective line of the first stanza |
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| Trine | A poem in 9 lines made up of 3 rhymed couplets followed by a tercet. • isosyllabic, (same syllable count), using the French Heroic line, the Alexandrine, would be appropriate but I don’t think it is a prerequisite. (I use 9 syllable lines in the example below.) • rhymed, rhyme scheme aabbccabc. |
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| Trinet | Word count form of 3 or more 7 line stanzas | |
| Triolet | line-length optional, meter optional, Only 8 lines, refrain, rhymed ABaAabAB |
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| Trilonnet | Four three-line verses and one rhyming couplet iambic tetrameter or iambic pentameter Each 3 line verse is an unrhymed triplet 2 rhyme schemes: abc abc abc abc dd or abc cba abc cba dd | |
| Triple Rebel Round | The poem consists of Three 5-line stanzas There are two styles,each having a triplet mono-rhyme. Version 1: aaaBB cccBB dddBB Version 2: aaBBB ccBBB ddBBB |
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| Triple Stance | Triple Stance Stanzaic: Consisting of any number of sestets Metered: Each stanza consisting of 4 lines of iambic dimeter, and 2 lines of iambic trimeter. Rhyme Pattern: abcabc, where the a-rhymes are feminine |
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| Triplet (Classic) | A classic triplet is: • a 3 line poem or stanza. • monorhymed, aaa bbb. • metered at the discretion of the poet. mpty |
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| Triname or Triple Acrostic | Triname Acrostic is a combination Compound Acrostic and a Mesostich. It was introduced by Patricia A Farnsworth-Simpson. The title should be the same as the word spelled in the left margin. | |
| Triquain | syllabic 3/6/9/12/9/6/3 7 unrhymed lines Always centered, Created by Shelly Cephas |
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| Triquatrain | “Jack and Jill Rhyme” (a-a)b(c-c)b | |
| Triquint | 3 verses, 5 lines each. Lines 3 and 4 of verse 1 (Refrain) repeat in verses 2 and 3. The syllable count for each stanza is 9, 7, 5, 3, 1 and has an aaAAb rhyme scheme | |
| Trisect | A complex formulaic form which might appeal to the masochist, but which is one of the very few I have included here without attempting myself. | |
| Tritina | Lexical 10 lines 123 321 231 (123) | |
| Trochadiddle | It is syllabic, each stanza being 10/10/6/5 syllables. Rhymes: aabcbc, where the b-rhymes are feminine. |
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| Trochee LaGrange | 8/5/8/5 Trochee, anapest, abab, where a-rhymes are feminine | |
| Trois-par-Huit | A syllable for of 3,6,9,12,12,9,6,3, with two tercets and a couplet. It is thematic with last line being the title. | |
| Troisieme | Stanzaic, written in 3 tercets followed by a couplet. Syllabic, L1-L9 are 9 syllables each, L10, L11 are 11 syllables each. Unrhymed. |
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| Trolaan | Trolaan, created by Valerie Peterson Brown, is a poem consisting of 4 quatrains. Each quatrain begins with the same letter. The rhyme scheme is abab. |
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| Twin-Rhymer | The poem is a strophe of any even number of lines. Meter: Tetrameter lines, consisting of primarily of: Iamb + Amphibrach +2 iambs Rhyme pattern: alternating rhymes, also called cross-rhyme i.e., ababab |
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| Twisted End | Four or five tercet stanzas with independent mono-rhyme. There is no line-length or meter requirement.The defining requirement of the form is that some part of each of the first two lines be “twisted”together in forming the third stanza line which MUST INCLUDE INTERNAL RHYME. |
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| Tyburn | 4 lines of 2 syllables each (descriptive) incorporated into 2 lines of 9 syllables each. | |
| Ukiah | Sometimes known as Reverse Rhyming Haiku Syllables: 7/5/7 Monorhyme |
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| Varselle | An ambiguos form: It is either rhymed or not. It is either syllabic or word-based. It is either centered or left justified. The number of (syllables or words) per line is 2/3/4/3/5/5/4/6 If rhymed the rhymed scheme must be ababcbca. |
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| Veltanelle | Stanzaic, written in no more than 3 sixains. syllabic, 10-6-10-6-10-10 syllalbes per line. rhymed ababcc dededeff ghghghii. |
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| Vers Beaucoup | Stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. Metered at the discretion of the poet. Rhymed, including multiple internal rhyme sounds. Rhyme scheme (a-a-a)(a-b-b)(b-c-c)(c-d-d) (e-e-e)(e-f-f)(f-g-g)(g-h-h)etc. |
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| Verso-Rhyme | An octastich, a poem in 8 lines. Syllabic, 6-4-6-4-6-4-6-4 syllables per line. Rhyme, xaxbxaxb. x being unrhymed. |
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| Vignette | In free verse style | |
| Vignette (Form) | The Vignette is also the name of a syllabic invented verse form introduced by Fozari Rockwood found in Pathways for the Poet by Viola Berg 1977 | |
| Villancico | A stanzaic poem of 20 lines, 2 sestets plus and octet Syllabic: The first four lines of each stanza are 7 syllable, the remainder 6 syllables Rhymed: ababAC1 dedeDC2 ccccAC1DC2. Refrains indicated by the Capital letters |
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| Villanelle | Dual Refrain AbA’ abA abA’ abA abA’ abAA’ | |
| Villonnet | A Villonnet is a hybrid of the Villanelle and the Sonnet. It has the Iambic Pentameter of both, but holds the four-stanza/line structure of the sonnet, while utilizing the two-line rhyme nature of the villanelle. The final stanza replaces the sonnet couplet with a typical villanelle tercet. | |
| Violette | stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. syllabic, 6-6-6-4 syllables per line. rhymed, feminine rhyme used aaab cccb dddb |
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| Waltz Wave | 19 line syllabic poem Pattern: 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 1 |
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| Welsh Forms | The 24 Official Meters of Welsh Poetry | |
| Wheelchair Angel Style | A shape poem in 25 lines. Syllabic, 2-2-3-4-3-2-1-3 5-8-8-8-10-8-8-8-8-8-8 4-4-6-4-4 10. L20 thru L24 are split, to create the illusion of wheels. |
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| Whitney | Seven line poem Syllable Pattern: 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4, 7 |
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| Whyquain | It is a single verse of five iambic tetrameter lines in monorhyme which answers some asked or un-asked question. Created by Gloria Kim |
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| Wordflair | A refrain form consisting of a minimum of two sestets Rhyme scheme ababcC. Meter and line length optional. |
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| Wounded Couplet | It is stanzaic, consisting of any number of octains. It is syllabic 10/10/6/10/10/10/10/10 It is metric, using iambic meter. It is rhymed, the pattern being: abccbadd |
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| Wrapped Refrain #1 | Created by Jan Turner, consists of 2 or more stanzas of 6 lines each; | |
| Wrapped Refrain #2 | Syllabic: 14, 14, 8, 8, 8, 8, 14, 14 Rhyme Scheme: a,a,b,b,c,c,d,d. Created by Jan Turner |
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| Wreath | Every line is linked to the line preceding it a word or by derivation of a word in the preceding line or by a homonym of that word, or apparently by a derivative of a false rhyme of that word. | |
| Wreathed and Un-wreathed Octave | An Octave requiring interlaced rhyme. | |
| Wreathed and Un-wreathed Quatrain | An Quatrain requiring interlaced rhyme. | |
| Wreathed and Un-wreathed Sestet | A sestet requiring interlaced rhyme. | |
| YaDu | Syllabic, 4/4/4/4/5 to 11, straircase rhyme, topical, Burmese | |
| Ya Hoo | Syllabic, staircase rhyme left and right, not topical | |
| Yabba Dabba Do | A syllabic poem of 12 lines, largely iambic pentameter. | |
ZaniLa Rhyme |
Stanzaic, syllabic, 9/7/9/9, abcb, internal rhyme L3, refrain S1L3, min 12L, max none, meter none, created by Laura Lamarca | |
| Zanze | syllabic, 8-8-8-8 6-6-6-6 4-4-4-4 2-4-6-8 syllables per line. rhymed, Abab cdcd efef gagA. Multiple internal refrains |
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| Zejel | The overall rhyming scheme for the poem is aaa/bbba/ccca/ddda/. | |
| Zeno | A poem of 10 lines invented by J. Patrick Lewis, syllabic: 8/4/2/1/4/2/1/4/2/1 Rhyme scheme: abcdefdghd |
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| Zip | A two line poem, each line with a caesura composed of a double space. |
Last added
Bref Double
Meisenheimer Sestet
Rosarian Ode
Sapphis Stanza
Streambed’s Ripple
Zejel