|
![](cleardot.gif")
|
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~
POETIC VERSE FORMS
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~
|
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Poetry is a special reading
experience in which the style
of expression is as important as
the content of the words. Because
of its rhythm and sound, most
poetry is best read aloud so that
its language can be appreciated.
If a reading of a poem manages
to catch its invention, surprise,
and delight, then the assertion
of American poet MacLeish in
"Ars Poetica" is fulfilled:
A poem should not mean
But be.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Narrative poem consisting of four-line stanzas with altering rhymes.
Folk ballads were handed down from generation to generation and were
originally sung. Major poets sometimes use the forms, as did Keats in
"La Belle Dame sans Merci."
| ~*§*~dramatic monologue~*§*~ |
Form of dramatic poetry in which only a single character speaks,
gradually revealing his or her own dramatic situation. Robert Browning
worte many dramatic monologues. T.S.Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred
Prufrock" is a famous modern example.
Named from the Greek word for "lament," elegies are lyric poems on the
subject of death. The death may be that of an individual, as in Auden's
"In Memory of W.B. Yeats" and Milton's Lycidas, or in a more
figurative sense that of all men, as in Donne's Elegies or Gray's
"Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard."
Long narrative poem whose subject is of major importance. The major classical
epics are Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and Vergil's Aeneid.
Lyric poem in praise of God, or, by extension, anything of great value.
The Homeric Hymns celebrate the Greek gods. Donne wrote "A Hymn
to God the Father," and Shelley wrote a "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty."
A humorous poem of five lines. The first,second, and fifth lines rhyme,
while the shorter third and fourth lines have a different rhyme. "Hickory
Dickory Dock" is a limerick.
Lyric poem of irregular form, often used to express deep personal
feelings. Odes originated with the ancient Greek poet Pindar. English
examples include Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale," and Wordsworth's
"Ode: Intimations of Immortality."
Long narrative poem based on legend. Among the heroes of romance are
Roland in France, King Arthur and his knights in Britain, and Orlando
in Italy. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the most important
literary romance in English. The term also describes a type of historical
novel.
Lyric poem of 14 lines. The sonnet originated in Italy and was taken
over by English poets, many of whom used a different rhyme scheme.
The sonnet has been used by such English poets as Spencer, Shakespeare,
Milton, and Keats.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~
 A Few Links For Your Reading Pleasure
 Graphics by Marie
Backgrounds of tables are background designs by Rick
Some of my grapics are from Kaleidoscopefree clip arts
Page Copyright Info.
Get your free homepage at Tripod |
