History: The Balassi StanzaHistory: The Balassi Stanza is a poetry lyric form introduced by Balint Balassi, (1551-1594), also recorded as Baron Valentin Balassi, and Balint Balassa, considered the most renown lyric poet in Hungarian literature. Structure: • Nine lines • Lines 3, 6 and 9 share end-rhymes • Remaining lines share an end rhyme •...Read More

History: The Blood QuillHistory: The Blood Quill is a form created by Jim T. Henriksen in 2008 on the site AllPoetry.com. According to the man himself, on the post where he first presented it: "I am a huge fan of World of Warcraft, and this is for the guild Poetic Justice. This is written in...Read More

History: BragiHistory: Bragi is a form created by Thelma Allider and documented in Pathways for the Poet by Viola Berg. It, according to some, became popular through it's documentation in the 1950s publication Scimitar and Song. (so far, we've only found one source for this information, so this isn't completely vetted yet.) Structure: • written...Read More

History: A type of epigram invented by Edmund ClerihewHistory: A type of epigram invented by Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956), who introduced it in Biography for Beginners (1905) and continued it in More Biography (1929) and Baseless Biography (1939). Structure: • quatrain (four lines) poem of varying length • lines of irregular length • dipodic meter (two...Read More

Historia La décima es básicamente una composición poética de diez versos octosílabos. En forma de canción, la décima trovada, consiste de cuarenta y cuatro versos que incluyen una primera estrofa de cuatro versos y cuatro subsiguientes estrofas de diez versos que glosan la primera estrofa, terminando cada una de estas cuatro estrofas en un verso...Read More

History: DrottkvæðrHistory: Drottkvæðr, which literally means 'recited before the retinue', is an Old Norse verse form resented by Snorri Sturluson in the Edda, composed ca. 1178-1241, in it's section Hattatal ('Enumeration of Meters'). For more information on the Edda, click here (link pending). Structure: • Each stanza has 8 lines broken down into 2 half...Read More

History: The Empat PerkataanHistory: The Empat Perkataan is a traditional Southeast Asian form originating from the Malaccan empire around the 15th century. It was popular in the Riau Archipelago and Malay Peninsula, and is associated with languages such as Malay, Tagalog, Sundanese and Javanese, although examples can be found in English as well. The word Empat is...Read More

History: An Englyn is a traditional Welsh and Cornish short poetry form. It has been found in the earliest Welsh literature, from the 5th century AD, and the earliest were found written in the margins in a tenth century Juvencus Manuscript. Although there is speculation that it’s creation can be sourced in Latin poetry and...Read More

History The French RondelHistory The French Rondel is a mideaval French verse form related to the triolet and rondeau, invented in the 14th century and popularized by Charles d’Orleans. Sort of. Like the terms roundel and rondeau, the term rondel in the Middle Ages did not apply to one fixed form but to a “round” song...Read More

Goliardic VerseGoliardic Verse History:  Goliardic Verse originated in the Middle Ages, becoming very popular in the 12th century. Although there is a lot of uncertainty as to its origins, there are a few theories and posits. For one, it has been associated with the Ordo Vagorum, a religious “order” of students who shared both a...Read More