Hi poetry lovers!
April is National Poetry Month. Many people embark on a 30/30 during April (they write thirty poems in thirty days — usually one each day). A few of us poets from Columbus and Gainesville — and now Tampa and Charlotte too, have been participating in an informal “April Formal Poetry Challenge” for several years now.
To that end, we here at Poetics Online decided to embark upon the admittedly daunting and nerdilly exciting task of creating an ongoingly updated glossary of forms. That’s the long term plan, and eventually soon you’ll find an updated Forms page that will include not just posts related to forms, as it is now, but also the glossary of forms as well. In the meantime, here is a list of forms that David Maas, one of the April Formal Poetry Challenge poets from Gainesville, has put together.
Stay tuned for more developments!
10-Beat
AbhangaHistory: Abhang, or Abhanga, is a form of devotional poetry sung in praise of the Hindu god Vitthala also known as Vithoba. It was popular from the 13th thru 17th centuries Marathi Region of India. The word "abhang" comes from a for "non-" and bhang for "ending" or "interrupting", in other words, a flawless, continuous process, in this case referring to... More
AcrosticHistory This is a fun poetic form and, precisely for that, it is in many cases how we are introduced to poetry in grade school. There is something in a child’s mind about secret messages… Acrostics have a long and distinguished history. You can find it back in the prophecies of the Erithraean Sibyl (that, by the way, were where... More
Ae FreisligheHistory: Pronounced 'aye, freshly' as in "has this room been painted?" "aye, freshly" (booo hisssss, baaad pun)...this is an Irish syllabic, quatrain stanza form. There is so much to say about Celtic Forms that we really should do a full post on it. So we will: check out the post on our favorite masochistic poetry past time, Celtic Forms, here. (link... More
AlexandroidHistory: An alexandroid takes its name from the alexandrine that it is composed of. An Alexandrine is a name used for several verse line types, most of which consist of two hemistichs (half-lines) of six syllables each, separated by a caesura (a word break, though it's a bit more than that...more on that later). As far as we can tell, it... More
Alliterisen
AlouetteHistory: The Alouette is a form created by Jan Turner on the poetry community site Shadow Poetry some time around 2008/2009. The form name means 'Skylark' in French, and also can mean a children's song sung in a group. Structure: • 2 or more stanzas • 6 lines per stanza • Meter: 5, 5, 7, 5, 5, 7 • Rhyme... More
Alphabet Poem (Abecedarian Poem)
Amanda’s Pinch
AmaranthHistory: Amaranth is a form created by Viola Berg as a teaching tool in her 1977 book Pathways for the Poet. That's what we've been able to find so far, second hand, as we have yet to lay our grubby little hands on the book itself. So far the only source online for this information is the site Poetry Magnum... More
AmphionHistory: The Amphion is another poetry form attributed to Viola Berg and her 1977 book Pathways for the Poet which we have yet to read and find. Structure: • a poem of 10 lines. • Lines 1, 4, 7, and 10 are tetrameter (4 beats), and they alternate with couplets in dimeter (2 beats) • Rhymed, rhyme scheme abbaccdeed Sources:... More
Anacreontic Verse
Anagrammatic Poem
Analogue
AndareeHistory: The Andaree is a contemporary "invented" form created by Andrea Dietrich on the website PoetrySoup in Feb, 2015. Structure: • syllable count of 11-9-7-5-3-1-3-5-7-9-11 • rhyme scheme of AabbcbcbbaA • Line 1 is repeated in line 11 • the poem is to be centered Source: https://www.poetrysoup.com/poetry/contests/andaree_-_11_lines_13753... More
Aphorism
Aquarian
ArgonellesHistory: This one took some digging. The Argonelle is an invented was created many years ago by Sylvia Argow of the New York Poetry Forum in the 1970s. Structure: This was a hard poem to track down. The usual websites, who all cite each other and don't give any other sources and admit to not really finding the source of... More
Arkquain / Arkquain Swirl
AsefruHistory: The Asefru, plural being Isefra (as in "I wrote an Asefru, but my friend Bill showed me up and wrote two Isefra"), is, according to common western understanding, a poetry form of the Berber people, or i-Mazigh-en(singular: a-Mazigh) of Kabylia, a Berberophone area of Algeria. However, this understanding is to be taken with a grain of salt, because the definition seems... More
Atarlis FileataHistory: According to the internet (these contemporary invented forms are really hard to find the story of), the Atarlis Fileata is a contemporary invented form, invented by Cathy Bollhoefer. Atarlis Fileata is Gaelic for "repeating poetic" although the poem form itself does not follow the standards of old traditional Celtic Forms. Structure: • 7-line poem • measured by number of... More
Atom
AtrinaHistory: The Atrina is a stanzaic form contemporarily invented by Keith Metcalf Drew at AllPoetry. Structure: • Consists of 4 stanzas • The first three stanzas are 4 lines each (quatrains) • Each line is 8 syllables (octosyllabic) • The first line of a stanzas repeats in the last line of the same stanzas • The third line of a... More
AubadeHistory: The Aubade, which as a word means "dawn serenade", first dates back to the 12th century and came to be known to English speakers in the 1670s. It is theorized by some scholars that it grew out of the cry of the medieval watchman announcing the change from night to day from his tower. It is a lyric poem... More / Serenade
AwdlAn awdl was originally a poem of indeterminate length with a single end rhyme throughout, in a single meter. In the 12th century, The Poets of the Princes treated this iteration of the awdl as a poem in its own right, but by that time it was becoming more common for it to consist as one part of a larger... More Cywydd
Awit
BaccresiezéHistory: The Baccresiezé is a syllabic form attributed to E. Ernest Murell as, according to its history, an exercise in repetition. Not much else besides than has been found about it or Murell. If anyone has any more information, especially on the especially interesting name, let us know. Structure: • Twelve lines total • Quatrain stanzas (4 lines) • Rhyme... More
Balasi Stanza
Ballad
Ballade / Ballade Supreme / Chant Royal
BikuHistory: Biku is a poetry form, called by Hadas a "poetic mechanism", similar to a haiku, created by Eran Hadas in 2014 inspired by and in honor of Tanya Reinhart's (linguist, activist and "one of Noam Chomsky’s favorite PHD students") explanation that "each media item could (and should) be have a threefold reaction. We should first read it as it... More
BinaHistory: The Bina is a contemporary form attributed to Bob Newman when he decided to do like recipe books do with chicken, and find 5 ways to cook a sestina. This is one of the ways. Other ways is a 'Newman Sestina' and a 'Quartina'. Structure: • 5 lines total • lines follow the general meter and line rules of...
Black Narcissus
Blank Verse
Blitz
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 the form I call Blood Quill (based on... More
Blues Stanza
Bop
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 in two sixains (six line stanzas)... More
Bref Double
Burns Stanza (Standard Habbie)
Byr a Thoddaid
Caccia
Cadae
Candlelight
Cantar
Canzonetta
CascadeHistory: The Cascade is an invented/new form created in 2007 by Udit Bhatia. Structure: • this form turns on refrains: it takes each line of the first stanza, and makes it the last line of each successive stanza • other than that, there are no further rules, in terms of rhyme, meter, etc. Can be as long as you want,... More
Catena Rondo
Cavatina
Chandlerian
Chanso
Chant (Chant Poem)
Cheyenelle
Ch’i Yen Shih
Choka
Cinquain / American Cinquain / Didactic Cinquain / Reverse Cinquain/ Butterfly Cinquain / Mirror Cinquain / Double Cinquain / Crown Cinquain / Garland Cinquain / Cinquo / Oddquain
Cinquetin
Clarity Pyramid
Cleave / Contrapuntal
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 feet, meaning two stresses, per line) • rhyming aabb • the first line... More
ClogyrnachHistory: Clogyrnach, pronounced clog-ír-nach, (or even simpler a Clog Ear Nak, more or less) is a 16th codified Welsh meter, one of 24 official Welsh meters, and falls under the category of Awdl, or ode. Structure: Honestly, as far as Gaelic or Welsh forms go, this one is not that bad. Some get down right masochistic to write. Anyways... • Written... More
Common Measure / Common Octave / Hymnal Octave
Compound Word Verse
Concrete Poem (Shape Poem)
Constanza
Coraline
Coronach
Cortes Nonet
Cromorna
Cyclone
Cywydd Llosgyrnog
Decima / Decima Italiana
Decuain
Descort
Diminishing Hexaverse / Expanding Hexaverse
DinggedichtHistory: The Dinggedicht, or Object Poem, was first introduced by Rilke in the Neue Gedichte written during his middle period between 1902-1908, mostly in Paris, inspired by impressionist paintings, and was closely tied to the imagist movement of the time. The term, while sounding imposing, simply means thing poem. Structure: The Dinggedicht does not have a set structure of meter or rhyme,... More
Dizain
Dodoitsu
Doggerel / Balliol Rhyme
Doha / Sortha
Double Dactyl
Dramatic Monologue
Echo Poem
Ekphrastic
Elegy
Elegiac / Elegiac Couplet
Empat Empat
Enclosed Triplet (Enclosed Tercet)
English Quintain
English Sestet
Epic
Epigram
Epistle
Erasure / Blackout
Essence
Etheree
Fibonacci (Fib)
FloretteHistory: The Florette is a new/"invented" form created in 2009 by Jan Turner. Structure:
• abba rhyme scheme
• quatrain with syllable count of 8/8/8/12
• internal (b) rhyme on syllable 8 of 4th line
Sources: http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/florette.html More
Found Poem / Cento
GhazalAll glossary entries are continually being updated. If you have a contribution, let us know. History: The Ghazal, also spelled ghazel or gasal, Turkish gazel, and pronounced “guzzle” in some languages and “gu-ZAHL” in others, though in both with a guttural “g” almost like the “ch” in “Bach.”, is a genre of lyric poetry developed in Persia in the late 7thcentury AD from the nadib,... More
Glosa
Goethe Stanza
GogyohkaThe Gogyohka is a modern Japanese form developed by Enta Kusakabe in 1957. Based on the Tanka and Kodai kayo, Gogyohka literally translates into 5-line poem. The rules of the Gogyohka are seemingly very simple. The stanza is 5 lines, and each line is its own phrase. What is considered a phrase, however, is what makes it unique. There is... More
Golden Shovel
Grid
Gwawdodyn
HaikuHistory: Previously called Hokku, Haiku was given it's name by Masoka Shiki around 1900. Hokku, meaning starting verse, is the opening stanza of a Japanese orthodox collaborative linked poem, renga, or of its later derivative, renku (haikai no renga), and its establishment as an independent verse form is credited to Basho and his disciples. Around 1644-1694 Hokku began appearing as independent... More / Senryu / Tanka / Somonka/ Haibun / Haikrostic / Brazilian HaikuHistory: Previously called Hokku, Haiku was given it's name by Masoka Shiki around 1900. Hokku, meaning starting verse, is the opening stanza of a Japanese orthodox collaborative linked poem, renga, or of its later derivative, renku (haikai no renga), and its establishment as an independent verse form is credited to Basho and his disciples. Around 1644-1694 Hokku began appearing as independent... More
Half Measure
Heroic Couplet
Heroic Stanza
Hudibrastic
Huitain
Hymnal Measure
Idyll
Inverted Refrain
KatautaHistory: The Katauta is a lesser known Japanese form of poetry, traditionally called Waka and, as a term, means poetry fragment. The form specifically is written as half of an exchange with a lover and when paired with another Katauta, is called a Sedoka. So, a Katauta is half a Sedoka. The other Waka are the Choka, Tanka, (Sedoka), and... More
Kennings Riddle
Kingfisher
Kyrielle
Lai (Bergerette) / Virelai / Virelai Ancien
Lanturne (Lanterne)
Limerick / Extended Limerick
Long Measure
Loop / Mixed Loop
Luc Bat / Song That Luc Bat
LuneHistory: The lune, called and considered the American Haiku, was developed by New York based poet and Bard College professor Robert Kelly in the 1960s when he realized a lot was lost when the Japanese haiku was translated as a form into English, as Japanese words tend to have more syllables than English words, allowing English language haikus to cram... More
Mad Song
Madrigal / Canzone / Canzonetta
Magic Nine
Mathnawi (Masnavi)
Memento
Miku
Minute Poem
Mirror Sestet
Mirrored Refrain
Monchielle Stanza
Monotetra
Motto
Muwashshah
Naani
Nonet (Nonnet)
Nove Otto
Novelinee
Octave / Wreathed Octave
Octelle
Ode / Horatian Ode / Pindaric Ode / Irregular Ode
Open Form / Vers Libre
OvillejoHistory: The word 'Ovillejo' is the diminutive for 'Ovillo' which itself means "clew, ball of string or twine" and, as Mr. Turco says in The Book of Forms, "metaphorically suggests something tight, complicated, and small. It is a Spanish form attributed to and popularized by Miguel de Cervantes. Specifically, in La Ilustre Fregona and chapter XXVII of Don Quixote. Subsequently, they... More
Palindrome / Mirror Poem
PantoumHistory: The Pantoum is a Malaysian poetry form that originated in the 15th century derived from the pantun, specifically from the pantun berkait, a series of interwoven quatrains, which itself originated as a traditional oral form of expression. As it made it's way into the West it was adapted and altered by French poets, and then English. Follow the pantun link... More
Paradelle
Pastoral
Pathya Vat
Persona
PleiadesHistory The Pleiades was invented in 1999 by Craig Tigerman, Sol Magazine's Lead Editor. Structure: • Only one word is allowed in the title • a single seven line stanza • a variation on an acrostic, each line begins with the same letter as the title • Hortensia Anderson added a requirement of restricting the line length to six syllables. Source:... More
Prose Poem
Quaternian
Quaterzaine (Quatorzaine)
Quintaine
Quintella (Spanish Quintain)
Quinzaine
Rannaigheacht ghairid
RedondillaHistory: The Redondilla is a Spanish, specifically Castillian, stanza form and is the result of the breaking in two at the strophic caesura of the Copla de Arte Menor, (not to be confused with the Arte Mayor) in the 16th century. (Note: for context, the Copla is another Spanish form, and Arte Menor vs. Arte Mayor refers to whether it... More
Rhyme Royal / Terza Rima
Rictameter
Rime Couee
Rionnaird Tri-Nard
Rispetto / Ottava Rima / Strambotto Siciliano / Strambotto Toscano / Strambatto Romanguolo
Rondeau / Rondel / Roundel / Rondel Prime / Chaucerian Roundel / Roundelay
Rondine
Ropalic
Roundabout
Rubaiyat
Rubliw
Sapphic
Saraband
SchuttelreimHistory and Structure: Schuttelreim is agreed upon to be a form of double rhyme, where the consonants of the last two stressed syllables are interchanged. It is a German verse rhyming device that’s existed since the 13th century which was once considered a serious poetic form but since the 19th century has been used more often for comic verse form,... More
Sedoka
Septilla (Spanish Septet)
Septolet
Sestet / Wreathed Sestet / Wordsworth Sestet
Sestina / Double Sestina / Pentina
SevenlingHistory: A Sevenling is a seven line form created by Roddy Lumsden as a teaching exercise, based on this poem written by Anna Akhmatova and translated by D M Thomas: He loved three things alone: White peacocks, evensong, Old maps of America. He hated children crying, And raspberry jam with his tea, And womanish hysteria. ... And he married me. Rules: •... More
Shadorma
Shakespeare
Sicilian Tercet
Sijo
Sisindiran
Skeltonic Verse / Tumbling Verse / Sprung Rhythm / Cristabel Meter
Slavic Antithesis
Sneadhbairdne
Sonnet / Blues Sonnet / Terza Rima Sonnet / English (Shakespearean) Sonnet / Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet / Spenserian Sonnet / Dutch Sonnet / French Sonnet / Spanish Sonnet / Australian Sonnet / Brisbane Sonnet / Cornish Sonnet / Cyhydedd Fer Sonnet / Miltonic Sonnet / Byronic Sonnet / Keats Sonnet / Pushkin Sonnet / Curtal Sonnet / Echo Sonnet / Dorn Sonnet / Rosarian Sonnet / Swannet / Wreathed Sonnet / PantoumHistory: The Pantoum is a Malaysian poetry form that originated in the 15th century derived from the pantun, specifically from the pantun berkait, a series of interwoven quatrains, which itself originated as a traditional oral form of expression. As it made it's way into the West it was adapted and altered by French poets, and then English. Follow the pantun link... More Sonnet / Kyrielle Sonnet / Sonnetina
Sound Poem
Spenserian Stanza
Stave Stanza / Envelope Sestet
Stichich
Stichomythia
Tanaga
Tetractys
Thanbauk (Than Bauk)
The Balance
Tricubes
Trijan Refrain
Trinet
Triolet
Tristich / Tercet
Tritina
Triversen
Tybun
Verbless Poem
Villanelle / TerzanelleHistory: The Terzanelle is a poetry form “invented” by Lewis Turco in 1964/1965 when, in his words, he decided to experiment with the Villanelle by adding Terza Rima to it. Structure: The Terzanelle is, as Turco describes it, a Villanelle written in Terza Rima. So… • 19 lines long • 5 interlocking triplets… • plus a concluding quatrain in which... More
Whittle Poem
Wooty
Wreath Octave
Yadu (Ya Du)
ZaniLa
ZipOdeHistory: Although we are not fully certain as information about where it came from is hard to come by, the ZipOde seems to have been invented by O, Miami and WLRN to celebrate April, Poetry Month, and frankly try and get in on the marketing game. Structure: • take a zip code, write it down vertically, and you find the number... More
