More often than we know it, we come across a number of poems. Whether it is in a commercial, movie, or recited by a significant other, poems are forms and conventions to expand the literal meaning of the words, or to evoke emotional or sensual responses. The history behind poetry has quite an interesting story. Poetry as an art, may out date literacy itself. Specific poetic forms have been developed by many cultures, and can be found on monoliths, rune stones, and stelae. In prehistoric and ancient societies, poetry was used as a way to record cultural events or to tell stories.

More recently, a Polish historian of aesthetics by the name of Tatakiewicz wrote in The Concept of Poetry, "Poetry expresses a certain state of mind." So how does one go about defining poetry? Well for starters, poetry is more than just rhyming. In fact, poetry doesn't even have to rhyme. The main ingredients are movement and sound. In addition to feeling, these three factors comprise what poetry is. Poetry is about expression. Poetry expresses the way we feel about a certain subject through imagery and other senses. It helps us deal with our daily life, be it good or bad.

Common Poetry Forms

Various cultures have developed many forms of poetry. Interestingly, there are 51 types of poetry!

Here is a complete list.

Aside from the numerous types, it is important to keep in mind the many techniques as well. Some techniques used in poetry include onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance, rhyming, simile and metaphor. Below, we will discuss the 12 most common poetic forms used across a number of languages.

1. Sonnet

2. Jintishi

The jintishi is a Chinese poetic form based on a series of set tonal patterns using the four tones of the classical Chinese language in each couplet: the level, rising, falling and entering tones. The basic form of the jintishi has eight lines in four couplets, with parallelism between the lines in the second and third couplets. The couplets with parallel lines contain contrasting content but an identical grammatical relationship between words. Jintishi often has a rich poetic diction, full of allusion, and can have a wide range of subject, including history and politics. One of the masters of the form was Du Fu, who wrote during the eighth century, Tang Dynasty.

3. Sestina

The sestina has six stanzas, each comprising six unrhymed lines, in which the words at the end of the first stanza’s lines reappear in a rolling pattern in the other stanzas. The poem then ends with a 3-line stanza in which the words again appear two on each line.

4. Villanelle

The villanelle is a nineteen-line poem made up of five triplets with a closing quatrain. The poem is characterized by having two refrains, initially used in the first and third lines of the first stanza, and then alternately used at the close of each subsequent stanza until the final quatrain, which is concluded by the two refrains. The remaining lines of the poem have an A-B alternating rhyme. The villanelle has been used regularly in the English language since the late nineteenth century by such poets as Dylan Thomas, W. H. Auden, and Elizabeth Bishop.

5. Pantoum

The pantoum is a rare form of poetry similar to a villanelle. It is composed of a series of quatrains; the second and fourth lines of each stanza are repeated as the first and third lines of the next.

6. Rondeau

The rondeau was originally a French form, written on two rhymes with fifteen lines, using the first part of the first line as a refrain.

7. Tanka

Tanka is a form of unrhymed Japanese poetry, with five sections totalling thirty-one onji , structured in a 5-7-5 7-7 pattern. There is generally a shift in tone and subject matter between the upper 5-7-5 phrase and the lower 7-7 phrase. Tanka was written as early as the Nara period by such poets as Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, at a time when Japan was emerging from a period where much of its poetry followed Chinese form. Tanka was originally the shorter form of Japanese formal poetry, and was used more heavily to explore personal rather than public themes. It had a more informal poetic diction. By the thirteenth century, Tanka had become the dominant form of Japanese poetry, and it is still widely written today. The 31-mora rule is generally ignored by poets writing literary tanka in languages other than Japanese.

8. Haiku

Haiku is a popular form of unrhymed Japanese poetry, which evolved in the seventeenth century from the hokku, or opening verse of a renku. Generally written in a single vertical line, the haiku contains three sections totalling seventeen onji, structured in a 5-7-5 pattern. Traditionally, haiku contain a kireji, or cutting word, usually placed at the end of one of the poem's three sections; and a kigo, or season-word. The most famous exponent of the haiku was Matsuo Bashō. The seventeen-mora rule is generally ignored by poets writing literary haiku in languages other than Japanese.

9. Ruba'i

Ruba'i is a four-line verse practiced by Arabian and Persian poets. Famous for his rubaiyat (collection of quatrains) is the Persian poet Omar Khayyam. The most celebrated English renderings of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam were produced by Edward Fitzgerald.

10. Sijo

Sijo is a short musical lyric practiced by Korean poets. It is usually written as three lines, each averaging 14-16 syllables, for a total of 44-46 syllables. There is a pause in the middle of each line and so, in English, a sijo is sometimes printed in six lines rather than three.

11. Ode

12. Ghazal

The ghazal is a form of poetry common in Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Bengali poetry. In classic form, the ghazal has from five to fifteen rhyming couplets that share a refrain at the end of the second line. Each line has an identical meter, and there is a set pattern of rhymes in the first couplet and among the refrains. Each couplet forms a complete thought and stands alone, and the overall ghazal often reflects on a theme of unattainable love or divinity. The last couplet generally includes the signature of the author.

Reference: Wikipedia

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