6 different poetry forms to play with

Beginner poetry forms

Poetry forms teach writers the art of conciseness, diction, and innovation. Not to mention, poetry is just plain fun. Here are some recommendations to inspire you and immerse you into poetic forms:

1. Acrostic poetry

The acrostic poetry form is when the first letter of every line spells out a name or word when read vertically. Acrostic poems were first popularized in the medieval ages to honor a patron and are still commonly used today—oftentimes in children’s classrooms to teach young minds to read and write.

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To write an acrostic poem, pick a word and write it vertically on a page. Then, challenge yourself to make the first letter of every line begin with the letter of this vertical word in a way that flows and makes sense. In the example below, Edgar Allen Poe writes about a woman named Elizabeth. Can you find her name in the text?

“An Acrostic” by Edgar Allen Poe:

Elizabeth it is in vain you say
‘Love not’—thou sayest it in so sweet a way:
In vain those words from thee or L. E. L.
Zantippe’s talents had enforced so well:
Ah! if that language from thy heart arise,
Breathe it less gently forth—and veil thine eyes.
Endymion, recollect, when Luna tried
To cure his love—was cured of all beside—
His folly—pride—and passion—for he died.

2. Concrete poetry

Concrete poetry has the potential to get really weird, in a good way. With this poetry type, the form of the text takes on a shape relevant to the subject matter. In the example below, George Starbuck writes a poem about a Christmas tree where the words form the triangle shape of a tree.

“Poem in the Shape of a Potted Christmas Tree” by George Starbuck:

                   *
                   O
                 fury-
               bedecked!
            O glitter-torn!
         Let the wild wind erect
       bonbonbonanzas; junipers affect

3. Palindrome poetry

Palindrome poetry turns phrases upside down, quite literally. Sometimes referred to as reverse poems or mirror poems, this form is crafted to be read from top to bottom, then once again from bottom to top—changing the meaning. This is a wonderful choice for teenagers and adults dipping their toes into poetry. In the example below, Abdullah Shoaib showcases someone wrestling with internal feelings of self-loathing. And although the poem never outright says it, the fact that the poem is written in a mirror poem style alludes to the speaker looking into a mirror.

“Pretty Ugly” by Abdullah Shoaib:

I’m very ugly
So don’t try to convince me that
I am a very beautiful person
Because at the end of the day
I hate myself in every single way
And I’m not going to lie to myself by saying
There is beauty inside of me that matters
So rest assured I will remind myself
That I am a worthless, terrible person
And nothing you say will make me believe
I still deserve love
Because no matter what
I am not good enough to be loved
And I am in no position to believe that
Beauty does exist within me
Because whenever I look in the mirror I always think
Am I as ugly as people say?

Now, read this from bottom to top.

More advanced and challenging poetry forms

If you’re no stranger to poetry and want to challenge yourself with rigid rhyme schemes and syllabic verse, here are some compelling recommendations to inspire you.

4. Ballad

The ballad is a long-form poem that tells a narrative and is so lyrical in nature it can be set to music. They originated in medieval Europe as dance songs and are still used by writers today. Ballads are written in quatrains that either follow the rhyme scheme ABCB or ABAB. They are written in alternating iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter; this means the first line will contain eight syllables following an unstressed, stressed pattern, then the next line will do the same thing but contain six syllables.

A ballad has a lot of rules to follow, but once you get it down, your words will flow freely. Check out this famous example by Samuel Taylor Coleridge before taking a stab at it yourself. Coleridge wrote a quite a few ballads, but none more epic than “Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” In this scene, the mariner entrances a wedding guest with an almost supernatural force as he’s about to tell a tale.

Excerpt from “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge:

He holds him with his glittering eye—
The Wedding-Guest stood still,
And listens like a three years’ child:
The Mariner hath his will.

The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone:
He cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner.

5. Ode

An ode is a lyric poem that traditionally celebrates a person, place, or thing. Greeks and Romans first used odes to celebrate athletic victories, then the Romantics expanded upon this idea in the late 18th century—using odes to muse on something until they came to a revelation.

There are several different types of odes, but for the purpose of recommendations, we recommend the Horatian or Sapphic ode. Lyrical in nature, but meant to be read in private rather than on stage, Horatian odes feature quatrains of rhyming couplets and if they use a rhyme scheme or meter, they remain consistent throughout. For an example, check out “Ode to a Nightingale” where John Keats’s musings drift him from a nightingale’s song to thoughts of death.

Excerpt from “Ode on a Nightingale” by John Keats

Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call’d him soft names in many a mused rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath;
Now more than ever seems it rich to die,
To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
In such an ecstasy!
Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain—
To thy high requiem become a sod.

6. Pantoum

A pantoum is a poetry form that pushes you to select every word and phrase carefully. It’s composed of four-line stanzas where the second and fourth lines of each stanza are repeated as the first and third lines of the next stanza. This poetry form originated in Malaysia and has been embraced across the world’s literature, in particular French and English. Carolyn Kizer’s example below showcases this art form.

Excerpt from “Parent’s Pantoum” by Carolyn Kizer:

Where did these enormous children come from,
More ladylike than we have ever been?
Some of ours look older than we feel.
How did they appear in their long dresses

More ladylike than we have ever been?
But they moan about their aging more than we do,
In their fragile heels and long black dresses.
They say they admire our youthful spontaneity.

Once you learn the rules, break them

Breaking the rules is one of the most rewarding parts of poetry writing, but you can’t break any rules until you learn them first. After you familiarize yourself with more rigid poetry forms like the ones listed in this article, try out some more lawless poetry like blank verse, free verse, or prose. Flex your writing skills, try a new poetry form you’ve never employed before, and allow these rules and constraints to fuel your creativity.