| Abecedarian An ancient poetic form guided by alphabetical order, it was frequently used for sacred compositions, such as prayers, hymns, and psalms. |
| Acrostic Other Acrostics |
| Anaphora A type of parallelism created when successive phrases or lines begin with the same words, often resembling a litany. |
| Ars Poetica Meaning "The Art of Poetry," this technique employs a consideration on the meaning of poetics. |
| Ballad A typical ballad is a plot-driven song, with one or more characters, and unfuling events which lead to a dramatic conclusion. |
| Ballade A principal form of music and poetry in 14th and 15th century France, it contains three rhymed stanzas, plus a shorter concluding stanza. |
| Blues Poem A popular form of American poetry, it stems from the African American oral tradition and the musical tradition of the blues. |
| Cento From the Latin word for "patchwork," the cento is a poetic form made up of lines from poems by other poets. |
| Chance Operations Poems composed by anything from throwing darts and rolling dice, to divination and sophisticated computer programs. |
| Cinquain Composed of five rhymed lines, examples can be found in many European languages, and the form dates back to medieval French poetry. |
| Dramatic Monologue Also known as a persona poem, the poet speaks through the assumed voice of a character, or fictional identity. |
| Ekphrastic Originally an ancient rhetorical technique, ekphrasis now encompasses any poems which describe or address a work of visual art. |
| Elegy A form which mirrors the three stages of loss: first, there is a lament, then praise for the idealized dead, and finally consolation and solace. |
| Epic A book-length narrative in verse distinguished by fabulous deeds and adventures, and a blending of lyrical and dramatic traditions. |
| Epigram A short, pithy saying, usually in verse, often with a quick, satirical twist at the end. |
| Epistle Epistolary poems—from the Latin 'epistula' for 'letter'—are, quite literally, poems that read as letters. |
| Found Poem The literary equivalent of a collage, found poetry is often made from newspaper articles, street signs, graffiti, speeches, letters, or even other poems. |
| Ghazal Traditionally invoking melancholy, love, longing, and metaphysical questions, it originated in 7th century Arabia and is often sung. |
| Haiku A three-line poem of 17 syllables, it often focuses on images from nature, and emphasizes simplicity, intensity, and directness of expression. |
| Limerick A popular form in children’s verse, it is often comical, nonsensical, and sometimes even lewd. |
| Ode Originally accompanied by music and dance, and later reserved by the Romantic poets to convey their strongest sentiments. |
| OULIPO Poems written through a playful system of structural constraints, frameworks, or formulas, which result in endless outcomes. |
| Pantoum A short folk poem, typically made up of two rhyming couplets that are recited or sung, which originated in Malaysia in the 15th century. |
| Prose Poem Though the name of the form may appear to be a contradiction, it essentially appears as prose, but reads like poetry. |
| Rondeau A lyric form invented in 13th century France and popular among medieval court poets and musicians. |
| Sapphic A form which dates back to ancient Greece and is named for the poet Sappho, who left behind many fragments in the unmistakable meter. |
| Sestina A thirty-nine-line form attributed to Arnaut Daniel, the Provencal troubadour of the 12th century. |
| Sonnet A popular 14-line form which employs one of several rhyme schemes and adheres to a tightly structured thematic organization. |
| Tanka One of the oldest Japanese forms, it originated in the 7th century, and became the preferred form of the Japanese Imperial Court. |
| Terza Rima Composed of tercets woven into a rhyme scheme, it was invented by Dante to structure his three-part epic poem, The Divine Comedy. |
| Triolet A short poem of eight lines with only two rhymes used throughout. |
| Villanelle The highly structured nineteen-line poem with two repeating rhymes and two refrains. |