Poetry is one of the oldest forms of creative writing, mainly due to the fact that they have been around since before reading and writing were things people had the ability to do or easy access too. A poem is a way to pack emotion into a condensed space with set rules that allow for easier memorization to keep the story alive as accurately as possible. The spreading of writing only served to increase the ways poetry could be experienced, meaning that there will always be a love for this kind of writing; even apart from songs.

Building Blocks

There are many different kinds of poems and therefore many different building blocks available to help structure them. These building blocks normally come together to create the well-known styles that we are accustomed to seeing.

Meter is one such block. It is the rhythmic measure of a line or the pattern of the beats. Another way to think of it is the pattern you use when emphasizing the syllables of a line when speaking a line. Take the word ‘behold’ for example. It has two syllables be-hold. When speaking, you will typically emphasize or accent the ‘hold’ syllable while the ‘be’ syllable is less stress. This gives the word ‘behold’ an iamb meter (UE).

If you switch the emphasis around, like in ‘mournful’, the word would have a trochee meter (EU). Meter also works with phrases as well, any syllables on the same line, and you can have a dactyl meter (EUU) like ‘this is the’ or anapest meter (UUE) ‘on the sea.’

Another component in many poems is the rhyme scheme. This typically refers to the patter of rhyming words at the ends of lines. However, it is possible to have an internal rhyme scheme as well. This doesn’t mean that all poems rhyme, something that blew my mind in third grade, but when they do, they tend to fall into a few different categories. Some of the schemes are ABAB or alternating, ABBA or enveloped, AABB or couplet, and ABCB or ballad. The rhyme scheme can also be irregular which is a way of saying “I rhymed once or twice in this entire work and need a simple way to say so.”

Rhythm, at first glance, seems to be a duplicate of meter in definition. It’s the beat or movement of a poem. The difference is that, while meter is focused with the emphasis of syllables in the line, rhythm is concerned with the speed and movement of the poem as a whole.

The last subject I want to cover is the stanza, or the groups of lines in a poem. Stanzas go back to the origin of poems, when the main method of learning and spreading them was orally. For this reason, most stanzas are between 3-7 lines, though they can be more or less. That’s also why most other parts of the poem are based around the stanza.

Types of Poems

There are many different types of poems that use and ignore various aspects of the building blocks I listed above. Each type tends to be defined with specific ways of pairing these different aspects.

A sonnet is a poem with 14 lines, most often grouped in stanzas of 4, 4, 4, and 2. The most common rhyme scheme for sonnets, popularized by Shakespear, is alternating for the four-line stanzas followed by a couplet. ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

A haiku is a fun kind of poem. The haiku throws out the need for rhyme making it completely optional. Haikus possess a set three-line stanza and the art comes in when you find the way to express your idea in the restrictive 5 7 5 syllable limit. It takes practice to get it right!

Inspired by haikus is the cinquain poem. These have five lines instead of three, and don’t necessarily rhyme. As with most spinoffs, there are a handful of them in use. Some place the emphasis on meter, others on syllables to make a visual pattern, or the use of certain types of words in each line such as adjectives.

The epic is a long narrative poem that is about a hero or an adventure. This is different from the ballad which is a long narrative poem about a legend or folk tale. Ballads also have the distinction of often having clear-cut morals or life lessons and are frequently performed as songs.

Speaking of, songs are poems! And so is free verse which is more performance based and tends to send all normal qualities into the irregular zone.

The tradition of poetry carries on from prehistory to today; a link across time that unites our species in their pursuit of entertainment, knowledge, and creativity. It’s a lucky thing to be able to keep up the tradition and to inspire it into the future.