Poetry: Types of Poems with Examples

Types of Poems

1. Blank verse - Blank verse is poetry written with a precise meter—almost always iambic pentameter—that does not rhyme. Perhaps the most iconic example of blank verse poetry is the epic Paradise Lost by the English poet John Milton.
2. Rhymed poetry - In contrast to blank verse, rhymed poems rhyme by definition, although their scheme varies. A standout English language practitioner of rhyming poetry is Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson used rhymed poems to great effect, as in Requiem.
3. Free verse - Free verse poetry is poetry that lacks a consistent rhyme scheme, metrical pattern, or musical form. The contemporary tradition of English language free verse begins with Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. Twentieth-century free verse took more liberties, as evidenced by modernist William Carlos Williams in Portrait of a Lady.
4. Epics - An epic poem is a lengthy, narrative work of poetry. These long poems typically detail extraordinary feats and adventures of characters from a distant past. Great examples are The Iliad and The Odyssey, Beowulf, and The Divine Comedy.
5. Narrative poetry - Similar to an epic, a narrative poem tells a story. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner exemplify this form.
6. Haiku - A haiku is a three-line poetic form originating in Japan. The first line has five syllables, the second line has seven syllables, and the third line again has five syllables. Matsuo Bashō is a master of the art form.
7. Pastoral poetry - A pastoral poem is one that concerns the natural world, rural life, and landscapes. These poems have persevered from Ancient Greece (in the poetry of Hesiod) to Ancient Rome (Virgil) to the present day (Gary Snyder).
8. Sonnet - A sonnet is a 14 line poem, typically (but not exclusively) concerning the topic of love. Sonnets contain internal rhymes within their 14 lines; the exact rhyme scheme depends on the style of a sonnet. There are four types of sonnets: Petrarchan, Shakespearean, Spenserian, and Miltonic.
9. Elegies - An elegy is a poem that reflects upon death or loss. Traditionally, it contains themes of mourning, loss, and reflection. However, it can also explore themes of redemption and consolation. Walt Whitman’s O Captain! My Captain! is a strong example of the nineteenth-century elegy style.
10. Ode - Much like an elegy, an ode is a tribute to its subject, although the subject need not be dead—or even sentient, as in John Keats’ Ode on a Grecian Urn.
11. Limerick - A limerick is a five-line poem that consists of a single stanza, an AABBA rhyme scheme, and whose subject is a short, pithy tale or description. Edward Lear wrote many iconic limericks. Among the most famous of these is the opening poem from A Book of Nonsense.
12. Lyric poetry - Lyric poetry refers to the broad category of poetry that concerns feelings and emotion. This distinguishes it from two other poetic categories: epic and dramatic. Emily Dickinson’s famous poem, Because I could not stop for Death, is a great example of lyric poetry.
13. Ballad - A ballad (or ballade) is a form of narrative verse that can be either poetic or musical. It typically follows a pattern of rhymed quatrains. From John Keats to Samuel Taylor Coleridge to Bob Dylan, it represents a melodious form of storytelling.
14. Soliloquy - A soliloquy is a monologue in which a character speaks to him or herself, expressing inner thoughts that an audience might not otherwise know. Soliloquies are not definitionally poems, although they often can be—most famously in the plays of William Shakespeare.
15. Villanelle - A nineteen-line poem consisting of five tercets and a quatrain, with a highly specified internal rhyme scheme. Originally a variation on a pastoral, the villanelle has evolved to describe obsessions and other intense subject matters, as exemplified by Dylan Thomas, author of villanelles like Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.