| A | B |
|---|
| ballad | a song-like poem; narrative (tells a story); contains rhythm,rhyme, & refrain; often about adventure or romance |
| free verse | not written in regular meter/rhythmic pattern; lines of any length; any number of stressed syllables; one of the most common forms of poetry |
| couplet | pair of rhyming lines; can be short on their own, stanzas of poems, or part of a longer poem; both lines usually have the same # of stresses & rhythm |
| quatrain | 4 line poem; may or may not rhyme; may be a one stanza poem or one stanza of a longer poem |
| limerick | 5 lines with rhyme scheme AABBA; originated in Ireland; funny or absurd events |
| haiku | 3 lines; syllable pattern of 5-7-5; Japanese; deals with nature; no rhyme |
| ballad example | "Beverly Hillbillies" theme: "Come and listen to a story 'bout a man named Jed / A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed. / Then, one day, he was shootin' at some food, / And up through the ground come a bubblin' crude. / Oil, that is, / Black gold, / Texas tea." |
| free verse example | from "Miracles" by Walt Whitman: "To me the sea is a continual miracle / The fishes that swim - the rocks - / the motion of the waves - / the ships with men in them, / What stranger miracles are there?" |
| couplet example | from Shakespeare's Sonnet XXX: "But if the while I think on thee dear friend. / All losses are restored and sorrows end." |
| quatrain example | from Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening": "Whose woods these are I think I know. / His house is in the village, though; / He will not see me stopping here / To watch his woods fill up with snow." |
| limerick example | "There once was a young man from Zool / Who finished buffoonery school. / As a new jester / With the name Chester / He longs to be somebody's fool!" |
| haiku example | "Misty paint box hues / Arch across the gray drizzle / Let's play on the slide " |
