Poetic Forms in English Literature

Poetic Forms in English Literature

Types of the poems   Poetic Form can be understood as the physical structure of the poem: the length of lines, their rhythms, their system of rhymes and repetition. In this sense, it is normally reserved for the type of poem where these features have been shaped into a pattern, especially a familiar pattern. This glossary includes full definitions of the most usual forms with examples :-

1. Sonnet:     It is a poem of 14 lines that is popular from Late Middle Ages on. By the 14th century and the Italian Renaissance, the form had further made well defined under the pen of Petrarch, whose sonnets were translated in the 16th century by Sir Thomas Wyatt, who is credited with introducing the sonnet form into English literature. A traditional Italian or Petrarchan sonnet follows the rhyme scheme abba, abba, cdecde. For instance: John Milton’s “On His Blindness”. The English or Shakespearean Sonnet follows the rhyme scheme abab, cdcd, efef, gg. For instance: William Shakespeare’s “Time and Love”.

2. Lyric:   It is a form of poetry, that is subject of being sung to the accompaniment of a musical instrument or that expresses intense personal emotions in a manner suggestive of a song. This type of poetry expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet. For instance: Edgar Allen Poe’s “Annabel Lee”.

3. Ode:   “Ode” comes from the Greek aeidein, meaning to sing or chant, and belongs to the long and varied tradition of lyric poetry. Originally accompanied by music and dance, and later reserved by the Romantic poets to convey their strongest sentiments, it can be generalized as a formal address to an event, a person, or a thing not present. For instance: William Wordsworth’s “Ode on Intimations of Immortality From Recollections of Early Childhood”.

4. Elegy:    An elegy, in poetic terms is a funeral song. It can be thought of as a melancholy poem, which is written to mourn the death of someone, who is personal and close to the heart. The first Elegies were written in Roman and Greek. For instance: Thomas Gray’s “An Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”. Country Churchyard

5. Idyll:    It is a short poem, descriptive of rustic life, written in the style of Theocritus’ short pastoral poem the “Idylls”. For instance: Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King”.

6. Epic:   It is a long, often book-length, narrative in verse form that retells the heroic journey of a single person, or group of persons. For instance: Homer’s “Iliad and Odyssey”.

Illiad and Odyssey