Genre Terminology
Below is an introduction to the most common types of poetic genres. The genre based terms selected are not exhaustive and present the most explored poetic types within the scope of a first year introduction to poetry. There are various forms of modern poetic genres not included, such as Slam or Beat poetry which require their own area of study.
Genre Terms
Allegory - An extended metaphor in which the characters, places, and objects in a narrative carry figurative meaning. Often an allegory’s meaning is religious, moral, or historical in nature.
Ballad - A popular narrative song passed down orally. In the English tradition, it usually follows a form of rhymed (abcb) quatrains alternating four-stress and three-stress lines.
Blank Verse - Unrhyming iambic pentameter, also called heroic verse. This 10-syllable line is the predominant rhythm of traditional English dramatic and epic poetry, as it is considered the closest to English speech patterns.
Elegy - In traditional English poetry, it is often a melancholy poem that laments its subject’s death but ends in consolation.
Epic - A long narrative poem in which a heroic protagonist engages in an action of great mythic or historical significance.
Free Verse - Nonmetrical, nonrhyming lines that closely follow the natural rhythms of speech. A regular pattern of sound or rhythm may emerge in free-verse lines, but the poet does not adhere to a metrical plan in their composition.
Haiku - A Japanese verse form most often composed, in English versions, of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. A haiku often features an image, or a pair of images, meant to depict the essence of a specific moment in time.
Ode - A formal, often ceremonious lyric poem that addresses and often celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea. Its stanza forms vary.
Parody - A comic imitation of another author’s work or characteristic style.
Sonnet - A 14-line poem with a variable rhyme scheme. Literally a “little song,” the sonnet traditionally reflects upon a single sentiment, with a clarification or “turn” of thought in its concluding lines. There are many different types of sonnets.
Ballad - A popular narrative song passed down orally. In the English tradition, it usually follows a form of rhymed (abcb) quatrains alternating four-stress and three-stress lines.
Blank Verse - Unrhyming iambic pentameter, also called heroic verse. This 10-syllable line is the predominant rhythm of traditional English dramatic and epic poetry, as it is considered the closest to English speech patterns.
Elegy - In traditional English poetry, it is often a melancholy poem that laments its subject’s death but ends in consolation.
Epic - A long narrative poem in which a heroic protagonist engages in an action of great mythic or historical significance.
Free Verse - Nonmetrical, nonrhyming lines that closely follow the natural rhythms of speech. A regular pattern of sound or rhythm may emerge in free-verse lines, but the poet does not adhere to a metrical plan in their composition.
Haiku - A Japanese verse form most often composed, in English versions, of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. A haiku often features an image, or a pair of images, meant to depict the essence of a specific moment in time.
Ode - A formal, often ceremonious lyric poem that addresses and often celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea. Its stanza forms vary.
Parody - A comic imitation of another author’s work or characteristic style.
Sonnet - A 14-line poem with a variable rhyme scheme. Literally a “little song,” the sonnet traditionally reflects upon a single sentiment, with a clarification or “turn” of thought in its concluding lines. There are many different types of sonnets.