Roger D. Jones
English 3315 Creative Writing
Fall 1998
Form Handout

Formal Poetry:

I Meter:
  1. Iambic: -' (unstressed followed by stressed syllable) When I see birches bend to left and rightBR Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
    I like to think some boy's been swinging them...

  2. Trochaic: '- (stressed followed by unstressed)
    London bridge is falling down, falling down. . .

  3. Anapestic: --' (two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable, as in the word Tennessee)
    The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold. . .

  4. Dactylic: a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables (as in the word Leningrad)
    Woman much missed, how you call to me, call to me. . .

  5. Spondaic: two successive syllables with approximately equal strong stresses
    The apparition of these faces in a crowd;
    petals on a wet black bough.
  6. Pyrrhic: two successive unstressed syllables or lightly stressed syllables

Meter (feet):

  1. Monometer: one foot per line
  2. Dimeter: two feet per line
  3. Trimeter: three feet per line
  4. Tetrameter: four feet per line
  5. Pentameter: five feet per line
  6. Hexameter: six feet per line

II. Poetic Forms
  1. Blank verse: a succession of unrhymed iambic pentameter lines
  2. Couplet: two lines of verse, coupled by rhyme
  3. Tercet: a stanza of three lines linked by a single rhyme
  4. Quatrain: a stanza of four lines, rhymed or unrhymed
  5. Rhyme royal: seven line iambic pentameter stanza rhyming ababbcc
  6. Ottava rima: eight line stanza with rhyme scheme abababcc

Specific Forms:
  1. Sonnet: traditionally a poem of fourteen iambic pentameter lines arranged in an intricate rhyme scheme, of which there are three main recognizable forms:

    A. Italian Sonnet: abba abba cde cde
    B. English sonnet: abab cdcd efef gg
    C. Spenserian Sonnet: ababbcbccdced ee

    Traditionally, sonnets are arranged into the first eight lines, known as the octave and the last six lines, known as the sestet. Often at the end of the octave, the poem shifts rhetorical, tonal, or thematic direction with a turn, a verbal indication in the poem that such a shift is occurring.

  2. Sestina: a poem containing six stanzas of six lines each, followed by a two line envoy, or concluding stanza, that incorporates words from the previous lines. A sestina repeats the end words of the first six lines in a set pattern. The most common pattern is as follows:

    stanza

    1. ABCDEF
    2. FAEBDC
    3. CFDABE
    4. ECBFAD

  3. Villanelle: a nineteen line poem (French form), usually either in iambic pentameter or tetrameter, with a repeating line scheme. The first and third line of the first stanza are repeated in the following sequence: ABC DEA FGC HIA JKC LMAC

  4. Ballad: a poem of indeterminate length, comprised of four line stanzas (quatrains). Ballads are usually narrative, and because they originated or were perfected among the "commoners", they often are earthier, more versatile, and more simple than formal poems, and often tell popular stories. Many hymns and country western songs are set to ballad meters.
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