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- ABC
- A poem that has five lines that create a mood, picture, or feeling. Lines 1 through 4 are made up of words, phrases or clauses while the first word of each line is in alphabetical order. Line 5 is one sentence long and begins with any letter.
- Acrostic
- Poetry that certain letters, usually the first in each line form a word or message when read in a sequence.
- Ballad
- A poem that tells a story similar to a folk tail or legend which often has a repeated refrain.
- Cinquain
- Poetry with five lines. Line 1 has one word (the title). Line 2 has two words that describe the title. Line 3 has three words that tell the action. Line 4 has four words that express the feeling, and line 5 has one word which recalls the title.
- Elegy
- A sad and thoughtful poem about the death of an individual.
- Epic
- An extensive, serious poem that tells the story about a heroic figure.
- Free verse (vers libre)
- Poetry written in either rhyme or unrhymed lines that have no set fixed metrical pattern.
- Haiku
- A Japanese poem composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five morae, usually containing a season word.
- Italian sonnet
- A sonnet consisting of an octave with the rhyme pattern abbaabba followed by six lines with a rhyme pattern of cdecde or cdcdcd.
- Limerick
- A short sometimes vulgar, humorous poem consisting of five anapestic lines. Lines 1, 2, and 5 have seven to ten syllables, rhyme and have the same verbal rhythm. The 3rd and 4th lines have five to seven syllables, rhyme and have the same rhythm.
- List
- A poem that is made up of a list of items or events. It can be any length and rhymed or unrhymed.
- Lyric
- A poem that expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet.
- Narrative
- A poem that tells a story.
- Ode
- A lengthy lyric poem typically of a serious or meditative nature and having an elevated style and formal stanza structure.
- Persona
- A poem written from a perspective other than your own.
- Quatrain
- A stanza or poem consisting of four lines. Lines 2 and 4 must rhyme while having a similar number of syllables.
- Rondeau
- A lyrical poem of French origin having 10 or 13 lines with two rhymes and with the opening phrase repeated twice as the refrain.
- Senryu
- A short Japanese style poem, similar to haiku in structure that treats human beings rather than nature: Often in a humorous or satiric way.
- Sestina
- A poem consisting of six six-line stanzas and a three-line envoy. The end words of the first stanza are repeated in varied order as end words in the other stanzas and also recur in the envoy.
- Shakespearean Sonnet
- A 14-line sonnet consisting of three quatrains of abab cdcd efef followed by a couplet, Shakespearean sonnets generally use iambic pentameter.
- Shape
- Poetry written in the shape or form of an object.
- Sonnet
- A lyric poem that consists of 14 lines which usually have one or more conventional rhyme schemes.
- Tanka
- A Japanese poem of five lines, the first and third composed of five syllables and the other seven.
- Terza Rima
- A type of poetry consisting of 10 or 11 syllable lines arranged in three-line tercets.
- Villanelle
- A 19-line poem consisting of five tercets and a final quatrain on two rhymes. The first and third lines of the first tercet repeat alternately as a refrain closing the succeeding stanzas and joined as the final couplet of the quatrain.