When you start writing poetry, you may struggle with finding a poetic form that suits your writing style. There are a variety of different poetic forms, from haiku to sonnet to free verse, and it can be overwhelming to choose which one to use in your writing. You can find a form of poetry that best suits your writing by first identifying the main themes in your poetry and your poetic goals. You can then try out a poetic form that is more structured or more open to find a form that suits your writing.
Part 1 of 3:
Determining the Themes and Goals of Your Poetry
1Identify the main themes in your poetry. To help you choose a poetic form, you should start by identifying the main themes in your poetry. Doing this will allow you to connect the themes to a form that will enhance and add something more to your poetry. This follows the “form fitting function” idea, where the form you choose for your poem fits the themes found in your poetry.
- If you already have a pile of poems that you have written, go through them and notice any themes or ideas that continue to pop up in your writing. For example, you may notice you often write about your personal relationship with your mother. If so, the confessional poetry form may be for you. Or you may notice you write a lot of shorter poems about love, so a shorter poetic form may be ideal for you.
- If you are writing poetry for the first time, you may write down a list of themes and ideas that interest you as poet. Maybe you are interested in writing about love, friendship, or relationships in your poetry. Or you are more interested in writing about themes that are more specific to you, such as queer identity, feminism, or racial identity.
2Determine your goals as a poet. You should also consider your goals as a poet, such as what you are hoping to achieve through your poetry. Identifying the goal or purpose of your poetry can help you narrow down which poetic forms might be a good fit for your work.
- For example, if you are looking to entertain your audience, you may choose a poetic form that is known to be playful and engaging for readers. If you are looking to bare all in your poetry and discuss a pivotal moment in your life, you may go for a poetic form that focuses on the first-person and sharing personal moments with the reader.
3Think about poetic forms you have always wanted to try. You can also narrow down your choices by listing poetic forms that you have always wanted to try out. Taking on a poetic form you have always wanted to use in your work can inspire you and push you to be more creative.
- For example, maybe you have always wanted to try writing a sonnet or a haiku. Or maybe you have always been fascinated by surrealist poetry and want to push yourself to try it yourself.
- Make a list of all the forms of poetry you would like to try out, and write at least one poem for each.
4List poetic forms you enjoy reading. You can also focus on a specific poetic form by listing forms you have read in the past and enjoyed as a reader. You may glance at your bookshelf and notice poets that you read often or look at your notes in a writing class for poets whose work you enjoyed as a student. You may then decide to challenge yourself to emulate your favorite poets and try some of the same poetic forms they used in their work.
- For example, perhaps you have always admired the love sonnets of Shakespeare. You may then challenge yourself to write a series of sonnets about love. Or perhaps you enjoy reading the nature haikus of the Japanese poet Basho Matsuo. You may then decide to write your own nature haikus.
Part 2 of 3:
Choosing a Structured Poetic Form
1Try the rhyming form. You may decide to try the rhyming poetic form if you are trying to write a poem that is lighthearted, fun, and entertaining. The rhyming form can be a fun way to create a cohesive poem that has a light, playful tone. There are several possible rhyming forms in poetry, including:
- The rhymed verse: This form is made of lines of poetry that rhyme. However, the poem does not need to follow a specific meter or rhyming scheme. For example, the poem “Everyone Tells Me Everything” by Ogden Nash.
- The sonnet: This is a fourteen line poem that follows the iambic pentameter and has a set rhyme scheme. Sonnets are often broken into two sections and the final lines of the poem are a couplet. For example, “Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare.
- The limerick: This is a poetic form that is often used to tell a funny story. Limericks are five lines long with a set rhyme scheme and a consistent meter. The rhyme scheme is AABBA. For example, “Crowded Tub” by Shel Silverstein.
2Go for shorter poetic forms. If you are looking to write a poem in a short amount of time or a poem that is concise in length, a shorter poetic form may be for you. You may pick a shorter poetic form to make it easier to write a poem within a short time frame or as a challenge to write shorter poems. You may choose from several shorter poetic forms, including:
- The haiku: This poetic form is three lines long and follows the syllable count 5-7-5, where line one is five syllables long, line two is seven syllables long, and line three is five syllables long. Haikus often focus on nature and short, postcard moments. For example, the haikus of Basho Matsuo.
- The cinquain: This poetic form is a five line poem with no rhyme scheme or meter. Each line has a set number of words and no words can be repeated in the poem. For example, the poem “November Night” by Adelaide Crapsey.
- The shape poem: This poetic form is created by using the shape of the object or subject in the poem to create the shape of the poem. For example, the poem “Concrete Cat” by Dorthi Charles.
3Do the narrative form. Narrative poetry are also called story poems, as they often tell a story from beginning to end. Older narrative poems have a set rhyme scheme and structure, but many modern narrative poems have a less rigid rhyme scheme. Narrative poems may be ideal for you if you would like to tell a story from beginning to end and take your reader on a journey.
- Your narrative poem must have at least one main character, who may also be the narrator or speaker in the poem. It should also have a beginning, middle, and end, telling a story that is dramatic and compelling.
- For example, the poem “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes is a narrative poem that tells the reader about a journey by the highwayman on a stormy night in the country.
Part 3 of 3:
Selecting a More Open Poetic Form
1Experiment with surrealist poetic forms. You can try surrealist poetic forms if you are looking for ways to experiment and play around in your poems. Surrealist poetry often explores the subconscious and emphasizes the process of creating the poem over the end product. You may choose to use the surrealist poetic form if you find you are writing a lot about dreams, surreal moments, or strange encounters often in your poetry.
- You may decide to do surrealist poetry prompts to get you started. These prompts can help you form a poem that is surreal and bizarre.
- You may also perform surrealist word games to generate content for your poems. These word games can be done on your own or with a group of poets to create writing that is surreal.
2Go for the free verse form. You may decide to choose the free verse form if you are looking for a form that gives you a lot of freedom as a poet. Free verse poetry do not have a set number of lines, syllables, or a set rhyme scheme. You are allowed complete freedom as the poet and do not have any limitations or rules you must follow.
- Though there are no set rules with the free verse form, some poets find it challenging to narrow down their ideas and organize their thoughts without any rules or guidelines. You may want to focus on a specific theme or subject and choose a certain approach when you are writing so the poem feels cohesive and clear, even though it is still free verse.
3Try the confessional genre of poetry. Confessional poetry, also called autobiographical poetry, is often written in the first person, using “I”. This genre is used by poets to explore their own personal experiences and feelings on the page. Confessional poetry may be ideal if you are trying to address a personal experience or moment in your poetry and want to share these experiences with your reader. In this genre, you do not need to follow any set rhyme scheme, meter, or syllable count. This means it is open to many forms.
- For example, you may be interested in exploring your relationship with your mother in your poetry. You would then write saying "you" to address your mother in your poem directly. You could use the free verse form or a rhyming form in your confessional poem to express your thoughts and feelings on the topic.
- Try writing confessional poems in the form of letters. Start your poem "Dear..."
- You could also use a confessional tone in a shorter poetic form, such as the haiku or the cinquain. You may describe a deep dark secret in the form of a haiku or create a series of haikus that have a confessional tone.
4Create a form using a poem you love. You can also use a poem you enjoy as a reader as a template or form your own poetry. You may take a rhyming poem you like and copy the rhyme scheme in your own poem. Or you may take words or phrases from a poem you enjoy and use them in your own poem, such as taking the last word of every line and using them in your own work.
- You may also be inspired to use the literary devices found in a poem you like in your own poetry. For example, perhaps you like the metaphors and similes used in a poem and want to emulate the same devices in your work. Or you may appreciate how a poet uses assonance in their poetry and decide to also use assonance in your own poetry.
- ↑ http://www.poetryarchive.org/glossary/form
- ↑ http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/2689
- ↑ http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/2689
- ↑ http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/2689
- ↑ http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/list-of-50-poetic-forms-for-poets Writer's Digest.com
- ↑ http://www.westegg.com/nash/everything.html
- ↑ http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/18.html
- ↑ https://allpoetry.com/Crowded-Tub
- ↑ http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-haiku-poems.html
- ↑ https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/november-night
- ↑ https://www.pinterest.com/pin/328199891570579359/
- ↑ http://www.powerpoetry.org/actions/how-write-narrative-poem
- ↑ http://www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/curriculum/literacy/lit_site/html/fiction/narrative/highwayman/index.htm
- ↑ https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/brief-guide-surrealism
- ↑ http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-free-verse-poems.html
- ↑ https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/brief-guide-confessional-poetry