Glossary of Forms

Glossary of Forms A - D
All of the examples are of my own creation & have been put there to help you better understand these rather dry definitions. I am attempting to master every form but that's going to take years .

ACROSTIC
Think of a word, name, or phrase, and write it vertically down the page. These letters then become the first letter of each line of the poem.
LOVE
Life desires it
Over all things
Viscerally we're charged
Exceptions are none

BLANK VERSE
A line of poetry or prose in unrhymed iambic pentameter.

BOUTS-RIMES
Create a list of words & then use those words one by one as an end-word on each line.

BREF DOUBLE
A French form that is similar to the sonnet. (the brief-double doesn't have to be written in iambic pentameter) It contains 3 quatrains (4-line stanzas) followed by a final couplet (2-line stanza). Its rhyme scheme is axbc xaxc axab ab (where the x's represent lines that don't rhyme with anything else, even the other x's).

CINQUAIN
"Cinquain" simply means a stanza (or poem) with 5-lines. There are 2 specific types of Cinquains. This 1st type is usually centered to give it a diamond shape:
1st line: a 1-word subject or title.
2nd line: 2 adj.s that describe the subject.
3rd line: 3 verbs relating to the subject.
4th line: 4 words forming a phrase, sentence, set of feelings, etc. relating to the subject.
5th line: 1-word that summarizes the poem or restates the subject.
The 2nd is the most traditional type. It requires a pattern of syllables per line of 2, 4, 6, 8, 2. (In other words, the first line has two syllables, the second has four, etc.)

CLERIHEW
Short, fun little poems whose name comes from Edmund Clerihew Bentley, who pioneered the form as a teenager. They're 4-lines long & have an aabb rhyme scheme. They're about a specific person, & the 2nd line must rhyme with the person's name. They are meant to be funny, even silly.

COUPLET
2 consective lines of poetry, also a stanza of 2-lines.

DIAMANTE
Similar to the cinquain, it consists of 7 lines:
1st line: a 1-word subject that contrasts with line 7.
2nd line: 2 adjectives that describe the subject in line 1.
3rd line: 3 verbs relating to line 1.
4th line: 2 nouns related to line-1, followed by 2 nouns related to line 7.
5th line: 3 verbs relating to line 7.
6th line: 2 adj.s that describe line 7.
7th line: a 1-word subject that contrasts with line 1.
Alternativly, a simpler method is to use only one subject. Then the 1st & 7th lines contain words that are just 2 different ways of saying the same thing.