Poetic Forms


I’ll be blogging about poetic forms here, both well-known and recognized as well as some others not as often used.  A poetic form follows guidelines such as rhyme scheme, line length, and repetition. You could say the poem written in a form fits into a grid, but this is an oversimplification and sounds rather negative. Fitting into a form can cause the poet to stretch in an unexpected direction, to feel a rhythm through repetition, and discover imagery that might not have been evident otherwise.  Even people who say they don’t know any poetic forms will probably have heard of a sonnet, a limerick, or maybe a haiku.
            First up will be the triolet – an eight line poem with two lines and two refrains. Watch this space.

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