Poetry Styles: Latino Literature
1. To begin, sample and discuss a number of different styles of poetry and works by different poets.
2. Next, using the following lessons and exploring different styles, write four or five poems of your own. Each of your own poems should use a different poetic style.
This lesson will cover ten different styles of poetry. We will look at acrostic, cinquain, letter, triolet, tongue twisters, couplet, ghazal, quatrain, epiphany, and limerick. Now, let's try your pen at these different styles.
Acrostic Poetry: An acrostic poem has to be one of the simplest poems that I've found to write. You start by putting the letters of the word you've chosen for your subject, down the side of your page. Then you go to each letter and think of a sentence that starts with that letter. Here is an example of an acrostic poem that I've written in this format.
RoseMarie
Reflections of life
On passion shores
Surrender myself to thee
Embraced by warm arms
Moonlight lovely, my Rose
A toast to our lives
Rose my destiny
Intimate moments and melodies
Endless love begins with you RoseMarie
Cinquain Poetry: Cinquain poetry is fun and it allows one to be creative. A cinquain is a five-line poem. It follows this pattern
Line 1:
one word
(subject or noun)
Line 2:
two words
(adjectives) that describe line 1
Line 3:
three words
(action verbs) that relate to line 1
Line 4:
four words
(A complete sentence) that relates to line 1
Line 5:
one word
(synonym of line 1 or a word that sums it up)
Adelaide Crapsey, a young poet who died too soon, invited cinquain poetry into America. She contracted tuberculosis and died at the age of 36. Below is an example of a cinquain poem.
Husband
faithful, strong
Caring, compassionate, courageous
A hero among boys
-Friend
Triolet Poem: A French verse form of eight lines with this rhyme scheme:
A
B
a - Rhymes with 1st line.
A - Identical to 1st line.
a - Rhymes with 1st line.
b - Rhymes with 2nd line.
A - Identical to 1st line.
B - Identical to 2nd line
Examples of triolet Poetry could be found in the late 13th century and were usually about love. Take, for example, the following poem.
Wind Beneath My Wings
Misty eyed memories of you come to mind
You are the wind beneath my wings
So much of you I thought I had left behind
Misty eyed memories of you come to mind
How could I’ve been so blind
Feeling the happiness that your love brings
Misty eyed memories of you come to mind
You are the wind beneath my wings
Tongue Twisters: Were they made for no other reason than to twist our tongues? They were short little poems, like the traditional one of Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore, which told a story. Let me try this.
Juvenile Jacob James jokes joyfully jumping jacks
Johnny Jiggs joins Jacob and they jump jacks
Jiving joyfully Jacob and Johnny jump jacks
Couplet: A couplet is a pair of lines of poetry that are usually rhymed. Some poems, like the famous “The Night Before Christmas,” were written entirely in couplets. Alexander Pope, in the 18th century perfected a form of heroic couplet. (Would be better reworded to "In the 18th century Alexander Pope perfected a form of heroic couplet.")
Then share thy pain, allow that sad relief;
Ah, more than share it, give me all thy grief.
- Alexander Pope
Below is one developing poet’s attempt at a couplet.
If a man fears love, if he fears what is still unknown
Then he will live his life old and alone.
Ghazal: a poem of five to fifteen couplets. It shares a rhyme and a refrain. This form of poetry can be traced back to seventh-century Arabia.
To Man Who Fears Love
If a man fears love, if he fears what is still unknown
Then he will live his life old and alone
When his sorrow he cannot awaken and he is forsaken
He will have no choice but to face tomorrow alone
Only through love do we give, do we open our hearts and live
But for man who does not see, he shall sit alone
When the nights are cold and he has no one to hold
He will feel half dead, for he is alone
For everyday he lives, everyday he refuses to give
He comes one day closer to dying alone
Walking through the valley of his own grief, time is a thief
For tomorrow he will die old and alone
Epiphany Poem: A moment of epiphany is when your eyes are opened to something in life you were unaware of. Epiphany: A sudden revelation of truth inspired by a seemingly trivial incident. The term was widely used by James Joyce in his critical writings, and the stories in Joyce's Dubliners are commonly called "epiphanies."
Here is an example of an epiphany poem.
When Life Becomes a Peaceful Death
Watching you die
Sitting at your bedside
wiping your brow
whispering the words
God is with you now
I'll be ok, Momma
just go to sleep
I held tight to your hand
You said goodbye with your eyes
A calmness now over your body
passing over,
I watch you find eternal rest
I was now awakened, acquainted
for the first time in my life
with the meaning of life and
how peaceful was death
The above poem was about the passing of the poet’s mother. Notice how her eyes were opened at that last breath, when she realized death was not a frightening thing.
Limericks: are supposed to be funny, therefore you can be as silly as you like. Popular limericks go back to the 1800's with the Edward Lear nursery rhyme, "Hickory, Dickory, Dock," It is a form of light verse containing five lines, in which the lst , 2nd , and 5th lines rhyme and the 3rd and 4th lines rhyme.
Sample Limerick:
There once was a dumb blond named Meg
Whose brain was liked fried eggs
One day walking in spiked heels
She slipped on some banana peels
Now she has a broken leg
Letter Poems: were poems that were written in the form of letters. Emily Dickinson, a creative poet of the 19th century used this style of writing.
Perfumed Letter for My Love
Oh my dear sweet love, I received your letter today.
Oh how I miss thee.
The nights are cold and lonely without you.
I do await your arrival home soon.
The days of winter have been long and lonesome.
I look out my window, seeking a sign of spring.
I await the return of the sweet sound of the hummingbird.
When I think of her soft melody, I think of you.
You exist, my love, in my dreams at night.
I savor the taste of your last kiss.
You are so far away, my love, but not far from my heart.
I must go now, my love, as father is coming.
I will write you again soon.
Until we can again be together, tuck my letter under your pillow.
I have scented it with my favorite perfume.
Love, your precious Rose
Quatrain Poetry: a poem consisting of four lines of verse with a specific rhyming scheme.
Dreams of you take flight
In the early morning light
My heart whispers softly love
Sunrise holds secrets dreamed of
The first line rhymes with the second ( flight and light)
and the third line rhymes with the fourth line (Love and of )
In my next article we will look at more styles of poetry. In the mean time, try your hand at these and be sure to send me some of your results. I hope that you have enjoyed mine.
Poetry Literary Devices:
Alliteration - The repetition of initial consonant sounds.
Assonance - The repetition of vowel sounds.
Foot - A unit of rhythm or meter; the division in verse of a group of syllables, one of which is long or accented.
Haiku - A Japanese form of poetry consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. Traditionally, they contain either a direct or oblique reference to a season.
Iambs - A metrical foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable or short syllable followed by a long syllable.
Imagery - Words or phrases that appeal to any sense or any combination of senses.
Metaphor - A comparison between two objects with the intent of giving clearer meaning to one of them. Often forms of the "to be" verb are used, such as "is" or "was", to make the comparison.
Meter - A measure of rhythmic quantity in poetry, using the recurrence of a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. The organized succession of groups of syllables at basically regular intervals in a line of poetry, according to definite metrical patterns. The unit of meter is the foot.
Onomatopoeia - The use of words which imitate sound.
Personification - A figure of speech which endows animals, ideas, or inanimate objects with human traits or abilities.
Point-of-view - The author's point-of-view concentrates on the vantage point of the speaker, or "teller", of the story or poem.
* 1st person: the speaker is a character in the story or poem and tells it from his/her perspective (uses "I")
* 3rd person limited: the speaker is not part of the story, but tells about the other characters but limits information about what one character sees and feels.
* 3rd person omniscient: the speaker is not part of the story, but is able to "know" and describe what all characters are thinking.
Repetition - the repeating of words, phrases, lines, or stanzas.
Rhyme - The similarity of ending sounds existing between two words.
Rhyme scheme - The sequence in which the rhyme occurs. The first end sound is represented as the letter "a", the second is "b", etc.
Simile - A comparison between two objects using a specific word or comparison such as "like", "as", or "than".
Stanza - a grouping of two or more lines of a poem in terms of length, metrical form, or rhyme scheme.