Types of Poetry Styles

I've always admired people who have the gift of painting beautiful pictures with nothing but simple words. Although this admiration sometimes, quickly though I might add, turns to small envy as I, on the other hand, cannot. Paul Valéry, famous poet and philosopher, once said, A poem is never finished, only abandoned. These words are nothing but inspiration to those who find the delight in weaving a world with different types of poetry styles. Every poem has the emotions of its author as it finds a way to express itself.

As time keeps moving forward, modern poets create many styles of poetry and make them famous. In this article, we are trying to bring you various kinds of poetry which is still being followed by many. So go through the article and learn about what various styles of poetry are being used in today's time.

Different Techniques Used in Poetry

Rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, simile, meter, metaphor, and symbolism are all different, yet basic elements of poetry. They tell us about what that particular poem means and what it is hinting towards. However, the boundaries of various styles and forms do not solely depend on them. Every poet has his/her own techniques to write different types of poems. And in this article, we too will look at the various kinds of poems.

Poetry Writing Styles	Description of Different Poetry Styles
Acrostic	In every line of the poem, the poet will use the first letter in each line and make a word. For example - BEAUTY: Bold Elegant Age Under Tree Years
Ballad	While writing poetry in a Ballad style, the poet uses words to narrate a story. Keeping 2-4 lines in each stanzas along with a chorus which repeats itself in the entire poem.
Blank Verse	This style of poetry was made famous by Shakespeare as he used to write many plays in blank verse. The verse lines have no rhymes which is not easily noticed. The rhymeless verse lines sound similar to normal speech.
Burlesque	Written in the style of a story, essay, and sometimes play, Burlesque poetry style usually conveys a serious message through trivial stories or frivolous drama.
Canzone	This style of poetry was made famous by Patriarch. It uses medieval Italian words in the poem that has 5-6 stanzas.
Carpe diem	Meaning 'seize the day'; Carpe diem basically are poems about life and how we should always live for today.
Cinquain	These are short, 5 line poems that don't rhyme.
Couplet	A poem which has 2 lines that rhyme. Each stanza has 2 rhyming lines. Shakespeare would end his sonnets with a couplet.
Diamante	This poem is made up of 7 lines which resemble the shape of a diamond. Example: Wind clear, rapid blowing, splashing, exhilarating cool, sweet, clear, warm swift, smooth, safe warm, gentle Sun
Elegy	These are poems about death; sad poems with thoughts about someone's death.
Epic	The poems are long with serious tones which tell us a magnificent tale of some heroic individual. A famous example of epic poems is Illiad and the Odyssey by Homer.
Epigram	In this style of writing, the poet uses satire and wit to give us a short couplet or quatrain. The literal meaning of the word is 'inscription'.
Epitaph	Poems, technically, phrases that are written on someone's tomb or mortuary monument. Epitaph style poems are in loving memory poems.
Epithalamium or Epithalamion	These are wedding poems that are specifically written for the bride and the groom.
Ghazal	A popular Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Bengali form of poetry which has either 5 or 15 couplets that have a chorus in the end.
Haiku	This is a Japanese poem which has 3 non-rhyming lines which has 5-7-5 syllables. Haiku poems always talk about nature.
Idyll or Idyl	Either written as a peaceful short poem or a long heroic poem that sheds light on an old tale.
Lay	A style of narrative poem which was written by troubadours known as trouvères.
Limerick	The limerick format in the poem is made up of 5 anapestic lines that convey humor through words. The 1st, 2nd, and 5th lines contain 7-10 syllables which rhyme together, whereas the 3rd and 4th lines contain 7 syllables which rhyme with one another.
Narrative	In narrative poems, Ballads, Epic poems, and Lays are very common examples.
Ode	This style was created by John Keats. The structure of the poem is set, it's long in length, and the mood is serious.
Pastoral	These are poems that portray a simple, peaceful like. Ideally, they hint over the life in a countryside.
Quatrain	In this style, the poem is made up of a stanza of 4 lines. The 1st and 3rd lines don't rhyme, however the 2nd and 4th lines do. Plus, the lines that are rhyming need to have the same number of syllables.
Romanticism	As the name suggests, Romanticism are poems about love. The poet's personal experiences with nature and love are highlighted in the poems; they are often nature poems as well.
Senryu	Similar to Haiku, Senryu is also a Japanese poem. However, this style portrays a picture about human beings in a satirical or comical manner.
Tanku	This form of poetry is from Japan where the poet uses 5 lines in a particular poem. The 1st and 3rd lines are made up of 5 syllables and the remaining lines are made up of 7 syllables.
Terza rima	This poem is written in 10-11 syllable lines which are organized in 3 lines of tercet. Dante had invented this style of poetry and has been incorporated by poets such as Milton, Shelley, and Chaucer.
Sonnet	Shakespearean sonnets use 14 long lines in a poem that are divided into 3 organized quatrains and 1 closing couplet. Whereas in Italian sonnets, there are 2 organized quatrains and 6 lines of sestet.
Verse	This is one of the simple styles that uses a single metric line.

The various styles of poems are an inspiration for many who wish to imprint their name through their work. As the article gives the basic forms of poems, making a separate list of different types of poetry styles for kids and beginners may seem fruitless. I hope that after learning about all the types of poetry styles, you too may inspired to write some lines in unique manners.