Types of poems

Haiku

• Japanese style poetry about nature

• No rhyme

• First line has 5 syllables

• Second line has 7 syllables

• Last line has 5 syllables

Examples

Drooping green branches

Weighted down with heavy snow

Waiting for the spring.

The hand of a leaf

Waves to each passerby

With carefree abandon.

More examples

Wise king of the night

From his perch in the treetops

Quietly watches.

The wintry wind blows

The blueness of its sharp breath

Chilling the earth’s bones.

Cinquain

• A 5 line poem• First line is a noun or a subject of the

poem• The second line consists of 2 words that

describe the first line• The third line is 2 action words• Line four is 4 words that give a feeling• Line five is 1 word that refers back to the

subject

Pattern 1

• Line 1: 2 syllables

• Line 2: 4 syllables

• Line 3: 6 syllables

• Line 4: 8 syllables

• Line 5: 2 syllables

Example

Listen…

With faint dry sound

Like steps of passing ghosts,

The leaves, frost-crisp’d, break from the trees

And fall.

Pattern 2

• Line 1: one word

• Line 2: two words

• Line 3: three words

• Line 4: four words

• Line 5: one word

Example

Mules

Stubborn, unmoving

Braying, kicking, resisting

Not wanting to listen

People

Pattern 3

• Noun

• Two adjectives (describing words)

• Three words ending in –ing

• A phrase

• Another word for the noun

Example

Clouds

Fluffy cotton

Billowing, gliding, creeping

Soft pillows of rain

Thunderheads

Acrostics

Starting in September

Children gather to learn

Hours of play and learning

Open books and desks

Outside fun for all

Lasting knowledge.

Samples

Cunning Digs under the fence And Often licks my face Tricky Gets mud on my clothes

T errificO rneryN eatY oung A rtistic

Butterfly

Balancing on the wind Utterly graceful and free Totally aware of the currents Tightrope walking a delicate stem Every flower a beacon Reaching deep to the sweetness Flying on to the next one Leaving no sign of its visit Yellow pollen now carried along

Your next task is to make an acrostic with the name of a character in a book.

GreedyOpens doors without knockingLooks in every roomDines on porridgeIdentifies objects as too hard, too soft, or just rightLies down for a napOpens her eyesCries out in frightKicks off the coversSlips out the window

Diamante

• 7 lines

• Written about 2 contrasting subjects and makes a comparison between them

• Moves from one subject to the other

Structure

• Line 1:one noun that names subject 1• Line 2:two adjectives describing it• Line 3:three -ing words about subject 1• Line 4:four nouns, the first two about subject 1

and the second two about subject two• Line 5:three –ing words about subject 2• Line 6:two adjectives that describe subject 2• Line 7:one noun that names the second subject

Example

Egg

Tiny, blue

Rocking, cracking, exploding

Nest, shell, beak, foot

Squawking, gazing, shivering

Wide-eyed, feathery

Bird

Limerick

• A 5 line poem

• Lines 1, 2, and 5 have 8-10 syllables

• Lines 3 and 4 have 5 syllables

• Rhyme scheme = a, a, b, b, a

• Often names a place at the end of line 1

Example 1

There once was lady in Spain. a

Who said she had nothing to gain. a

She gave it a try, b

And said she could fly, b

But crashed when she flew in the rain. a

Example 2

There was an Old Man with a beard a

Who said, “It is just as I feared! a

Two Owls and a Hen b

Four Larks and a Wren, b

Have all built their nests in my beard!” a