Traditional Poetry Forms

Traditional poetry forms are the old poetry forms that have been around since poetry was new. Some of the 'old' traditional forms are listed below:

The Shakespearean Sonnet: has a rhyme scheme of: a, b, a, b, - c, d, c, d - e, f, e, f, - g, g. They are always made up of 14 lines. It is also written in strict iambic pentameter.

The first stanza is rhymed a, b, a, b, - the second stanza is rhymed c, d, c, d - the third stanza is rhymed e, f, e, f - and the ending couplet is rhymed g, g.

A Shakespearean Sonnet of mine that was published in the Christian Communicator, November/December 2000, is copied below as an example.

Sheer Poetry

Dream metaphors seem illusive at dawn,
slipped quickly away with my waking.
An artistic troupe, can they be reborn,
now hidden, teasing, talent forsaking?

Dream curtain time nigh, will they reappear,
flaunting their wares in joyous reflection?
From nocturnal realm, undaunted, austere,
performing script with total perfection.

Poetic master dictate those paces,
should a few extras audition for roles -
mold and modify, fill in void spaces,
offer a part, let them realize goals.

Now stars, bit players, receive grand reviews.
Then off to dreamland in search of our muse. .

Another Sonnet is the Petrarchan, or Italian Sonnet. The Octave, or first stanza of eight lines is written: a, b, b, a, a, b, b, a. The second stanza is a sestet (concluding six lines) and is rhymed c, d, e, c, d, e. The six lines are often broken into two three-line stanzas. This sonnet is also written in iambic pentameter.

There are several more sonnets that have made it through the years; the Beymorlin and the Visser Sonnets are much like the Shakespearean and Petrarchan, in that they are both written in iambic pentameter and both have 14 lines.

There are many more sonnets, and almost all of them have 14 lines, with the exception of a few newer ones.

Getting away from the sonnet, we will look at the Ballade, called a 'fixed form,' became known in the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries. There are three stanzas of eight lines each that are all rhymed: a, b, a, b, b, c, b, c and a four-line envoy of four lines rhymed b, c, b, c Refrain. The ending line is the same for each stanza's end line, and it is called a refrain (repeated line). There are only three different rhyme sounds throughout the poem.

Another traditional form is the Villanelle, a nineteen-line poem, made up of five tercets (three-line stanzas) and a quatrain (four lines). Perhaps you will recall the Villanelle by Dylan Thomas (1914-1953), titled "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.' Although the form actually became a fixed form after the seventeenth century, when Jean Passerat's Villanelle was written, it became quite popular during the twentieth century. There are only two rhyme sounds throughout this form. Some poets have changed certain aspects of the Villanelle during the twentieth century, but I am addressing the traditional form here.

Below is a Villanelle of mine, published in a collection of my poems in 1996, titled "God, Gardens and Other Wonders." (I have written the rhyme scheme at ends of lines.

He Sends the Rain

The mountains loom above the barren plain, a
the highest peaks near touching Heaven's door, b
and misty clouds there gather, promise rain. a

Lithe angels sing a solemn, sweet refrain a
that softly echoes o'er the desert floor, b
and mountains loom above the barren plain. a

Does God there in His Heaven still remain a
above the greatest spires where eagles soar, b
and misty clouds there gather, promise rain? a

We know the Shepherd's love shall never wane, a
though He became a lamb, our sins He bore, b
while mountains loomed above the barren plain. a

He paints the fields of flowers, golden grain, a
there by the sea, bright moonlight on the shore, b
and misty clouds there gather, promise rain. a

With grace and mercy, He will ever reign, a
His majesty and splendor we adore, b
as mountains loom above the barren plain, a
there from the misty clouds, He sends the rain.. a

(C 2009)

Sources:

The Poetry Dictionary, by John Drury, 1995, Story Press, Cincinnati, Ohio,
Personal knowledge