Poetic Forms
Poem: (noun) a composition in verse with language selected for its beauty and sound.
An acrostic poem uses the first letters in a topic word to begin each line of the poem. The topic word’s letters should be written vertically. All lines in the poems should be related to or describe the topic word. It does not need to rhyme.
Sample:
Give
By Carrie A. Thomas
Gracious
Inspiring
Voluntary
Energetic
A haiku poem is a “picture poem” that doesn’t rhyme, and it has three lines with 17 beats:
Line 1 has 5 beats
Line 2 has 7 beats
Line 3 has 5 beats
Sample:
Lake Michigan Dunes
By Kathy Veenstra
Huge, rolling sand dunes
Formed by glaciers on the move
Held in place by grass.
A cinquain is a five-line poem that does not rhyme and is set up like this:
Line 1 is a single word (usually a noun)
Line 2 has two words (usually 2 adjectives)
Line 3 has three words (usually verbs ending in –ing)
Line 4 has a descriptive 4-word phrase
Line 5 is a single word (usually a synonym for the first word or repeats it)
Sample:
A Type of Grass
By Alex
Grass
Green, brown
Swaying, growing, poking
Helps keep dune sand
Dune Grass
Up and Down the Dunes
By Ryan
Dunes
Sandy, warm
Sitting, growing, collapsing
Made by different rocks
Sandy hills