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Poetic forms: sonnets, ballads and free verse
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Poets choose a form for a reason. A form is the shape and set of rules a poem follows. Knowing the main forms helps you explain why a poem is built the way it is.
Key forms
Iambic pentameter
An iamb is one unstressed then one stressed syllable: da-DUM.
Pentameter means five of them in a line: ten syllables.
'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?'
It sounds a bit like a heartbeat, close to natural speech.
Pentameter means five of them in a line: ten syllables.
'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?'
It sounds a bit like a heartbeat, close to natural speech.
The Shakespearean sonnet
Three quatrains (four-line groups) then a final rhyming couplet.
Rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
The volta is a turn in the argument or mood. In a Shakespearean sonnet it often comes at the couplet.
Rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
The volta is a turn in the argument or mood. In a Shakespearean sonnet it often comes at the couplet.
Count the syllables in 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?'
- Shall (1) I (2) com (3) pare (4) thee (5)
- to (6) a (7) sum (8) mer's (9) day (10)
- Ten syllables in five da-DUM pairs.
Answer: 10 syllables: iambic pentameter.
A sonnet has 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter. Ballads tell stories in short stanzas. Free verse has no regular rhyme or rhythm. Ask why the poet chose that form.
The interactive lesson includes the diagrams for this topic.
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