Major Poetry Genres

Epic
A long narrative poem about he adventures of a hear of great historic or legendary importance.

Lyric Poem
A poem expressing the subjective feeling and personal emotions of the poet.

Ode
Name given to an extended lyric poem characterized by exalted emotion and dignified style.

Elegy
A lyric poem that laments the death of a person or the eventual death of all people.

Pastoral
A literary composition on a rural theme.

Sonnet
A 14 line poem, usually iambic pentameter; Italian, English, or Spenserian.

Concrete Poetry
Poetry in which visual elements play a large part in the poetic effect; punctuation marks, letters, or words are arranged on a large to form a visual design.

Blank Verse
Loosely, any unrhymed poetry; Generally, unrhymed iambic pentameter verse.

Free Verse
Poetry that lacks regular metrical and rhyme patterns but that tried to capture the cadences of everyday speech.