Lesson One Pt. 2: Types of Poetry Limerick- an English verse form consisting of five anapestic lines rhyming aabba, the third and fourth lines having two stressed and the others three. The limerick is almost always a self‐contained, humorous poem, and usually plays on rhymes involving the names of people or places. First found in the 1820s, it was popularized by Lear, and soon became a favorite form for the witty obscenities of anonymous versifiers. The following is one of the less offensive examples of the coarse limerick tradition: There was a young fellow named Menzies Whose kissing sent girls into frenzies; But a virgin one night Crossed her legs in a fright And fractured his bi‐focal lenses. An ode is a poem that is written for an occasion or on a particular subject. They are usually dignified and more serious as a form than other forms of poetry. Unfortunatly, today's society has distinctly less respect for propriety, morality, and dignity. Modern odes include sarcastic poems about various subjects, including velcro and vegetables. There are several versions and differing opinions on what the rhyme form for an ode should be. An example of an ode would be: Ode to MyselfJust as Walt Whitman would say, if he were with me today.....There is a "Song of Myself",A song that sings of my internal wealth.A child of God, and alsoable to make a friend out of every foe.For I have true love insideAny egotisms have surely died.The beautiful song that strives to be heardthis song is clearer than any songbird.There is no reason to feel pity for my God and his love is always with me.And I will try to learn as much as I should,knowing that there are no problems, just oppurtunities to be good.(annonymous) A dramatic monologue is a combination of the words dramatic and monologue (obviously). The "dramatic" says that it could be acted out, and is a form of drama, while the "monologue" defines it as a speech that one person makes, either to themself or to another. A dramatic monologue is written to reveal both the situation at hand and the character herself. Why am I standing here, alone,When outside you are knocking, knocking?I cannot come to you-My feet are glued to the floor.Forgive me, but I feared you!Would that you could open the door,But I have locked it!Ah! What sorrow I have brought upon myself!How you shout, how you plead for entranceAnd how I want you to enter,But you have not the strenth to break the door.Well, come on then! Find another way in!(annonymous) A villanelle is composed of for stanzas, beginning with five three line stanzas, and ending with one four line stanza. There are only two rhymes in the usual villanelle, placed stratgetically in the poem. One of the most noted of these that is a splendid example is one by Dylan Thomas, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night." Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying of the light! Though wise men at their end know dark is right,Because their words had forked no lightning theyDo not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how brightTheir frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,Rage, rage against the dying of the light! Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sightBlind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light!And you, my father, there on the sad height,Curse me, bless me, now with your fierce tears, I pray.Do not go gentle into that good night.Rage, rage against the dying of the light! A sestina is a difficult form of poetry to master. It is made up of seven stanzas, the first six of which have six lines, the seventh having only three. There is a very exact and complicated pattern to the sestina's stanzas: The first stanza is the defining stanza, and the six words that are used to end each line are the defining words, as they will be repeated throughout the rest of the poem. The second stanza is made by taking the six words that were used to end the last six lines and using them in a certain order: the last word used will now end the first line of this stanza; the first word used will now end the second line of this stanza; the second to last, the third: the second, the fourth; the third to last, the fifth, the third, the sixth. For each new stanza of the first six, the same pattern is continued by using the previous stanza. For the last (seventh) stanza, there are only three lines, using the last three ending words, and then having the other three inside each line. Example: for this, each letter represents the ending word of a line: a b c d e f (first stanza) f a e b d c (second stanza) c f d a b e (third stanza) e c b f a d (fourth stanza) d e a c f b (fifth stanza) b d f e c a (sixth stanza) a d (1st line of the 7th stanza, "a" must be in the line, but the line must end with "d") b e (2nd line of the 7th stanza, "b" must be in the line, but the line must end with "e") c f (3rd line of the 7th stanza, "c" must be in the line, but the line must end with "f") The last stanza is under much dispute, and is often written differently, but the one shown is the most common. Also, a neat variation is to vary the words in the same way, only instead of it being the ending words, having it be the first words of each line!
