Poetry

Click on a topic to learn about that type of poem and to see a sample poem.

Couplet

Quatrain

Haiku

Limerick

Cinquain

Couplet

A Couplet is a pair of lines that rhyme.

The artist stirred some blue and green

To paint an underwater scene.

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Quatrain

The quatrain is a four-line poem. Its rhyme scheme man be aabb,abab,abcb, abcb

There is nothing quite so peaceful, (a)

As the sound of gentle rain, (b)

Pitter-pitter-patting (c)

Afainst my window pane.(b)

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Haiku

The Haiku comes from Japan. It is an unrhymed poem made up of three lines and 17 syllables. The first and the third lines have five syllables each, and the second line has seven. Traditional Japanese haiky describes something in nature, with reference to one of the seasons. Although the poems are short, they convey much feeling.

At the end of fall, (5)

Graceful swams sail with arched wings, (7)

Toward warmer skies. (5)

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Limerick

A limerick is a funny, five-line poem with a strong beat. It has a rhyme scheme of aabba. Lines 1,2,and 5 each have three beats. Lines 3 and 4 each have two beats.

There was a yound girl from Yahoo, (a)

Who had trouble tying her shoe.

He said to her ox, (b)

"I'll just walk in my socks." (b)

Now all of her friends do that, too! (a)

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Cinquain

A cinquain is an unrhymed poem made up of five lines. Each line of the poem has specific rules.

Line 1 - one word that names a subect
Line 2 - two words that describe the subject

Line 3 - three verbs that describe actions related to the subject

Line 4 - four words that express a feeling about the subject

Line 5 - one word that refers to or is a synonym for the subject

Butterfles

Gentle creatures

Fluttering, searching, landing

Lovely flashes of light

Insects

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