Key to Poetic Forms
Introduction This page describes what various accentual-syllabic forms LOOK like. The descriptions below say almost nothing about the significance of each form, and yet poets often choose a form not because of how it looks but because of where it originated and how it has been traditionally used. As with genre, the choice of a particular form automatically puts a poem in dialogue with others that have been written in the same form. Once you've identified the form of a poem, the following resources will help you understand how it contributes to the signifiance of the poem: HOLLIS Catalog link
- Derek Attridge, Poetic Rhythm: An Introduction
- John Hollander, Rhyme's Reason (prosody by example: this book is full of poems that describe their own form)
- Paul Fussell, Poetic Meter & Poetic Form (an in-depth discussion and demonstration of the art of prosody)
- Helen Vendler, Poems, Poets, Poetry (includes a brief but helpful appendix on prosody)
- Representative Poetry Online (this site's glossary of poetic terms includes many poetic forms, with explanations and examples)
- The Poetry Foundation (this site's Poetry Tool lists poems by glossary term, making it easy to find several examples of a form at once)