Elements of Classical Poetry
Below is a list of elements of classical poetry by category. All of these elements, with the exception of a few which can alternate in appearance or appear together, are not required to make a poem "classical" or "modern classical" but do appear in every work of classical poetry. The main category which makes up classical poetry, however, is rhyme followed quickly by meter. These two elements will often appear together as key to the establishment of a poem as a classical poem yet there are cases in which one appears but not the other, as in Tennyson's Ulysses.
This list is meant to help you understand the poetry you read and to help you write the poetry you write. Once you are done, another resource we can provide you is a list of literary journals currently accepting classical style poetry. View that list by clicking on the Database tab above or by clicking Here.*
*Please Note: The Database is constantly being updated and added to and might not yet contain the information of all modern-classical poetry journals. If there is a journal you know of that is not there, send us a message through our website http://poeticavictorian.org and we will add it as soon as possible.
Types of Poetry
Lyric - derived from the word lyre, a small harp which was usually played while poets recited poetry of this form in ancient times, lyric poetry is short poetry of various forms including the Sonnet, Villanelle, etc...
- Sonnet - a poem written in fourteen lines, either in blank verse or in metrical verse
- Petrarchan (Italian) Sonnet - Fourteen line poem with a sestet (6 lines) following an initial octave (eight lines), in which the sestet usually contradicts or rejects the point of the octave. The rhyme-scheme for the octave is ABBA - ABBA whereas the rhyme-scheme of the sestet is ABC- ABC.
- Shakespearean (British) Sonnet - Fourteen line poem made up of three quatrains with rhyme scheme ABAB - CDCD - EFEF followed by a concluding couplet in GG rhyme-scheme.
- Villanelle - a complex form of poetry in which the first terset, with rhyme scheme ABA, contains lines which are repeated throughout the poem as the ending lines of each quatrain. The second and third lines of the stanza alternate as the fourth lines of each following stanza, to then be repeated together as the concluding line of the final five-line stanza.
- Sestina - a rare form of poetry composed of six-sestets or six, six line stanzas.
Epic -
Meter
Iambic meter - a metrical foot characterized by an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable,
i.e. denote.
Trochaic meter - a metrical foot characterized by a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable,
i.e. London.
Monometer - a line of poetry consisting of one metrical foot.
Dimeter - a line of poetry consisting of two metrical feet.
Trimeter - a line of poetry consisting of three metrical feet.
Tetrameter - a line of poetry consisting of four metrical feet.
Pentameter - most common form of line sequence in poetry consisting of five metrical feet per line.
Hexameter - a line of poetry consisting of six metrical feet.
Hectometer - a line of poetry consisting of seven metrical feet.
Octometer - a line of poetry consisting of eight metrical feet.
Rhyme
Blank Verse - metrical poetry without any rhyme scheme; as an example refer to Tennyson's Ulysses.
Free Verse- not a form of classical poetry but a form of poetry in which there is no discernible pattern of language (no meter or rhyme). As an example look at any poem by US Poet Laureate Billy Collins
Rhyme Scheme - Sets of rhyming lines in a specific order. There are many variations on this order, but here is a list of the main orders:
Rhyme Scheme - Sets of rhyming lines in a specific order. There are many variations on this order, but here is a list of the main orders:
- AABB - first two lines rhyme, second two lines rhyme
- ABA - in three line stanzas, first and third lines rhyme (as in Villanelles)
- ABAB - first and third lines rhyme, second and fourth lines rhyme
- AABA- first, second, and fourth lines rhyme, third line sets up rhyme for next stanza
Stanza Formation:
- Couplet - two rhyming or blank verse lines
- Tersets - three rhming or blank verse lines
- Quatrain - four rhyming of blank verse lines
- Sestet - six rhyming or blank verse lines
- Septet - seven rhyming or blank verse lines
- Octave - eight rhyming or blank verse lines
The Heroic Couplet
Heroic Couplets were perfected by Alexander Pope and are well exemplified by his iconic mock-epic "The Rape of the Lock." This form consists of couplets written in Iambic Pentameter with an AA rhyme scheme for the first couplet, BB for the second, and so on and so forth.
Heroic Couplets were perfected by Alexander Pope and are well exemplified by his iconic mock-epic "The Rape of the Lock." This form consists of couplets written in Iambic Pentameter with an AA rhyme scheme for the first couplet, BB for the second, and so on and so forth.
