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| NAME | Length: Lines | Length: Stanza Specifications | Line Metrics | Rhyme Restrictions | For Example: | ETC... |
| Terza Rima | Unlimited | Three-Line Stanzas | Not Specified | ABA, BCB, CDC, DED, etc... | ||
| Villanelle | 19 | Six Stanzas: five tercets and one quatrain | Five Feet |
Tercet: ABA
Quatrain: ABAA |
Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"
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There are specially places refrains. Form should look like: 1-X-3, X-X-1, X-X-3, X-X-1, X-X-3, X-X-1-3 |
| Spenserian | 9 | One Stanza | First eight lines have five feet; lase has six feet |
Traditionally ABABBCBCC |
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| Triolet | 8 | One Stanza | Not Specified | ABAAABAB or looser |
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The placement of the refrains is beautifully complicated. Form should look like: 1-2-3-1-X-X-1-2 |
| Rime Royal | 7 | One Stanza | Five Feet | ABABBCC or looser | ||
| Sestina | 38 | Seven Stanzas: six sestets and one triplet | Not Specified | None | Tina Spencer's "Well-Adjusted" |
A sestina must have the same six end-words conclude each line.
These words must end the lines with a specific format. The triplet must contain all six words, and the end words must be one of the six. See example for details. |
| Rondeau | 15 or 12 |
4 + 5+ 6 lines or two sestets unlimited number of stanzas |
Not Specified | loose. try AABBCC , DDEECC for starters |
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The first word of the poem are repeated at the end of each stanza. |
| Ballade | 28 | Four Stanzas: three octaves and one quatrain | Four or Five Feet |
Octave: ABABBCBC
Quatrain: BCBC |
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| Limerick | Multiples of Five | Unlimited | 3, then 3, then 2, then 2, then 3 Feet | AABBA |
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| Sonnet: Italian or Petrarchan | 14 | Two Stanzas: One octave (main statement) and one sestet (the resolution) | Five Feet (Blank Verse) |
Octave: ABBAABBA
Quatrain: CDECDE or CDCDCD |
Tina's Sonnets, Hopkins's "God's Grandeur"
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Pensive |
| Sonnet: English or Shakespearean | 14 | Four Stanzas: three quatrains (develop the situation) and one couplet (resolves) | Five Feet (Blank Verse) |
Quatrain: ABAB, CDCD, EFEF
Couplet: GG |
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Lighter |
| Sonnet: Spenserian | 14 | Four Stanzas: three quatrains and one couplet | Five Feet (Blank Verse) |
Quatrain: ABAB, BCBC, CDCD
Couplet: EE |
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An attempt to mesh the Shakepearean and Petrarchan forms |
