History This is a fun poetic form and, precisely for that, it is in many cases how we are introduced to poetry in grade school. There is something in a child’s mind about secret messages… Acrostics have a long and distinguished history. You can find it back in the prophecies of the Erithraean Sibyl (that,...Read More

A note on this entry: This is one of those entries continually being worked on, as this is a bit obscure. If the information has made it this far, it has been vetted in various scholarly sources. However, we continue to find new information, the scholarship on this subject is continually under debate, and we...Read More

History: The Baccresiezé is a syllabic form attributed to E. Ernest Murell as, according to its history, an exercise in repetition. Not much else besides than has been found about it or Murell. If anyone has any more information, especially on the especially interesting name, let us know. Structure: Twelve lines total Quatrain stanzas (4...Read More

History: The Atrina is a stanzaic form contemporarily invented by Keith Metcalf Drew at AllPoetry. Structure: Consists of 4 stanzas The first three stanzas are 4 lines each (quatrains) Each line is 8 syllables (octosyllabic) The first line of a stanzas repeats in the last line of the same stanzas The third line of a...Read More

Goliardic Verse History:  Goliardic Verse originated in the Middle Ages, becoming very popular in the 12th century. Although there is a lot of uncertainty as to its origins, there are a few theories and posits. For one, it has been associated with the Ordo Vagorum, a religious “order” of students who shared both a love...Read More

History: The Dinggedicht, or Object Poem, was first introduced by Rilke in the Neue Gedichte written during his middle period between 1902-1908, mostly in Paris, inspired by impressionist paintings, and was closely tied to the imagist movement of the time. The term, while sounding imposing, simply means thing poem. Structure: The Dinggedicht does not have a set...Read More

All glossary entries are continually being updated. If you have a contribution, let us know.  History: The Ghazal, also spelled ghazel or gasal, Turkish gazel, and pronounced “guzzle” in some languages and “gu-ZAHL” in others, though in both with a guttural “g” almost like the “ch” in “Bach.”, is a genre of lyric poetry developed in Persia in the late...Read More

History: Lüshi, Wade-Giles romanization lü-shih, is a specific type of Chinese poetry verse form that reached its final codification in the Tang dynasty(618–907), and is considered one of the most important poetry forms in classic Chinese poetry. Lushi is fun, and thick, and has a lot going on in writing it. Structure: An important note:...Read More

In grammar, parallelism, also known as parallel structure or parallel construction, is a balance within one or more sentences of similar phrases or clauses that have the same grammatical structure. “In poetry, in a parallel couplet, (as opposed to a continuous couplet), words in the first line are complemented with corresponding second line words that...Read More

History: A Sevenling is a seven line form created by Roddy Lumsden as a teaching exercise, based on this poem written by Anna Akhmatova and translated by D M Thomas: He loved three things alone: White peacocks, evensong, Old maps of America. He hated children crying, And raspberry jam with his tea, And womanish hysteria. … And...Read More