Traditional Types of Poetry
The shortest poem on record is "The Antiquity of Microbes" by Strickland Gillilan, which only contains the words "Adam had'em." The longest is "The Blah Story" by Nigel Tomm at 98,728 words. Traditional poetry comes in all shapes, styles and lengths and can be extremely rigid or experimental and free flowing.
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Sonnet
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A sonnet is a rigidly structured poem that came to prominence in the 14th century. The two most common kinds of sonnets are Shakespearian, written by William Shakespeare, and Petrarchan, written by Francesco Petrarca. Both types are always 14 lines, but there are some differences. A Shakespearian sonnet has 12 lines of alternate rhyming, in which every other line rhymes, followed by two rhyming couplets at the end. The Petrarchan sonnet is more flexible but is always divided into an eight-line octave and a six-line sestet.
Epic Poems
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An epic is a long form of poetry that originated in ancient Greece. An epic normally tells the story of a heroic and significant event. Epic poems are renowned for their complex usage of the English language and contain a wide range of literary devices. Nowadays, epics are printed to be read, but the first epics, such as "Odyssey" and "Iliad," were written to be performed orally.
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Romantic Poetry
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Romantic poetry was one element of the wider romanticism movement. It came to prominence in 18th-century England. The most famous romantics include William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, John Keats and William Blake. Contrary to the name, romantic poetry was not necessarily associated with love. It focused on the importance of individualism and commonly was themed around nature, imagination, symbolism and myth.
Blank Verse
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Blank verse is any poetry that does not necessarily rhyme but is written to a specific rhythmical structure. The form was created in Italy and became common in the Renaissance era. The most popular type of blank verse is iambic pentameter, used by the likes of William Shakespeare, John Milton and Christopher Marlowe. This type of verse contains five "metrical feet" per line. Each foot is two syllables, and when read aloud the emphasis is placed on the second syllable, akin to the sound of a beating heart.
Free Verse
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Free verse, as the name suggests, is poetry with no rhythmical and structural constraints. It often contains lines and stanzas of varying length and a sporadic or nonexistent rhyming scheme. The form became common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a way of breaking free from traditional, structured poetry. One of the most well-renowned free verse poets is Walt Whitman, with his seminal "Leaves of Grass" collection.
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