Poem
A poem is a piece of writing arranged in short lines. Poems try to express thoughts and feelings with the help of sound and rhythm. They can tell stories, records, and memories, express desire, and share information. The best poems are those that tap into the universality of human experience and appeal to a wide variety of readers. While today most poems are written without a set form, below, readers can explore a few formal possibilities.
Types of Poem
There are three main kinds of poems: narrative, dramatic, and lyrical. Narrative poetry tells a story. Dramatic poetry is used in plays with dramatic action. Lyric poetry expresses a person's state of mind or attitude. It is not always possible to make a distinction between them. For example, an epic poem can contain lyrical passages, or a lyrical poem can contain narrative parts.
What are the structures of poems?
Poems have many different structures. Traditional poems are often structured into groups of lines called stanzas. Quatrains, or 4-line stanzas, are common. Haiku are poems that are written as only 3 lines. Sonnets are written as poems of 14 lines divided into 3 - 4 lines stanzas followed by 2 lines called a couplet. Free verse does not have such a fixed structure.