“The sun may be covered for a while
And darkness may mask your smile!
But if you are bright do not fret’ ’cause you will shine!
Some things take work while others take time!…”
Thanks to everyone for bearing my blog and more recently, my short poems! Do you know the longest poem?
And did you know that the above poem which is one of the most common form of poetry is called a Quatrain!
Come to think of it, if you are an avid reader of poetry then you will realize that there are so many different types of poems according to the publishers at the Penguin Book House!
One of the smallest poems is called the Haiku which is an ancient form of Japanese poetry that has become very popular all over the world. Renowned for its small size, haikus consist of just three lines (tercet); the first and third lines have five syllables, whereas the second has seven. Haikus don’t have to rhyme and are usually written to evoke a particular mood or instance! So no need to rhyme! Just pass your time!
Free verse is a more popular style of modern poetry, and as its name suggests there is a fair amount of freedom when it comes to writing a poem like this. Free verse can rhyme or not, it can have as many lines or stanzas as the poet wants, and it can be about anything you like! So, while free verse may sound simple enough, the lack of rules makes this form of poetry tricky to master! When there is no rule then you have a big chanced to get over ruled!
The types of Poems I usually do not understand are the old Sonnets! This very old form of poetry was made famous by none other than William Shakespeare, but the sonnet actually originated in 13th century Italy where it was perfected by the poet Petrarch. The word ‘sonnet’ is derived from the Italian word ‘sonnetto’ which means ‘little song’. Traditionally, sonnets are made up of 14 lines and usually deal with love. As a rule, Petrarchan (Italian) sonnets follow an ABBA ABBA CDE CDE rhyme scheme, whereas Shakespearean (English) sonnets are typically ABAB CDCD EFEF GG! Who would have thought that even poems are actually bounded by rules!
Acrostic is a type of poetry that spells out a name, word, phrase or message with the first letter of each line of the poem. It can rhyme or not, and typically the word spelt out, lays down the theme of the poem.
Another older form of poetry is the villanelle that came from France and has lots of rules! It is made up of 19 lines; five stanzas of three lines (tercet) each and a final stanza of four lines (quatrain). There is a lot of repetition throughout the villanelle and the real challenge is to make meaning out of those repeated lines!
Limerick is also actually a type of poem! They are funny (and sometimes rude!) poems which were made popular by Edward Lear in the 19th century! The last line is often the best and the punchline!
Now if you want to praise someone or if you have forgotten your wife’s birthday then you can try the Ode which is one of the oldest forms of poetry and believed to have come from ancient Greece. The word ‘ode’ is derived from the Greek word ‘aeidein’ which means ‘to sing or chant’, and these poems were originally performed with a musical instrument.
Then you have the dark and depressing Poetry called the Elegy which
doesn’t have rules like some of the other forms of poetry but has a fixed subject; death! They are usually written about a loved one who has passed away, but can also be written about a group of people, too. Of course it is up to you to make this one dark or hopeful!
Finally you have the old and traditional poetry called the Ballad that typically tells a dramatic or emotional story. Most modern pop songs you hear nowadays can be referred to as ballads! In fact most song lists in your favorite music app is called the pop or rock Ballads!
Now where is Quatrain you may ask!? Well it follows a set of definitions like Stanza is a set amount of lines in poetry grouped together by their length, meter or rhyme scheme. Then you have the Couplet which is a two-line stanza, a Tercet which a three-line stanza and our favorite Quatrain!
It is understood that Cinquain would then be a five-line stanza and Sestet is a six-line stanza!
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the world’s shortest poem is a one-letter poem by Aram Saroyan comprising a four-legged version of the letter “m”!
So which is the longest poem? Well it is closer home! With more than 220,000 (100,000 shloka or couplets) verses and about 1.8 million words in total, the Mahābhārata is one of the longest epic poems in the world! And here you were scratching your head to write a four line poem! Thinking about head (more accurately hair!) reminds me of Birthday Celebrity Akshaye Khanna!
Now say the shortest poem and sleep!
Shubh ratri!
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