Post by Pez on May 5, 2009 15:25:09 GMT -6
Stanzas
General kinds of stanzas:
Couplet: Two lined stanza
Tercet: Three-lined stanza
Quatrain: Four-lined stanza
Quintain: Five-lined stanza
*Sextain : Six-lined stanza
Septet: Seven-lined stanza
*Octet: Eight-lines stanza
*Named differently in accordance to being used in a sonnet
Common kinds of meter
Iambic Pentameter: The most common, consisting of five "feet" complimented by five unstressed syllables. ( ' / ' / ' / ' / ' / )
Tetrameter: Like Pentameter, but with only four feet. ( ' / ' / ' / ' / )
Trimeter: Like Pentameter, but with only three feet. ( ' / ' / ' / )
Inversions on these common meters
Trochee is inverted Iambic Pentameter ( / ' / ' / ' / ' / ' )
Catalectics: Dropping the foot or head of a line. Example in iambic pentameter:
Other variations
Elison: The natural "cutting out" of a letter/syllable from a word. Often done in spoken-word.
Epenthesis: The opposite of elision; an unnecessary inclusion of a letter/syllable into a word.
Ellipsis: The cutting of a word from a full phrase.
Common formats for poetry:
Ballad: Quatrains using Iambic Pentameter in alternating Tetrameter and Trimeter
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' /
(Note from Pez: I almost always write ballads in Trochee. In fact, I always thought that the Trochee form I used was iambic pentameter. Go figure!)
English Sonnet: A Quatrain with an added Couplet at the end.
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
Sonnet: Uses Octet (Here called an Octave) followed by a Sextain (Here called a Sestet)
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
(Note from Pez: The Sestet of a sonnet almost always contrasts from the Octave, often in meter as well as tone. The Octave uses mainly figurative language with objective thoughts, while the Sestet uses more realistic language with mainly subjective thoughts. When a sestet and octave directly oppose each other in idea, the sestet (or octave, depending on the meter used!) will use trochee instead of normal iambic meter.)
A Handful of Rhyme Schemes
Ballads often follow a basic ABAB rhyme scheme for its stanzas, although the mood can be changed by throwing in a third rhyme (ABCB, ABAC).
(Note from Pez: If were to differentiate entirely and create an ABCD rhyme scheme, its called Blank Verse. Blank Verse was the backbone for Shakespearean plays, although it was not necessarily contained in quatrains.)
English Sonnets stuck to a varied ABBA AB, spit between the quatrain and couplet respectively.
Italian Sonnets stuck to ABBAABBA ABABAB form, although it varied depending on the contrast between the octave and sestet.
Ottava Rima, as its called, utilized a Sicilian Octave with alternating rhymes and a final double rhyme, making it ABABABCC ABABCC. Again, the sestet varies depending on the level of contrast.
That's all I've got for now, I'll add more as I do more research. This is just a good way to compile all my poetry/songwriting ideas into one thread, though
(PS: EmberRoze should really give me my own poetry board, so that I don't bog down the General with more of just "PescadoNino".)
General kinds of stanzas:
Couplet: Two lined stanza
Tercet: Three-lined stanza
Quatrain: Four-lined stanza
Quintain: Five-lined stanza
*Sextain : Six-lined stanza
Septet: Seven-lined stanza
*Octet: Eight-lines stanza
*Named differently in accordance to being used in a sonnet
Common kinds of meter
Iambic Pentameter: The most common, consisting of five "feet" complimented by five unstressed syllables. ( ' / ' / ' / ' / ' / )
Tetrameter: Like Pentameter, but with only four feet. ( ' / ' / ' / ' / )
Trimeter: Like Pentameter, but with only three feet. ( ' / ' / ' / )
Inversions on these common meters
Trochee is inverted Iambic Pentameter ( / ' / ' / ' / ' / ' )
Catalectics: Dropping the foot or head of a line. Example in iambic pentameter:
Missing head: ( / ' / ' / ' / ' / )
Missing foot: ( ' / ' / ' / ' / ' )
Other variations
Elison: The natural "cutting out" of a letter/syllable from a word. Often done in spoken-word.
Examples:
Comfortable = comfturble
Fifth = Fith
Laboratory = Labratory
Temperature = Temprature
Vegetable = Vejtable
(There are many, many others. These are just a few common examples. Along with these words, all contractions fall under the "Elision" category.)
Epenthesis: The opposite of elision; an unnecessary inclusion of a letter/syllable into a word.
Ellipsis: The cutting of a word from a full phrase.
Common formats for poetry:
Ballad: Quatrains using Iambic Pentameter in alternating Tetrameter and Trimeter
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' /
(Note from Pez: I almost always write ballads in Trochee. In fact, I always thought that the Trochee form I used was iambic pentameter. Go figure!)
English Sonnet: A Quatrain with an added Couplet at the end.
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
Sonnet: Uses Octet (Here called an Octave) followed by a Sextain (Here called a Sestet)
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
' / ' / ' / ' /
(Note from Pez: The Sestet of a sonnet almost always contrasts from the Octave, often in meter as well as tone. The Octave uses mainly figurative language with objective thoughts, while the Sestet uses more realistic language with mainly subjective thoughts. When a sestet and octave directly oppose each other in idea, the sestet (or octave, depending on the meter used!) will use trochee instead of normal iambic meter.)
A Handful of Rhyme Schemes
Ballads often follow a basic ABAB rhyme scheme for its stanzas, although the mood can be changed by throwing in a third rhyme (ABCB, ABAC).
(Note from Pez: If were to differentiate entirely and create an ABCD rhyme scheme, its called Blank Verse. Blank Verse was the backbone for Shakespearean plays, although it was not necessarily contained in quatrains.)
English Sonnets stuck to a varied ABBA AB, spit between the quatrain and couplet respectively.
Italian Sonnets stuck to ABBAABBA ABABAB form, although it varied depending on the contrast between the octave and sestet.
Ottava Rima, as its called, utilized a Sicilian Octave with alternating rhymes and a final double rhyme, making it ABABABCC ABABCC. Again, the sestet varies depending on the level of contrast.
That's all I've got for now, I'll add more as I do more research. This is just a good way to compile all my poetry/songwriting ideas into one thread, though
(PS: EmberRoze should really give me my own poetry board, so that I don't bog down the General with more of just "PescadoNino".)