Friday, February 20, 2009

Fixed Form Poems

The most common fixed poetry forms are the epic, the ode, the ballad, the sonnet, villanelle, and haiku. Definitions and examples of these forms can be found here.

Billy Collins wrote a hilarious poem in "paradelle" form (a form he made up to make fun of other fixed forms). The poem, "Paradelle for Susan" and its explanation and impact are a fun introduction to the more complicated forms and the idea of a fixed form in general.

Fixed form poems can give younger students or students just getting started with poetry the guidelines they need to start writing, and the more challenging forms can help even the most experienced poets experiment with the rules and constraints that fixed poems provide.

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