On poetry

Poetry is one of the most expressive forms of writing; it’s mostly non-literal, and because of that, it’s vivid in the reader’s mind. Some embrace patterns, and others are completely free-form.

A haiku, for example, follows a simple but precise structure of 5-7-5 across three lines:

On the lily Pad

The neon green frog hops tall

and off with a splash

A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem; usually old school in most people’s minds,, but a more recent poet, John Donne writes literal and non-literal style sonnets about love and sometimes misinterpreted irony.

A limerick is a humorous few lines in an AABA pattern.

A ballad tells a story, such as an adventure with an ode to an important subject.

Free Verse is for the creative mind in that it doesn’t follow rules.

Figures of Speech are used in poetry. They are words and phrases that go beyond literal meaning for deeper interpretation:

A simile compares two things using “like” or “as”, I like to think of the structure, this is to this as this is to this.

A metaphor makes a direct comparison.

A metonymy replaces a word with something closely related, much like a metaphor.

Others included are antithesis, puns, and circumlocutions.