The following catalog can guide you in analyzing poetry or in writing your own.

Free Verse

• Is not measured by metrical feet or syllables, but by other patterns such as line patterns, stanza patterns, or patterns of images.
• Is broad in scope and offers much freedom to the poet
• Is popular among contemporary poets

Haiku

• Consists of three lines and seventeen syllables. The first line has five syllables, the second line has seven, and the third line has five syllables.
• Is traditionally about nature, and often a specific season
• Is a short snapshot of a specific moral or lesson
• Often uses imagery to convey emotion
• Sometimes deviates from the traditional 5-7-5 form. It is best to either stick with the traditional form or to be very deliberate in your deviation.

Traditional Forms

• Blank verse: unrhymed words directly related to the natural patterns of English speech. Sometimes this is organized into verse paragraphs to give it some pattern
• Sestina: a French form that does not rhyme, but uses repeating end words in the lines according to a strict pattern. It consists of six, six-line stanzas and a three-line stanza at the end. The style is somewhat artificial and not very popular.
• Villanelle: a French form that is connected by rhyme and is intended to be light in nature. It uses line repetition rather than word repetition and has a specific rhyme structure. It is made up of five tercets and a quatrain and has the following rhyme scheme: aba/aba/aba/aba/aba/abaa. Also, line 1 is repeated in lines 6, 12, and 18; line 3 is repeated in lines 9, 15, and 19. These repeated lines carry weight and meaning.
• Sonnet: The most well known and challenging of all poetic forms. It consists of 14 lines of words directly related to the natural patterns of English speech. There are two main types:
  • Italian Sonnet: consists of two stanzas: an octave which introduces a problem or situation, and a sestet which completes the thought or answers the problem. The rhyme scheme is:
    • Octave: abbaabba
    • Sestet: cdecde OR cdccdc OR cdedce
  • Shakespearian Sonnet: consists of three quatrains and a concluding couplet which provides surprise or irony. It deals with many images but only one complete thought. The rhyme scheme is:
    • Quatrain one: abab
    • Quatrain two: cdcd
    • Quatrain three: efef
    • Couplet: gg

From: Candace Schaefer and Rick Diamond. The Creative Writing Guide. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, 1998.

For more information about rhyme schemes and poetic forms, this is a good source to consult.