- One of the most well-known forms of Classical English poetry is the sonnet. The term sonnet is derived from the Italian word sonnetto, which means ‘small sound or song.’ It is written in iambic pentameter and has 14 lines. Italian (also known as Petrarchan) and English sonnets are the two varieties (or Shakespearean). The rhyme pattern of a sonnet establishes its genre.
2. Haiku poems first appeared in Japanese literature in the 17th century. It is an important part of English poetry, particularly for its influence on the early twentieth-century Imagist movement. The term haiku comes from the first element of the word ‘haikai’ and the second element of the word ‘hokku’. A haiku in the English language is often written in three short lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables.
3. An elegy is a type of poetry that expresses the sorrow or grief brought on by a tragic occurrence. Any poetry written in the elegiac meter was referred to as a “elegy” during the Roman and Greek eras. Hexameter and pentameter lines alternate in elegiac meter.
4. An ode is a type of lyric poetry used to show admiration for someone, something, or anything. A single speaker speaking in the first person uses lyric poetry to express a state of mind, emotion, thought, or idea. The writing style of odes is more formal, and while there isn’t a set rhyme pattern, there is rhyming nonetheless. The strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode are the three main components of the elaborately structured stanzas.