DISCUSSION
Do you prefer to use traditional poetic forms or free verse? Why?
Certain poetic forms are associated with philosophical seriousness (e.g., the sonnet) or humorous lightheartedness (e.g., the limerick). Have you ever tried to use a poetic form but invert its traditional associations by writing something unexpected in that form?
What are your favorite forms of poetry?
POETRY LESSON #8: Poetic Forms
Consider “The ABC’s of Poetic Form”:
Day 8: A-F
Day 9: G-M
Day 10: N-Z
ACTIVITY
Day 8: Ballad of Lord Randall (versions and recording)
Day 9: ubi sunt and momento mori
Day 10: Quiz on terms describing poetic forms and genres.
CRAFT
TRADITION/PEER POETS
WRITE
Day 8: a poem in a form list in A-F
Day 9: a poem in a form listed in G-M
Day 10: a poem in a form listed in N-Z
HOMEWORK
TBA
The ABC’s of Poetic Form
A is for allegory
B is for ballad and blank verse
and C is for couplet (just two lines!)
D is for dialogue and dream vision
E is for ekphrasis and epithamalium and elegy
F is for fourteener and four levels of meaning
G is for the golden line and gnomic verse
H is for haiku
I is for imagery and irony and iambic pentameter
J is for jeremiad (and juxtaposition!)
K is for kenning and kesan renga
L is for limerick, lyric, and love poetry, of course!
M is for the Muse!
for the melodies in madrigals,
for maxims and macronic verses,
and the metaphors in metaphysical poetry
N is for narrative poem
O is for ode
P is for proverb and parable, parody and pun, the pastoral and the palinode
Q is for quatrain
R is for rhyme
S is for sonnet and soliloquy (which Shakespeare loved)
T is for trope and triolet (and thorn is for theme!)
U is for ubi sunt, understatement, and utopia
V as for verse, verisimilitude, and villanelle
W is for watermark, a good publisher’s paper sign, which all poets wish for
X is for what you don’t do;
Y is for what you do (that’s yes)
and Z is the English Omega, that leads back to the Alpha:
at the end, we begin with poetic forms again.
p.s Another useful resource: Shadow Poetry
THE POETRY PLACE 
Just discovered your blog and love it. To answer your question, I prefer free verse but like to turn to form now and again–sometimes the discipline provides a good jump-start. I especially like Haiku. The most difficult form for me (so far) was a villanelle. But what a great sense of accomplishment. Rhyming is a challenge for me. I try to make it perfect and it becomes a bit insipid. I look forward to browsing your posts. Victoria