Definition of Ballad Poems Ballad Poems are poems that tells a story ...

Definition of Ballad Poems
Ballad Poems are poems that tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend and often has a
repeated refrain. A ballad is often about love and often sung. A ballad is a story in poetic form.
A collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, were
collected by Francis James Child in the late 19th century - an example is shown below.
Example of Ballad Poems - Excerpt
The Mermaid
by
Unknown author
Oh the ocean waves may roll,
And the stormy winds may blow,
While we poor sailors go skipping aloft
And the land lubbers lay down below, below, below
And the land lubbers lay down below.
Definition of Lyric Poetry
Lyric Poetry consists of a poem, such as a sonnet or an ode, that expresses the thoughts and
feelings of the poet. The term lyric is now commonly referred to as the words to a song. Lyric
poetry does not tell a story which portrays characters and actions. The lyric poet addresses the
reader directly, portraying his or her own feeling, state of mind, and perceptions.
Example of Lyric Poetry
Dying
(aka I heard a fly buzz when I died )
by
Emily Dickinson
I heard a fly buzz when I died;
The stillness round my form
Was like the stillness in the air
Between the heaves of storm.
Definition of Odes

Odes are long poems which are serious in nature and written to a set structure. John Keats's
"Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "Ode To A Nightingale" are probably the most famous examples of
this type of poem.
Ode To A Nightingale
by
John Keats
My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:
Definition of Narrative Poetry
Narrative Poetry is found in different types of poetry such as Ballads, Epics, and Lays. All of
these examples are different kinds of narrative poems some of which are the length of a book
such as the Song of Hiawatha or the Iliad.
Example of Narrative Poetry - Excerpt
John Barleycorn
by
Robert Burns
There was three kings into the east,
Three kings both great and high,
And they hae sworn a solemn oath
John Barleycorn should die.
Definition of Sonnets
English (or Shakespearean) sonnets are lyric poems that are 14 lines long falling into three
coordinate quatrains and a concluding couplet. Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnets are divided into
two quatrains and a six-line sestet.
Example of Sonnets - Excerpt
O thou my lovely boy
by
William Shakespeare
O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power
Dost hold Time's fickle glass his fickle hour;

Who hast by waning grown, and therein show'st
Thy lovers withering, as thy sweet self grow'st.
Definition of Dramatic Poetry
Dramatic poetry is a form of writing that expresses emotional feelings. It is a very creative form
of art.
Poetry that simply expresses emotions is actually lyric poetry. Dramatic poetry involves a
narrative poem of a person in a specific situation. It can involve emotions, but has so much
more to it. An example of this type of writing is in Shakespeare's plays.
Death bears a lonely face
And seldom ever leaves a trace
Of what once used to be;
That of you and me.
Death, when it appears,
Brings sorrow, pain and tears.
You know they cannot stay
But must forever pass away.
Death, can kindness bring,
Wherin every living thing
At last will find surcease.
And, by this gift, find peace.
So, carve a marker, bind a cross,
On my poor form let earth be tossed.
Then pray a word and say it well,
Lest this proud soul should enter Hell.
Example of Dramatic Poetry
For when I go I'll cease to be
What once was a live and living me.
And in the earth my form shall rest,
Reposing in my land-locked nest.
My soul set free, at last may find,
That death is really very kind
And not the tyrant cruel to me,
That all thought him supposed to be.
So carve a marker. Bind a cross.
Enter the Land where Death is boss.
And as you slowly lower me,
Mark well the spot where my soul went
free.
By NINA C. FULFORD