A Reader’s Map of Poetic Forms

Forms are ways of making choices, not boxes every poem must fit. Free verse has no required rhyme or meter, but its line breaks still do work. A sonnet traditionally uses fourteen lines and often turns its argument partway through. A ghazal joins self contained couplets through rhyme and refrain. Haiku asks us to attend closely to a brief moment.

Start with the sound or question you like: sonnets, ghazals, or Japanese forms. Then read a poem and notice its choices.