Poetic form usually refers to the structure that holds
or gives shape
to the
poem—in a way, what it looks like to you on the page; and so one place to begin is
to simply
describe what the poem looks like, and how this influences how you read the poem.
This will
include groupings or sets of lines, called
stanzas. Another, more interesting way to consider form is to say that it
necessarily determines the content of the poem, especially in the case of a particular
genre, like a
ballad, epic, or
sonnet; these specific forms (sometimes called
closed forms
) often have structures and stylistic
conventions that are both structural and that convey units of meaning or conventions
of
rhyme,
meter, or expression. If the poem you are reading has a particular form
or structure determined by
genre, learn something about the
conventions of that
genre, since this can direct your attention
to certain expectations or pattern of content.
Poems that do not follow determined, formal conventions or
genre have an
open form.
[Key terms: style, stanza, genre, closed form, open form, ballad, epic poem, sonnet.]