Types Of Poetry - Playing With Stanzas
What is a stanza? A division of a poem consisting of two or more lines. How many ways can you structure a stanza? As many as you want. Look at this stanza from the poem, "Gratitude:"
So there is nothing to say
There is nothing to say
There is nothing
Nothing...
But gratitude
Each line is a smaller part of the previous line. In this case, it quiets the mind in order to emphasize the last word: gratitude. However, this idea could be used in many ways. You could start with a line like, "She watched the birds come in from the sea," and it can reduce to, "Come in from the sea;" "From the sea:" "Where Michael was left alone in the storm."
Each stanza could have lengthening lines. Lines could be varied in length to create a picture on the page. Playing with stanzas is a fun way to create new types of poetry.
Ideas For New Types Of Poetry
In the poem "Do Not Believe In God," each stanza starts with one of our senses: "See God... in stars and sunlight... and the face of your lover;" Hear God... in wind and waves... and the music of the birds." All the senses are covered. How could we use this general idea? By starting each stanza with a different verb or adjective? By starting each stanza with a different person's name? By having each stanza get smaller or larger as the poem progresses?
How many ways can you play with poems? "Dream poems," could be a type of poetry that puts actual dreams into verse. "Dialog poems" could have stanzas or lines answering each other back and forth. A series of poems could use all the exact same words, rearranged, with an entirely different outcome in each. There are endless types of poetry you can create.