How to Write Poetry

Mom smiling at daughter while the daughter writes.

Poetry is a special kind of literature that allows you to express your feelings and ideas through different styles and rhythms. There are many ways to create poetry, and with just a few tips and tricks, YOU can do it too!

Rhyming

The first type of poetry you will learn to write is a rhyming poem. You can write your rhyming poems in a few different ways:

  1. Couplets: two-line poems where the lastword rhymes.The summer sun’s rays,shine brighter everyday!

  2. Triplets: the same as couplets, but with three lines.You can rhyme the last word in every line fora pattern called AAA, or you can rhyme only the first and third lines for the pattern ABA.

    A- Summer’s here, and school is done.

    A- I can’t wait to be in the sun,

    A- To go to the pool and have some fun!

    A- I like the summer night sky.

    B- You can’t tell the difference between

    A- A star and a firefly.

You can also create rhyming poems in lines of four once you feel more comfortable with couplets and triplets. These are called quatrain poems!

Haiku

A haiku is an unrhymed three-lined poem that follows a pattern. A haiku can be about anything you want as long as you follow these three simple rules.

Line One: 5 syllables

Line Two: 7 syllables

Line Three: 5 syllables

Another way you can think about this is tovisualize the syllables:

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1 2 3 4 5

For example, say you want to write your haiku about summer. Think of some words and ideas that relate to summer, and then write them out until you have the correct amount of syllables.

The days are longer.

Life feels a little lighter.

How I love summer!

Although there are many different types of poems, these are two simple poem types that will help kick-start your poetry writing journey.Just remember, the more you write, the better you will become. Writing poetry takes time to perfect, but there’s no better time to start than now. Keep practicing and you’ll be a poet before you know it!

Previous
Previous

The Bright Lights Volunteer Experience

Next
Next

Easy Recipes - Tortillas Three Ways