Narrative poetry is based in the traditions of storytelling and folk tales. It always has a plot- something happens. A narrative poem usually tells a story using a poetic theme. Narrative poems were created to explain oral traditions. The focus of narrative poetry is often the pros and cons of life. Types of narrative poems include:
Epic - a long, serious poem that tells the story of a heroic figure
Ballad - a narrative poem that tells a folk tale or legend and often has a repeated refrain. The ballad’s 4-3-4-3 line beat in matching quatrains has become the most familiar spoken-word and recorded poetic form of modern times.
Lyric poetry is a genre of poetry that expresses personal and emotional feelings. It is usually short and song-like. In the ancient world, lyric poems were those which were sung to the lyre. Lyric poems do not have to rhyme, and today do not need to be set to music or a beat. The lyric poem, dating from the Romantic era, does have some thematic antecedents in ancient Greek and Roman verse, but the ancient definition was based on metrical criteria, and in archaic and classical Greek culture presupposed live performance accompanied by a stringed instrument.
Sonnet - 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.
Ode - a long poem which is serious in nature and written to a set structure; often a tribute to a person, place, thing, or sentiment.
