Poetry is a type of writing that's defined by patterns. Whether it's the number of lines in a stanza or the beats of rhythm and rhyme in a line, you'll find patterns everywhere in every poem you read. So for today's poetry prompt, we'll be diving into patterns and using them to inspire our writing!
Poetry is like a spiderweb: every thread (or word or line) is carefully connected with the threads (and words and lines) around it. The poet constructs the poem so that all the lines and words come together to form an eye-catching pattern for you to enjoy.
We're going to try our hand at creating our own patterns in poetry today. In case you need a refresher on the types of patterns found in poetry before we begin, take a look at our handy list of Poetic Terms.
Now, patterns in a poem can take a couple of different forms, so let's get started.
Patterns of the Eye
Imagine a poem that's constructed to tell a story through the way the words are arranged on the page. That's what happens in concrete poetry, where the words are shaped like the subject of the poem.
- Try writing your own concrete poem. Use the shape of a spiderweb, a stained glass window, a cloud, wings, or anything else that inspires you! Draw out the shape and write words along the outline.
You can create other visual patterns by repeating the same letter at the beginning of several words (alliteration) or by using the first letter of each line to spell out a word (acrostic).
- Create your own pattern by writing a tongue-twister with as many words that start with the same sound as possible.
- Write an acrostic poem using the name of a favorite movie or book character.
Patterns of the Ear
There's nothing like a good rhyme scheme to make you clap, sing, or move along with the poem. Rhymes are naturally appealing to humans, and they can even help our memory!
- Check out our spotlight All About Rhyme and create your own rhyming poem using a rhyming dictionary like RhymeZone.
While rhythm is about much more than counting syllables, individual syllables are a great place to start when building patterns into your poetry. The haiku is the perfect place to start looking at the patterns of syllables.
- Test your skill at constructing a pattern with rhythm or syllables by writing a haiku. If you need some inspiration, check out our post about haikus!
Of course, there are many other types of patterns you'll spot in poetry. What other poetic patterns can you think of?
Now, go and create some patterns!
