Forms of poetry: rhymed verse, free verse, and narrative poems

Poems come in different forms. Many poems use rhyme and a regular meter, a repeating pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. Free verse doesn't follow a set rhyme scheme or meter, so it sounds closer to natural speech, while still using line breaks and often stanzas. A narrative poem tells a story, with characters and events, like Longfellow's Paul Revere's Ride, and a ballad is a narrative poem with a songlike rhythm, often with a repeated refrain. Recognizing a poem's form helps you notice how the poet shaped its sound and meaning.

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