---
name: book-poetry
description: "Poetry patterns — form types (sonnet/haiku/free verse), stanza structure, meter/rhythm, imagery systems, collection architecture."
---

# Poetry Patterns

**Form types** (selection guide):
- Sonnet: 14 lines, iambic pentameter, Petrarchan (ABBAABBA CDECDE) or Shakespearean (ABAB CDCD EFEF GG)
- Haiku: 5-7-5 syllables, seasonal reference (kigo), cutting word (kireji)
- Free verse: No fixed meter/rhyme, natural speech rhythm, enjambment as tool
- Villanelle: 19 lines, 2 refrains, ABA tercets + ABAA quatrain
- Ghazal: 5-15 couplets, radif (refrain), matla (opening couplet both lines rhyme)
- Prose poem: Prose paragraph with poetic density, no line breaks

**Stanza as unit**: Stanza = one breath, one image, one turn. White space between stanzas = pause (comparable to scene break in fiction). Couplets (2 lines), tercets (3), quatrains (4), sestets (6), octave (8).

**Meter and rhythm**: Iambic (da-DUM), trochaic (DUM-da), dactylic (DUM-da-da), anapestic (da-da-DUM). Meter creates mood: iambic = steady/contemplative, trochaic = urgent/chanted, dactylic = flowing/lyrical. Free verse: stress patterns still matter — read aloud to test.

**Imagery systems**: Core image per poem. Sensory hierarchy: visual > tactile > auditory > olfactory > gustatory. Extended metaphor (conceit): one metaphor sustained across entire poem. Image cluster: related images building a field of meaning.

**Line breaks**: Enjambment (thought continues across line) creates tension/speed. End-stopped (thought completes at line) creates pause/emphasis. Line = unit of attention. Short lines = intensity, long lines = expansiveness.

**Collection architecture**: Thematic arc (opening poem sets tone, center = core statement, closing = resolution/echo). Section breaks as movement shifts. Sequences (series of linked poems). Organizing principles: chronological, thematic, formal, conversational. Target: 40-80 poems for full collection.

**Revision checklist**: Sound (read aloud — where does rhythm break?), compression (can any word/line be cut?), specificity (concrete over abstract), surprise (does each stanza add something unexpected?), integrity (does form serve content?).

**Title as threshold**: Title + first line = entry contract. Title can: set scene, provide context, contradict the poem, name the form, name the subject.
