Educational

by Evan Mantyk WHAT DOES THE classic Chinese story Journey to the West have to do with William Shakespeare’s classic play Hamlet? A lot it turns out. Both Hamlet and Journey to the West were written in the late 16th century, one in China and the other in England. Both rely heavily on poetry. Both also are...

By Dusty Grein Dating to the thirteenth century, the terza rima (Italian for "third rhyme") is a classic form of writing poetry in three-line stanzas called tercets, which are interlinked by their rhyming pattern. They use the ending sound from each tercet’s middle line, as the first and third of...

By Evan Mantyk From The Iliad, Beowulf, and Shakespearean literature in the West to the Chinese Classic of Poetry, the Indian Ramayana, and the Middle Eastern Epic of Gilgamesh, classical poetry is the foundation of literature in almost every culture historically. Today, if you can understand, appreciate, and write a...

By Jane Blanchard On December 5, 1830, Christina Rossetti was born in London to an Italian-English mother married to an Italian poet in exile.  The youngest of four children, all of whom grew up to be published authors, Rossetti became so well regarded for her work that she was mentioned...

by Dusty Grein The sestina originated among the troubadours of medieval France's Provence region, and the modern thirty-nine line form is attributed to one of these traveling poet entertainers of the twelfth century, Arnaut Daniel. Daniel's sestina form was admired by Dante Alighieri, who introduced it to Italian poetry as...

By Carol Smallwood The triolet is a medieval French poetry form that has eight lines and was introduced to the English language by poets in the 17th century:   1. A 2. B 3. a  Rhymes with 1st line. 4. A  identical to 1st line. 5. a  Rhymes with 1st...

A Quick Haiku Guide  A traditional haiku should... 1. Be three lines. The first line should have five syllables, the second seven syllables, the third five syllables. Seventeen syllables total. 2. Contain a nature or seasonal reference: the crumbling leaves, the cold air, the smell of manure, the taste of...

By Sathya Narayana The rubaiyat (pronounced “roo-bái-yát”) is a Persian form of several quatrains. Its name is derived from the Arabic plural of the word for "quatrain," rubá'íyah. This, in turn, comes from the Arabic word rubá, meaning "four." Rubai (the singular form) is a quatrain or a set of...

by Conrad Geller People are always asking "What are the best love poems?" or "Where can I find something beautiful to say to the woman I love?" or "...to the man I love?" If you are looking for love poems in more modern language, you will probably find the 10...

In the name of poetry, we implore you … Since time immemorial, poetry has moved people’s hearts and shaped humanity at large. As poets we surely have a purpose. Today, in China, speech and belief are under attack. The tyrannical fist of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) still attempts to crush...

by Dusty Grein Hailing from 15th and 16th century French and Italian roots, the villanelle is arguably one of the strongest repeating refrain forms in classical poetry. Related How to Write a Sonnet How to Write a Haiku How to Write a Limerick How to Write Rondeau Its use of...

Related How to Write a Sonnet How to Write a Haiku How to Write a Limerick How to Write a Villanelle How to Write a Poem Like the Raven by E. V. Wyler Created by French troubadours during the Middle Ages, the rondeau is valued for its lovely lyrical qualities. ...

By Conrad Geller Poets demonstrably know nothing about death since it is, in Hamlet’s phrase, “the undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns.” Yet from the Egyptian Book of the Dead some 4,500 years ago to the latest agony in the current issue of your favorite literary journal, bards...

By Carol Smallwood The pantoum is a poetry form that originated in 15th century Malaysia and drifted West in the 19th century with French writer Victor Hugo, among others. While it never quite took off like the Haiku, it never fully went away either and has been steadily blossoming among...

Submission Instructions Submit three to five poems, each of which does not exceed 50 lines. Email as a word file or in the email body to submissions@classicalpoets.org. Put “Poetry Competition Submission” in the subject line of the email. There is no submission fee or age requirement. Include a brief bio...

This rhyming adaption of the 14th century Arthurian poem is suitable for 4-6 students to perform and only takes about 10 minutes or so to perform.   Characters Narrator Sir Gawain Green Knight Castle Lord King Arthur Castle Lady   NARRATOR Once upon a Christmas time, at Camelot, King Arthur...

By James Sale In our egalitarian and democratic societies we very much hope and want all good things to be available to all people if they have a mind to have them. Indeed, in the world of personal development you can achieve whatever you believe (paraphrasing one of its leading...

By Wilbur Dee Case | Edited by Kent Van May Now I can see why T.S. Eliot disliked Edgar Allan Poe's verse; Eliot was trying to write a different kind of poetry; and it is no surprise that, for Eliot, Poe was no kindred spirit. Yet it was unwise for Eliot...

The Society of Classical Poets is pleased to announce the release of its 2016 Journal! Click here to purchase a copy. It is also available on Amazon. This year's journal is bigger and better than ever! In addition to the best poetry being written today in the English-speaking world, it...

By Dusty Grein and Evan Mantyk “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe remains one of the English language’s most popular and influential poems since it was written in 1845. Much of this was Poe’s own doing, as he performed it quite frequently, and wrote many essays and commentaries on it...

By Kristina Pentchoukova Right from the first email from William Ruleman, I knew that I was interacting with a classicist who upheld traditional English in all manner of communication and behavior. Every email read like a letter. Later, I was honestly surprised by his Southern accent—for some reason, I expected...

  A Fifteen-Year-Old's Response to Frost "This 'pome' don't make NO sense! What junk!" the scowling students muttered. "Two roads in the woods!" one hissed. "Such bunk"-- opinions rudely uttered. I quelled the urge to hurl my book. I said, "Can't you surmise what they might mean? Let's take a...

by Reid McGrath I forewarn you that these are the 10 greatest English Sonnets addressed to or concerning other poets and are not even the 10 greatest short poems concerning other poets. There are innumerable other short poems addressed to other poets which are wonderful and remarkable, from Ezra Pound’s...

Sedona (A Rhupunt) Deep shadows fade Red rock cascade To purpled jade— Sun sparks ignite. Stone sentries stare Sightless through air At treadless stair Spanning the height. No mortals dare Enter the lair Or linger where Spirit meets sprite. This shrine of stone And bleached white bone Hides secrets shown...

By Dusty Grein Most of us enjoy poetry in one form or another. I am going to attempt to lay out the basics of writing classical style poetry in English, based on standard poetry terms and references. This discussion will focus on rhyming, metered poems. Who am I? I am...

Updated: April 26, 2024 10 Greatest Poems Ever Written An Ambitious "Best Poems" List Limited to Poems Originally Written in English and of 50 Lines or Less by Evan Mantyk What is poetry? What is great poetry? The poems below answer these questions. From least greatest (10) to greatest greatest...

Updated January 9, 2020 A Quick Sonnet Guide.  A traditional sonnet should have... 14 lines. X Rhyming. The most common is the Shakespearean rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. These 14  letters represent the sonnet's 14 lines and the same letter means those lines rhyme with each other. The more...

Updated January 10, 2020 Ascending the Phoenix Terrace in Jinling by Li Bai (701-762) Here phoenix roamed four hundred years ago, A sign of the enchantment that once thrived; How empty now, where no more feathers flow, A lonely river is all that’s survived. Lush garden of the grand Wu...

Below is an excerpt of the last ten stanzas of Lord Byron's ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage,’ published originally in the 1810s. It may be read as an ode to the ocean, or perhaps an environmental poem.   CLXXVII. Oh! that the Desert were my dwelling-place, With one fair Spirit for my...

. Writing Poetry with Meter---Beginners' Level and Beyond by Evan Mantyk There is very little difficulty behind writing classical poetry from a technical perspective. Classical poetry is simply poetry that is metrical (also called metered), thus contrasting with unmetered poetry, known as free verse. There is no requirement to rhyme...

Lesson Plans, Readings with Questions, and Sample Essays: Lesson on the Poetry of Bruce Dale Wise (Society of Classical Poets Competition Winner) Bruce Dale Wise poetry (includes questions) Essay Comparing Two Bruce Dale Wise Sonnets (includes questions analyzing the essay)   Lesson on "A Psalm of Life" by Henry Wadsworth...

The American poet Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874, in San Francisco, CA. He spent his first 40 years mostly unknown, and it wasn’t until after returning to the United States from England—where he had his first two books of poetry published—near the beginning of the first World...