American cinquainFive lines that grow and then snap back: 2, 4, 6, 8, then 2 syllables. The title can work as a sixth line.
butterfly cinquainNine lines of 2, 4, 6, 8, 2, 8, 6, 4 and 2 syllables.
diamanteSeven lines that widen and narrow like a diamond: the subject, two adjectives, three -ing verbs, four nouns, three more verbs, two adjectives and a last word that renames the subject.
didactic cinquainFive lines counted in words: a one-word subject, two adjectives, a three-word phrase, four words of feeling, then one word that renames the subject.
epigramA few lines of verse, brief and sharp, that save a sting or a joke for the end.
haibunProse and haiku combined: a passage of prose, usually describing a place, followed by a haiku.
haikuA Japanese form: three lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables, 17 in all.
landayA single couplet of 22 syllables, from Afghan folk poetry.
limerickFive lines rhymed AABBA, often comical or nonsensical.
one-line poemAlso called a monostich. The whole poem is one line, so the title can do half the work.
rengaAlternating three-line and two-line stanzas composed by several poets working together. Pass the page round.
reverse cinquainOne five-line stanza of 2, 8, 6, 4 and 2 syllables.
senryuBuilt like a haiku: three lines and 17 sound units, usually counted as syllables in English. It looks at human foibles rather than nature and is often wry.
shadormaSix lines with syllable counts of 3, 5, 3, 3, 7 and 5.
sijoA Korean form of three lines averaging 14 to 16 syllables each, 44 to 46 in all.
single quatrainA poem of four lines, rhymed or unrhymed.
tanagaFour lines of seven syllables each, from the Tagalog tradition. The traditional rhyme is AAAA, and a tanaga is traditionally untitled.
tankaA Japanese form of 31 syllables, set out in English as five lines: 5, 7, 5, 7, 7.
Rhyme schemes, stanzas and metres 23
balladA story told in quatrains rhymed ABCB, alternating four-stress and three-stress lines.
eight-line octaveAn octave is a stanza or poem of eight lines.
Petrarchan sonnetFourteen lines rhymed ABBA ABBA, then CDE CDE or CDC CDC.
poem in alexandrinesIambic lines of twelve syllables, a measure borrowed from French heroic verse.
poem in blank verseNon-rhyming iambic pentameter: ten syllables a line.
poem in common metreQuatrains rhymed ABAB that alternate four-stress and three-stress iambic lines.
poem in fourteenersLines of seven iambic feet, 14 syllables each.
poem in heroic coupletsRhyming couplets in iambic pentameter: five iambic feet, ten syllables a line.
poem in long metreQuatrains in iambic tetrameter, eight syllables a line, rhymed ABAB.
poem in monorhymeEvery line ends on one and the same rhyme: AAAAA.
poem in poulter's measureRhymed couplets of unequal lines: an iambic line of 12 syllables, then one of 14.
poem in rhyming coupletsPairs of successive rhyming lines, usually of the same length: AA BB CC.
poem in tercetsStanzas of three lines each. Rhyme all three, or none.
poem in terza rimaAn Italian form in three-line stanzas with interlocking rhymes: ABA BCB CDC, closing on a single line or a couplet.
quatrain in enclosed rhymeFour lines rhymed ABBA.
rubaiyat quatrainFour lines rhymed AABA.
seguidillaSeven syllable-counted lines, Spanish in origin. Lines two and four rhyme, and so do lines five and seven.
Shakespearean sonnetFourteen lines rhymed ABAB CDCD EFEF GG: three quatrains and a closing couplet.
sonnetFourteen lines using one of several formal rhyme schemes. In English the lines typically have ten syllables.
Spenserian stanzaNine lines rhymed ABABBCBCC: eight in iambic pentameter and a final twelve-syllable alexandrine.
stanza of ottava rimaEight lines rhymed ABABABCC, a stanza that came from Italy.
stanza of rhyme royalSeven ten-syllable lines rhymed ABABBCC.
Forms built on repeated lines 14
balladeThree eight-line stanzas rhymed ABABBCBC and a four-line envoi. Whatever line ends stanza one must also end the other two stanzas and the envoi.
bopA modern form that argues a case in three stanzas, with a refrain after each.
chant royalFive eleven-line stanzas rhymed ABABCCDDEDE and a shorter envoi. The last line of every stanza is the same refrain.
duplexFourteen lines as seven couplets, 9 to 11 syllables a line. Each couplet's second line comes back as an echo to open the next couplet, and the poem closes on an echo of its first line.
ghazalFive to fifteen couplets, each able to stand alone, with the rhyme pattern AA BA CA DA.
glosaA Spanish form: a borrowed quatrain as the epigraph, then four ten-line stanzas, each ending on the matching line of that quatrain.
kyrielleCouplets of eight-syllable lines, usually set in fours. Every stanza ends on the same refrain line, and three stanzas is the usual minimum.
pantoumA chain of quatrains: lines two and four of each stanza become lines one and three of the next. The final stanza reaches back to lines one and three of the first.
rondeauBetween 10 and 15 lines in three stanzas, on two rhymes only. The opening words come back twice as an unrhymed refrain.
rondelBetween 11 and 14 lines on two rhymes. The opening two lines come back halfway through and once more to finish.
rondeletSeven lines patterned AbAabbA, where the capital A is one line repeated word for word.
sestinaSix stanzas of six lines and a three-line envoi, 39 lines in all, usually unrhymed. The end-words repeat from stanza to stanza.
trioletEight lines on two rhymes. Line one returns as lines four and seven, and line two returns as line eight.
villanelleNineteen lines on two rhymes: five tercets, then a quatrain. Lines one and three of the opening tercet take turns as the refrain.
Open, visual and borrowed forms 14
abecedarianWork through the alphabet: line one starts with A, line two with B, and so on. Stanzas can take the letters instead of lines.
acrosticRead down the left-hand edge and the opening letters of the lines spell a word, a name or a phrase.
centoEvery line is borrowed from someone else's poem; your part is the choosing and the order.
concrete poemThe lines are arranged on the page as a shape or picture, usually of the topic.
contrapuntal poemTwo or more poems interwoven into one, so that the page can be read in several ways.
erasure poemTake an existing text and obscure most of it. The new work is what remains.
found poemA collage made of language from outside texts, such as a prose passage reshaped into lines.
free verse poemOpen form: no fixed metre and no rhyme scheme. Let the line breaks fall where a speaking voice would pause.
golden shovelTake a line from another poem. Each of its words becomes the end word of one of your lines.
list poemAn inventory: the subject is described through an organised list of images or things.
nonsense poemLight, whimsical verse that uses rhyme, repeated phrases and made-up words.
poem in syllabic verseThe measure is the number of syllables in each line, not the number of stresses. Choose a count and keep to it.
poem with no stanza breaksKnown as stichic verse: one unbroken column of lines, all of about the same length and metre.
prose poemWritten as a paragraph, with no line breaks. Image and metaphor carry what the line break usually would.
Kinds of poem by purpose 16
aubadeA dawn poem: it welcomes or laments the arrival of morning.
elegyTraditionally written for someone who has died: it mourns, then praises, then looks for comfort. It can also mourn any loss.
epic openingAn epic is a long story in verse, usually about heroes. The first twenty lines will do.
epistolary poemA letter in verse, addressed to one named reader. Begin with Dear.
gnomic poemVerse built out of sayings: proverbs, maxims and short pieces of advice.
lamentA poem of mourning for a death, or for anything else that is gone.
lullabyA bedtime song for a small child, sung or spoken to bring on sleep.
mock-epicThe grand manner of epic poetry (invocations, battles, heroes) spent on a small subject, for satire.
nocturneA night poem. Set it after dark.
odeA poem spoken to its subject, a person, a place, a thing or an idea, usually in praise and in a raised, formal voice.
palinodeAn ode that takes back something the poet said in an earlier poem.
panegyricPraise laid on thick: a whole poem of it.
persona poemA dramatic monologue: the poet takes on the voice of another person, a fictional character or another identity.
praise poemA poem that pays tribute or gives thanks.
riddle poemAn old spoken form. Describe the subject through a question or a comparison and never name it.
verse fableA story told in verse that usually arrives at a moral.
Original list written for Draw This Next, September 2026. Each entry follows the word "about" and carries its own article. It is the only list with a time or a place in it. No real people, brands or existing characters. Licence: own work
Constraint: all 99 constraints
Voice, tense and address 23
addressed to a stranger a hundred years from now
addressed to a younger version of yourself
as if overheard through a wall
delivered as a weather forecast
future tense only
in the voice of a six-year-old
in the voice of someone very old
laid out as the rules of a game
no I, me or my anywhere
past tense until the final line
phrased entirely as instructions
phrased entirely as questions
present tense only
second person throughout
the speaker is hiding something and never says what
speaks straight to the subject as if it could hearApostrophe: direct address to an object, an idea or someone absent.
spoken by someone who cannot stand the subject
spoken by the subject itself
told as a thank-you note
told as an apology
told as if it were breaking news
two voices that take turns
we, never I
Letters and word choice 26
a colour in every line
a number in every stanza
every line begins with the same wordAnaphora: the same opening word or words, line after line.
exactly one simile, saved for the end
the first line's word lengths run 3, 1, 4, 1, 5, like piPilish: count the letters in each word and you get the digits of pi, in order.
never name the subject outright
no abstract nouns such as love, hope, time or soul
no adjectives at all
no is, are, was or were
no letter e anywhereA lipogram bans one letter from the whole text, most often e or o.
no letter s anywhereA lipogram on the letter s, which rules out most plurals.
no similes, so nothing is like or as anything
no verbs at allThis is called verbless poetry. Nouns and adjectives have to do all the work.
no word ending in -ly
no word longer than five letters
one invented word, used as if everyone knows it
one line where every word starts with the same letterA tautogram: all the words in the line share one first letter.
one palindrome hidden somewhere, such as level or noonA palindrome reads the same forwards and backwards.
one word repeated in every line
one word whose sound matches its meaning, such as hissOnomatopoeia: a word that makes the noise it names, like buzz, clang or plop.
only one vowel allowed from start to finishA univocalic uses only one vowel.
only words a seven-year-old would know
three words borrowed from cooking
three words borrowed from sailing
three words in a row that start with the same consonantAlliteration: repeated consonant sounds, especially at the starts of words.
words of one syllable only
Images and the senses 24
a smell that brings back a memory
a sound heard three times
everything seen from a few centimetres away
everything seen from very far away
food appears, and nobody eats it
hands appear at the start and again at the end
light described without the words light, bright or shine
nothing moves until the last line
one animal appears, unexplained
one colour only, mentioned at least twice
one object described by what it is not
one sense described in terms of anotherSynaesthesia: describing one sense in terms of another.
one smell, named exactly
one thing compared with a machine
one thing is far bigger than it should be
one wild exaggerationHyperbole: overstatement used for emphasis.
only things small enough to hold in one hand
silence described by the sounds around it
something falls, and nobody catches it
sound and smell only, nothing seen
the subject is given a human habitPersonification: giving objects, animals or ideas human qualities.
the temperature is mentioned twice
touch and taste only
the weather changes halfway through
Sentences, titles and endings 26
a change of mind halfway through
a list of three things, the third a surprise
a number is the very first word
a phrase you overheard today
a question at the start, answered at the end
a title longer than the first line
a title that asks a question the poem never answers
a turn of thought just before the endA volta: a shift that marks a change of thought or argument.
begins in the middle of a sentence
brackets used once, for a secret
ends on an image, not a statement
ends one moment before something happens
every line ends on a full stop, comma or question markEnd-stopped lines: each holds a complete phrase or ends in punctuation.
every line is a complete sentence
every line runs on into the next without a stopEnjambment: a sentence or clause continues across a line break.
the first and last lines end on the same word
the last line is a question
the last word has one syllable
no capital letters
no punctuation at all
one line with a hard pause in the middleA caesura: a pause in the rhythm of a line, often marked by punctuation.
one sentence from the first word to the last
one word in capital letters, and only one
starts with the word because
the title is the only place the subject is named
the word but appears exactly once
How this list was compiled
Original list written for Draw This Next, September 2026. No entry fixes a line count or a rhyme, so a constraint rarely fights the rule of the form beside it. The detail lines are in our own words, and the named devices in them were checked: lipogram, univocalic, tautogram, pilish and palindrome against Wikipedia, Constrained writing, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constrained_writing ; verbless poetry against Wikipedia, Glossary of poetry terms, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_poetry_terms ; anaphora, apostrophe, alliteration, onomatopoeia, synaesthesia, personification, hyperbole, enjambment, end-stopped line, caesura and volta against the Academy of American Poets glossary, https://poets.org/glossary . Wikipedia glossary checked 2026-09-18, the others 2026-09-19. Licence: own work
How it works
These poem prompt ideas deal a form, a subject and one constraint, such as a villanelle about the kettle just before it boils, with no letter s anywhere. The rule for each of the 85 forms is listed below.
Read the full guide
How the three parts work
Lock the form and New prompt changes only the other two parts: keep the villanelle and swap the kettle just before it boils for a river under ice. The 85 forms are sorted under five headings: short syllable-count forms, rhyme schemes and metres, forms built on repeated lines, open and borrowed forms, and kinds of poem by purpose.
Where to find the rule
The tool names the form and the list prints its rule: a tanka is five lines of 5, 7, 5, 7 and 7 syllables, and a triolet brings line one back as lines four and seven. Each rule was checked against Wikipedia's glossary of poetry terms or the Academy of American Poets glossary, and forms with no confirmed rule were left out.
Some pairs cannot both be obeyed: an acrostic cannot begin every line with the same word. Lock the rest and press for a new constraint.
New to forms? Lock the haiku or the six-line shadorma and set the timer for ten minutes.
Write the same prompt twice, a week apart, without rereading. The form holds still, so whatever changed is yours.
Questions and answers
What constraints can a poem prompt set?
Four kinds. Voice and address: second person throughout. Letters and word choice: no letter s anywhere, which is a lipogram. Images and the senses: a smell that brings back a memory. Sentences and endings: the first and last lines end on the same word.
Do I have to follow the form exactly?
No. The listed rule is the traditional one, and nothing on the page counts your syllables. Keep the fourteen lines of a sonnet and loosen the rhyme if it is forcing poor words. The constraint is the part worth obeying strictly.
Which poem forms suit a beginner?
Start under the short forms heading. The haiku, tanka, limerick, diamante and the cinquains fit in a few lines and count syllables or words, not metre. The didactic cinquain and the diamante are built from single words and short phrases, so nothing has to scan.