Year 4 English: Forms of poetry: free verse, narrative, limerick and haiku
Part of the Year 4 English reading poetry and plays aloud chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Forms of poetry: free verse, narrative, limerick and haiku
Poems come in different forms. Some have a regular rhyme and rhythm; some do not. The table shows the four forms in this section.
| Form | What it is | Feature to look for |
|---|---|---|
| free verse | a poem with no regular rhyme or rhythm | the poet chooses where each line breaks |
| narrative poem | a poem that tells a story, with characters and events in order | a girl, a kite and a sequence of events |
| limerick | a funny poem of five lines | the rhyme scheme AABBA; lines 3 and 4 are shorter |
| haiku | a short poem of three lines, traditionally built on 5, 7 and 5 syllables | a picture of one moment in nature |
Poem: Market Morning
The stalls unfold with a rattle and bang.
Oranges are stacked in pyramids,
bright as lanterns on a dark stage.
A man sings about cabbages, loud and sure.
A coin drops and rings on the stones.
Coffee steams from a battered tin pot.
Nobody hurries. The morning has all the time it needs.
Poem: The Kite on the Hill
Priya climbed the grassy hill
to fly the kite her dad had made.
The sky was grey, the air was still,
and the grass lay flat in the shade.
She ran across the field and threw
her kite up high, and it flew.
A gust of wind rose, cold and bright,
and lifted it into the light.
Priya laughed and held the string,
and felt the kite begin to sing.
It swooped and dipped above the town,
then glided gently, slowly down.
Poem: The Puppy Called Jess
A puppy called Jess ran about,
chasing shadows and leaves in and out.
She chased a ball,
then she leapt the wall,
and she barked a loud, happy shout.
Poem: Winter Morning
Cold winter morning,
the river wears a white coat,
the robin sings loud.
Key ideas
- Free verse has no regular rhyme or rhythm.
- A narrative poem tells a story, with characters and events in order.
- A limerick has five lines and the rhyme scheme AABBA.
- A haiku has three lines and is traditionally built on 5, 7 and 5 syllables.
Method. Count the lines, then check the rhyme scheme.
- Count the lines. The poem has five lines.5 lines
- Check the rhyme scheme. Lines 1, 2 and 5 end in -out; lines 3 and 4 end in -all.AABBA
- Name the form. Five lines and the scheme AABBA make a limerick.limerick
- Write the answer. a limerick, with five lines and the rhyme scheme AABBA
Check. Five lines with AABBA is the limerick pattern. ✓
Method. The hyphens show the syllables. Count the parts.
- Split the words. The hyphens show where each word breaks into syllables.the / rob-in / sings / loud
- Count the parts. The has one, rob-in has two, and sings and loud have one each.1 + 2 + 1 + 1
- Add them. The total is the number of syllables in the line.5 syllables
- Write the answer. 5
Check. Five syllables is the length of the first and third lines of a traditional haiku. ✓
Method. Write the end word of each line, then match the endings.
- Write the end words. The end words are hill, made, still and shade.hill, made, still, shade
- Match the endings. Hill and still both end in -ill; made and shade both end in -ade.lines 1 and 3 (-ill); lines 2 and 4 (-ade)
- Give the letters in order. Hill is A, made is B, still is A again, shade is B again.A B A B
- Write the answer. ABAB
Check. Lines 1 and 3 match, and lines 2 and 4 match. ✓
Watch out
Watch out: a poem without a rhyme is not always free verse, and a poem with a rhyme is not always a limerick. Check the number of lines and the rhyme scheme together.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Read each poem together and ask three questions: "Does it tell a story?" "How many lines does it have?" "Does it rhyme in a pattern?" These three questions identify most forms.
Exercise 9D Practice: forms of poetry
Method. Check whether the poem has a regular rhyme or rhythm.
- Look at the line endings. The endings are bang, pyramids, stage, sure, stones, pot and needs.no pattern
- Name the form. A poem with no regular rhyme or rhythm is free verse.free verse
- Write the answer. free verse
Check. No regular rhyme or rhythm makes free verse. ✓
Method. Compare the endings of the lines.
- List the endings. Bang, pyramids, stage, sure, stones, pot and needs do not match in pairs.no pairs
- Decide. Because the endings do not follow a pattern, the poem has no regular rhyme.no regular rhyme
- Write the answer. No
Check. The endings follow no pattern. ✓
Method. Ask whether the poem tells a story.
- Find the characters. Priya climbs the hill with her kite, made by her dad.Priya, her dad, the kite
- Find the events. The kite flies, and then it comes down.flies, comes down
- Write the answer. narrative poem
Check. It tells a story with characters and events. ✓
Method. Count the groups of four lines.
- Find the groups. Each group of four lines is one stanza.stanza 1, stanza 2, stanza 3
- Count them. There are three groups.3
- Write the answer. 3
Check. Three groups of lines. ✓
Method. Count the lines of the limerick.
- Count the rows. Each row of words is one line.1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- Check the form. A limerick has five lines.5 lines
- Write the answer. 5
Check. Five lines, as a limerick should have. ✓
Method. Compare the spelling of the line endings.
- Write down the last word of each line. Rhyme depends on the spelling of the ending.1: about, 2: out, 3: ball, 4: wall, 5: shout
- Match the endings by their spelling. Lines whose endings are spelt the same way rhyme.lines 1 and 2 and 5 end in -out (about, out, shout); lines 3 and 4 end in -all (ball, wall)
- Give each new ending a new letter. Use A for the first ending, B for the next new ending, and so on.AABBA
- Write the answer. AABBA
Check. Lines with the same ending spelling share a letter. ✓
Method. Look at the rhyme scheme and the length of each line.
- Find the A lines. Lines 1, 2 and 5 all end in -out, so they are the A lines.lines 1, 2, 5
- Compare the lengths. These are the longer lines; lines 3 and 4 are shorter.lines 3 and 4 are shorter
- Write the answer. lines 1, 2 and 5
Check. The A lines are the longer lines of a limerick. ✓
Method. Count the lines of the haiku.
- Count the rows. Each row of words is one line.Cold winter morning / the river wears a white coat / the robin sings loud
- Count them. There are three lines.3 lines
- Write the answer. 3
Check. A haiku has three lines. ✓
Method. Count the parts that the hyphens show.
- Split the words. Cold / win-ter / morn-ing.cold / win-ter / morn-ing
- Count the parts. One, then two, then two.1 + 2 + 2 = 5
- Write the answer. 5
Check. The first line has five syllables. ✓
Method. Count the parts that the hyphens show.
- Split the words. the / riv-er / wears / a / white / coat.the / riv-er / wears / a / white / coat
- Count the parts. One, two, one, one, one and one.1 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 7
- Write the answer. 7
Check. The second line has seven syllables. ✓
Method. Match the form to the task.
- Count the lines needed. Five lines is the length of a limerick.five lines
- Match the rhyme. A limerick uses the scheme AABBA, which suits a funny story.AABBA, funny
- Write the answer. a limerick, because it has five lines with the scheme AABBA
Check. Five lines and AABBA make a limerick. ✓