Poetry and Quotations

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How to Write a Shape Poem

A shape poem is a poem which forms a shape. There is no essential guidelines to writing this type of poetry. The poem may either be about the created image or not.

The easiest way to create a shape poem (also known as a form poem or image poem) is to use dada. Dada is an art form which consists of sounds or random words intended to create meaning. EE Cummings is a particularly popular dada poet.

A more modern way to create a shape poem is to use a line per level of image. Here is an example:

A
Xmas
Tree is wonderful
But Christmas is still
Christmas without a tree.
What matters is not gifts or treats
Or presents and shopping sprees
But love
and family

Although you might want your poem to be a bit better than this one, it is an example of how the shape can help form the way a poem flows and bring more meaning to the message.

Sonnets