Hey y'all! Some of you might know that I've been working on a book about poetic forms for more than a year now. Facing the fact that the book could be several more years worth of work and research, I've started putting my information out on the Web.
I've just put my 500th entry in my on-line version of this encyclopedia. Some of these pages (entries) are no more than redirects (aliases), like the Monk's Tale Stanza is also known as the Huitain. But I know that there are 297 distinct structural forms there and listed. Given the information in the entry, you should be able to write a poem in the form.
Besides the structural forms and the aliases, there are several other types of things that people call forms, such as the serenade, which is a subject, or the prayer, which is more of a style of poetry.
As one might imagine, it is a continuing work, and I'm always looking for new forms and definitions. I have a link off the main page to e-mail me by. I also have several ways of slicing and dicing the types of poems, and can add more cuts on the data easily.
So, if you're a poet interested in exploring form, here's a resource for you:
Poetic Forms Lists
Charley
[This message has been edited by Charles Weatherford (edited October 12, 2005).]