Fixed verse forms are a kind of or formula that poetry can be composed in. The opposite of Fixed verse is Free verse poetry, which by design has little or no pre-established guidelines. The various poetic forms, such as meter, rhyme scheme, and stanzas guide and limit a poet's choices when composing poetry. A fixed verse form combines one or more of these limitations into a larger form. A form usually demands strict adherence to the established guidelines that to some poets may seem stifling, while other poets view the rigid structure as a challenge to be innovative and creative while staying within the guidelines.
; Haiku : A Japanese form designed to be small and concise by limiting the number of lines and the number of syllables in a line. Japanese haiku are three-line poems with the first and the third line having five syllables and the middle having seven syllables. English-language Haiku may be shorter than seventeen syllables, though some poets prefer to keep to the 5-7-5 format. ; Limerick : The limerick is an English form, usually humorous and often obscene. It consists of five lines with an AABBA rhyme scheme, the third and fourth lines shorter than the other three. ; Sonnet : The sonnet is a European form and at its most basic requires that the total length be fourteen lines. There are two primary forms of the sonnet:
: In addition to above requirements, the English Sonnet must be four stanzas, the first three being quatrains and the last a couplet. Also the rhyme scheme for the quatrains is A-B-A-B and the final couplet is rhyming.
; Italian Sonnet : The Italian sonnet requires that the fourteen lines be broken into one octave, which describe a problem, followed by a sestet, which gives the resolution to it.
; Sestina : The sestina has a highly structured form consisting of six stanzas of six lines each, followed by a tercet for a total of thirty-nine lines. The same set of six words ends the lines of each of the six-line stanzas, but in a different order each time. ; Villanelle : A villanelle has only two rhyme sounds. The first and third lines of the first stanza are rhyming refrains that alternate as the third line in each successive stanza and form a couplet at the close. A villanelle is nineteen lines long, consisting of five tercets and one concluding quatrain.
