All forms.

No fixed meter, no fixed rhyme.

These poems follow the shape of the thought instead of a counted line. Nirala began loosening the old measures in the early twentieth century, and most Hindi poetry written since belongs here. Short or long, they ask you to listen for the rhythm the poet chose.

Poems meant to be sung.

A geet has a refrain that comes back after every verse, so you can almost hear the tune on the page. Some are devotional, some are about longing or the seasons, and many were written for voices before they were written for paper.

The devotional lyric of the bhakti poets.

A pada is a short song, often set to a raga, that circles one feeling or one scene and returns to a refrain. Surdas, Mirabai and Kabir gave it its great voices, and it is still where much of Hindi devotional poetry lives.

Couplets that stand alone, tied by a refrain.

A ghazal is a run of couplets, called sher, each one complete in itself, sharing a rhyme and a repeating phrase at the end of the line. It came into Hindi from Urdu and Persian, and poets like Dushyant Kumar have used it for everything from love to protest.

A short poem that completes itself.

Muktak means free of any larger structure. Each verse is a small poem in its own right, usually four lines, with its idea settled by the last one. Gopal Das Neeraj and many later poets wrote them.

Two lines, a whole thought.

The doha is a rhymed couplet built to carry one complete idea in a breath. Kabir, Rahim, Tulsidas and Bihari used it for advice, devotion and wit, and many of their lines are still quoted in everyday speech.

A long, rolling four-line stanza.

Each line of a savaiya runs long and swings along at a quick, even pace, which makes it good for description and for feeling. Raskhan used it for love poems to Krishna, and it suits a poem you read aloud.

Verse built on strict measures.

These poems follow the classical counting systems of Hindi and Sanskrit prosody, where the length or number of syllables in every line is fixed. The measure gives the verse its pulse, and you can often feel the beat before you have understood the words.

A poem that ends where it began.

A kundaliya is six lines. It opens with a doha, and the last word of the stanza returns to the first, so the poem curls back on itself like a coil. Giridhar Kavirai made it famous with sharp advice delivered in a few lines.

A poem with one subject from start to finish.

Where a ghazal wanders from couplet to couplet, a nazm holds a single idea or scene together. It may rhyme or not, and it is closest to what most readers think of as an ordinary modern poem.

Four short lines with a steady beat.

A chaupai has four lines with an even rhythm, and long runs of them carry a story forward. Tulsidas built the Ramcharitmanas on this form, so reading one feels like stepping into a recitation already under way.

Poetry made for recitation.

The kavitta is a four-line stanza with long, flowing lines, favoured by the court poets of the Riti period for praise, valor and beauty. It was written to be performed, and it still reads best with a little drama in the voice.

Songs from fields, festivals and doorways.

Folk songs such as kajri, sohar and lavani belong to a season, a ritual or a task, and were passed along by voice. Written down, they keep their refrains and their plain speech.

The song, made new.

Navgeet kept the refrain and the music of the song but brought in village life, city tiredness and everyday speech. The poets of this movement wanted lyric poetry that sounded like the present, not like a textbook.

Rhymes for children.

Short, playful poems built on sound, counting and repetition. They are small enough to read aloud to a child, and good enough that adults tend to remember them.