Traditional Mongolian Meter

Traditional Mongolian Meter is thought to date back to Ghengis Kahn but the first record of this more sophisticated form is the 17th century. It is a little different than most forms in that the lines are head rhymed – which means the first syllable in each is the rhyming one.

It can be written in any number of quatrains. It is syllabic, usually 7 or 8 syllables per line. Each quatrain is head mono-rhymed – the first syllable of each of the four lines has the same rhyme.*

The schematic is this:
axxxxxxx
axxxxxxx
axxxxxxx
axxxxxxx

bxxxxxxx
bxxxxxxx
bxxxxxxx
bxxxxxxx

. . . And so forth.

This was an interesting form to work in - a change from the traditional rhyming and syllabic forms.



Moon Psalm

Opalescent silver moon
Owning superstitious minds -
Old as time and subject to
Omens leading us to fate.

Chasing stars across the sky,
Changeless in both shape and form,
Chained to earth by gravity,
Chafing to be free to roam.

Softened light reflected back -
Solace in the gentle night.
Songs of praise are sung to you,
Sonnets writ by ageless men.

*Source: Poetry Magnum Opus