Well, I couldn’t avoid the Irish verse forms forever, as much as I’d like to. At first glance the Snám Suad (pronounced sNaao Sooud) seems like a simple little poem. It’s only eight lines (an octostich), but don’t let its brevity fool you.
The literal translation of the name is “swimming of the sages” but the meaning is “poetic floating.” It only has 24 syllables to it, 3 per line. Lines 4 and 8 should each be a single, 3-syllable word. The rhyme scheme is: a-a-b-c-d-d-d-c
As well, it should include a dunadh, beginning and ending the poem with the same word, phrase, or line as a kind of refrain. It’s written with cywddydd (harmony of sound) and focuses more on the sounds and images than any particular meaning. If possible, line 7 should use alliteration.
Schematic:
xxa
xxa
xxb
xxc
xxd
xxd
xxd
xxc
I gotta say, this form was a little tricky to write, especially getting the first line and the single word of the last line to correspond. In my last example, the word doesn’t exactly match, but I figure it still fits. And I wasn’t able to work the alliteration in. But most of the examples I saw didn’t have it either.
Summer
the sunlight
is too bright
to my eyes
highlighting
summer green
fresh and clean
perfect scene
sunlighting.
Ice Cream
Soft and sweet
perfect treat
ice cream cone
offering
perfect taste
lactose based
eat with haste
softening
Song
sing your song
sing it strong
sing with pride
fragmentize
with the note
not remote
from your throat
harmonize
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