The Nove Otto is an invented form, created by Scott J. Alcorn. I have very little to show for my research of this form, other than it consists of nine lines with eight syllables per line and a rhyme scheme of aacbbcddc. Even researching the creator of this form turned up very little. Mr. Alcorn also created the Tredici Sonnet and there is a website for an artist named Scott Alcorn who may, or may not, be the same person.
Schematic:
xxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxc
xxxxxxxb
xxxxxxxb
xxxxxxxc
xxxxxxxd
xxxxxxxd
xxxxxxxc
This was a little easier to write than I thought it would be, mainly because of the eight syllable lines.
The Poet’s Dream
If I’d a window into Dream
To gaze on things as yet unseen –
Infinite imagination.
To witness deeds as yet undone
And follow pathways yet unwon
No end to my exploration.
My words would capture things unknown,
Things only seen when I’m alone –
Poetry’s illumination.
Showing posts with label poetry forms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poetry forms. Show all posts
Jul 28, 2011
Jul 14, 2011
Vakh
Kashmiri poetry is from the northwest of India, bordering Pakistan, is said to be influenced by its setting. Kashmir is a valley framed by the Himalaya Mountains which reflects grandeur, serenity and vivid color. The language is a descendant of Sanskrit and influenced by Urdu.
Lallashwari was a mystic of the Kashmiri Shaivite sect, and at the same time, a Sufi saint. She is a creator of the mystic poetry called vatsun or Vakhs, literally 'speech'. These Vakhs are the earliest compositions in the Kashmiri language and are an important part in history of Kashmiri literature.
The Vakhs record the moment when Kashmiri began to emerge, as a modern language, from the Sanskrit-descended Apabhramsaprakrit that had been the common language of the region through the first millennium CE. The word Vakh, applicable both as singular and plural, is cognate with the Sanskrit vac,'speech', and vakya,'sentence'. This has prompted previous translators to render it as 'saying','verse' and 'verse-teaching'.
A total of 258 Vakhs attributed to Lalla have circulated widely in Kashmiri popular culture between the mid-14th century and the present, variously assuming the form of songs, proverbs and prayers. They are comprised of four or sometimes more than four lines, and are full of mystic excellence with a spiritual depth and clarity. Generally they are kept short, with only one stanza, but the Vakh can have more than one stanza as well.
I’m not sure if my example captured the spirituality of a true Vakh, but I did manage more than one stanza.
A stirring of the spirit
The seed of faith newly found
Eyes are lifted to the sky
At the dawn of a new day
The cycle of life begins
New life unfurls, greets the sun
Rain quenching the thirsty earth
The time of growing has come
And then harvest time draws near
Growth is done, time now to reap
Souls unfettered from the earth
Set them free to fly away
The cycle of life goes on
Whether we will it or no
Ashes to ashes to the earth
The cycle is completed.
Lallashwari was a mystic of the Kashmiri Shaivite sect, and at the same time, a Sufi saint. She is a creator of the mystic poetry called vatsun or Vakhs, literally 'speech'. These Vakhs are the earliest compositions in the Kashmiri language and are an important part in history of Kashmiri literature.
The Vakhs record the moment when Kashmiri began to emerge, as a modern language, from the Sanskrit-descended Apabhramsaprakrit that had been the common language of the region through the first millennium CE. The word Vakh, applicable both as singular and plural, is cognate with the Sanskrit vac,'speech', and vakya,'sentence'. This has prompted previous translators to render it as 'saying','verse' and 'verse-teaching'.
A total of 258 Vakhs attributed to Lalla have circulated widely in Kashmiri popular culture between the mid-14th century and the present, variously assuming the form of songs, proverbs and prayers. They are comprised of four or sometimes more than four lines, and are full of mystic excellence with a spiritual depth and clarity. Generally they are kept short, with only one stanza, but the Vakh can have more than one stanza as well.
I’m not sure if my example captured the spirituality of a true Vakh, but I did manage more than one stanza.
A stirring of the spirit
The seed of faith newly found
Eyes are lifted to the sky
At the dawn of a new day
The cycle of life begins
New life unfurls, greets the sun
Rain quenching the thirsty earth
The time of growing has come
And then harvest time draws near
Growth is done, time now to reap
Souls unfettered from the earth
Set them free to fly away
The cycle of life goes on
Whether we will it or no
Ashes to ashes to the earth
The cycle is completed.
Jul 7, 2011
Dizain
The Dizain is a French poetry form dating back to the 14th and 15th century. The time frame seems to correspond to early sonnets, as poets sometimes chose between the two forms.
The Dizain is a complete poem containing only one verse of eight or ten lines and rhyming in a specific pattern. If it has ten lines, it may also be called a "decastich." It was initially made up of eight syllable lines, but later ten syllable lines were also used. The number of syllables should be the same for every line, either eight syllables or ten. There should be no variation from line to line.
A few examples of this form in England did prefer Iambic Pentameter, but that's purely up to the poet. The rhyming pattern should be "a - b - a - b - b - c - c - d - c - d" for the ten-line stanza, "a - b - a - b - c - d - c - d" for the octet, or eight-line version.
Though the form is not particularly difficult, I could not for the life of me come up with an original example. I think my poetry muse is on a vacation – hopefully she’ll be back next week.
Golden Lord
Listen again as the chorus calls out
At the transition from darkness to light
Hearing the Galahs as they loudly shout
Revelling in the freedom from last night,
And like other avians prepare for flight.
The wakened sun sends out its golden shoots
As scouts leading the way along its route
Heralding the passage of the lord of day
See each dawn the Angels make their salute
Welcoming the Golden One passing by.
By Ryter Reothicle
The Dizain is a complete poem containing only one verse of eight or ten lines and rhyming in a specific pattern. If it has ten lines, it may also be called a "decastich." It was initially made up of eight syllable lines, but later ten syllable lines were also used. The number of syllables should be the same for every line, either eight syllables or ten. There should be no variation from line to line.
A few examples of this form in England did prefer Iambic Pentameter, but that's purely up to the poet. The rhyming pattern should be "a - b - a - b - b - c - c - d - c - d" for the ten-line stanza, "a - b - a - b - c - d - c - d" for the octet, or eight-line version.
Though the form is not particularly difficult, I could not for the life of me come up with an original example. I think my poetry muse is on a vacation – hopefully she’ll be back next week.
Golden Lord
Listen again as the chorus calls out
At the transition from darkness to light
Hearing the Galahs as they loudly shout
Revelling in the freedom from last night,
And like other avians prepare for flight.
The wakened sun sends out its golden shoots
As scouts leading the way along its route
Heralding the passage of the lord of day
See each dawn the Angels make their salute
Welcoming the Golden One passing by.
By Ryter Reothicle
May 12, 2011
Rictameter
A Rictameter is an interesting, and visually beautiful type of poem. When centered it has a diamond shape. It is written in nine unrhymed lines with a specific syllable count.
You start with a line of two syllables, then consecutively increase each syllable number in the next lines by two, until you reach ten syllables in the fifth line. Then, you start decreasing by two syllables, until you reach the same two syllable line you started with.
If you wish to experiment with a rictameter, there are a number of ways to do so, one of which, the simplest, is to not use the same 2 syllable word from line one in line nine. There are also "double rictameters" which is basically one poem, of two rictameters in a row, which again is very visually expressive. There is also the inverted rictameter, in which you start with a ten syllable line, go down to a two syllable, line and then go upwards again to the ten syllable ninth line.
Schematic:
Line 1: xx
Line 2: xxxx
Line 3: xxxxxx
Line 4: xxxxxxxx
Line 5; xxxxxxxxxx
Line 6: xxxxxxxx
Line 7: xxxxxx
Line 8: xxxx
Line 9: xx (same as line 1)
The first time I saw this form was in my highschool creative writing newsletter. I didn’t know what the form was, but I remember thinking it looked really cool and I wondered how they did it. Now I know. :-)
Summer Symphony
Summer
Is heard in song
Bullfrogs in the millpond
Accompanied by cricket chirp
The marble fountain tinkling merrily
The warm breeze shushing through the trees
Playing with the wind chimes
A symphonic
Summer
Summer Storm
Silence
The night is still
The summer wind has died
Dark clouds rush in and sky grows dark
Growling, crashing and then lightning flashing
Fading slowly storm is passing
All we can do is wait
For impending
Silence
You start with a line of two syllables, then consecutively increase each syllable number in the next lines by two, until you reach ten syllables in the fifth line. Then, you start decreasing by two syllables, until you reach the same two syllable line you started with.
If you wish to experiment with a rictameter, there are a number of ways to do so, one of which, the simplest, is to not use the same 2 syllable word from line one in line nine. There are also "double rictameters" which is basically one poem, of two rictameters in a row, which again is very visually expressive. There is also the inverted rictameter, in which you start with a ten syllable line, go down to a two syllable, line and then go upwards again to the ten syllable ninth line.
Schematic:
Line 1: xx
Line 2: xxxx
Line 3: xxxxxx
Line 4: xxxxxxxx
Line 5; xxxxxxxxxx
Line 6: xxxxxxxx
Line 7: xxxxxx
Line 8: xxxx
Line 9: xx (same as line 1)
The first time I saw this form was in my highschool creative writing newsletter. I didn’t know what the form was, but I remember thinking it looked really cool and I wondered how they did it. Now I know. :-)
Summer
Is heard in song
Bullfrogs in the millpond
Accompanied by cricket chirp
The marble fountain tinkling merrily
The warm breeze shushing through the trees
Playing with the wind chimes
A symphonic
Summer
Summer Storm
Silence
The night is still
The summer wind has died
Dark clouds rush in and sky grows dark
Growling, crashing and then lightning flashing
Fading slowly storm is passing
All we can do is wait
For impending
Silence
Jan 27, 2011
Rondeau
The rondeau began as a lyric form in thirteenth-century France, popular among medieval court poets and musicians. Named after the French word for "round," the rondeau is characterized by the repeating lines of the refrain and the two rhyme sounds throughout. The form was originally a musical vehicle devoted to emotional subjects such as spiritual worship, courtship, romance, and the changing of seasons.
The rondeau’s form is not difficult to recognize: it is composed of fifteen lines, eight to ten syllables each, divided stanzaically into a quintet, a quatrain, and a sestet. The refrain consists of the first few words or the entire first line of the first stanza, and it recurs as the last line of both the second and third stanzas. Two rhymes guide the music of the rondeau, whose rhyme scheme is as follows (R representing the refrain):
Quintet: (Ra)abba
Quatrain: aabR
Sestet: aabbaR
Within the Dark
Within the dark I hear a call
It wraps around me like a shawl
The time has come to set things right
To mend the broken soul of night
And hope disaster to forestall
It started with an angel’s fall
That cast upon my mind a pall
No redemption is forthright
Within the dark
I wonder when we’ll see it all
When time slows down to just a crawl
The rise, the fall, eternal fight
Of deepest dark against the light
Of all the things that can befall
Within the dark
The rondeau’s form is not difficult to recognize: it is composed of fifteen lines, eight to ten syllables each, divided stanzaically into a quintet, a quatrain, and a sestet. The refrain consists of the first few words or the entire first line of the first stanza, and it recurs as the last line of both the second and third stanzas. Two rhymes guide the music of the rondeau, whose rhyme scheme is as follows (R representing the refrain):
Quintet: (Ra)abba
Quatrain: aabR
Sestet: aabbaR
Within the Dark
Within the dark I hear a call
It wraps around me like a shawl
The time has come to set things right
To mend the broken soul of night
And hope disaster to forestall
It started with an angel’s fall
That cast upon my mind a pall
No redemption is forthright
Within the dark
I wonder when we’ll see it all
When time slows down to just a crawl
The rise, the fall, eternal fight
Of deepest dark against the light
Of all the things that can befall
Within the dark
Jan 13, 2011
Canzone
This is a form that I had started to explore at one time, then abandoned thinking it was a little too complicated for the time frame I was working with.
The canzone is an Italian form with strong similarities to the sestina. There are no rhymes; instead there are five keywords that determine the structure of the poem. Every line ends with one of the keywords, which must appear in a prescribed order.
Scholars believe that the first canzone was delivered at the Sicilian court of Frederick II during the early 13th century, leading to an explosion of early canzone, ballata, and sonnet compositions on the island.
While many believe the canzone influenced the sonnet, the two forms actually developed side-by-side in the 13th century. The canzone grew more popular when the triumvirate of pre-Renaissance Italian poetry and literature – Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarch, and Giovanni Boccaccio – learned and publicized the form.
The structure of the canzone is five verses of 12 lines with a five line envoi. It was originally syllabic, using Italianate lines. In English it is often written in iambic pentameter, but it is really up to the poet whether the poem is to be syllabic, metered or unmetered.
The layout is as follows:
stanza 1: abaacaaddaee
stanza 2: eaeebeeccedd
stanza 3: deddaddbbdcc
stanza 4: cdcceccaacbb
stanza 5: bcbbdbbeebaa
envoi: abcde
It wasn’t until I attempted to create an original example of a canzone that I figured out why I’d abandoned it in the first place. It’s even worse than a sestina! While I did start writing a canzone and have every intention of one day finishing it, the example below is not by me.
Canzone
When shall we learn, what should be clear as day,
We cannot choose what we are free to love?
Although the mouse we banished yesterday
Is an enraged rhinoceros today,
Our value is more threatened than we know:
Shabby objections to our present day
Go snooping round its outskirts; night and day
Faces, orations, battles, bait our will
As questionable forms and noises will;
Whole phyla of resentments every day
Give status to the wild men of the world
Who rule the absent-minded and this world.
We are created from and with the world
To suffer with and from it day by day:
Whether we meet in a majestic world
Of solid measurements or a dream world
Of swans and gold, we are required to love
All homeless objects that require a world.
Our claim to own our bodies and our world
Is our catastrophe. What can we know
But panic and caprice until we know
Our dreadful appetite demands a world
Whose order, origin, and purpose will
Be fluent satisfaction of our will?
Drift, Autumn, drift; fall, colours, where you will:
Bald melancholia minces through the world.
Regret, cold oceans, the lymphatic will
Caught in reflection on the right to will:
While violent dogs excite their dying day
To bacchic fury; snarl, though, as they will,
Their teeth are not a triumph for the will
But utter hesitation. What we love
Ourselves for is our power not to love,
To shrink to nothing or explode at will,
To ruin and remember that we know
What ruins and hyenas cannot know.
If in this dark now I less often know
That spiral staircase where the haunted will
Hunts for its stolen luggage, who should know
Better than you, beloved, how I know
What gives security to any world.
Or in whose mirror I begin to know
The chaos of the heart as merchants know
Their coins and cities, genius its own day?
For through our lively traffic all the day,
In my own person I am forced to know
How much must be forgotten out of love,
How much must be forgiven, even love.
Dear flesh, dear mind, dear spirit, O dear love,
In the depths of myself blind monsters know
Your presence and are angry, dreading Love
That asks its image for more than love;
The hot rampageous horses of my will,
Catching the scent of Heaven, whinny: Love
Gives no excuse to evil done for love,
Neither in you, nor me, nor armies, nor the world
Of words and wheels, nor any other world.
Dear fellow-creature, praise our God of Love
That we are so admonished, that no day
Of conscious trial be a wasted day.
Or else we make a scarecrow of the day,
Loose ends and jumble of our common world,
And stuff and nonsense of our own free will;
Or else our changing flesh may never know
There must be sorrow if there can be love.
~ Wystan Hugh Auden
The canzone is an Italian form with strong similarities to the sestina. There are no rhymes; instead there are five keywords that determine the structure of the poem. Every line ends with one of the keywords, which must appear in a prescribed order.
Scholars believe that the first canzone was delivered at the Sicilian court of Frederick II during the early 13th century, leading to an explosion of early canzone, ballata, and sonnet compositions on the island.
While many believe the canzone influenced the sonnet, the two forms actually developed side-by-side in the 13th century. The canzone grew more popular when the triumvirate of pre-Renaissance Italian poetry and literature – Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarch, and Giovanni Boccaccio – learned and publicized the form.
The structure of the canzone is five verses of 12 lines with a five line envoi. It was originally syllabic, using Italianate lines. In English it is often written in iambic pentameter, but it is really up to the poet whether the poem is to be syllabic, metered or unmetered.
The layout is as follows:
stanza 1: abaacaaddaee
stanza 2: eaeebeeccedd
stanza 3: deddaddbbdcc
stanza 4: cdcceccaacbb
stanza 5: bcbbdbbeebaa
envoi: abcde
It wasn’t until I attempted to create an original example of a canzone that I figured out why I’d abandoned it in the first place. It’s even worse than a sestina! While I did start writing a canzone and have every intention of one day finishing it, the example below is not by me.
Canzone
When shall we learn, what should be clear as day,
We cannot choose what we are free to love?
Although the mouse we banished yesterday
Is an enraged rhinoceros today,
Our value is more threatened than we know:
Shabby objections to our present day
Go snooping round its outskirts; night and day
Faces, orations, battles, bait our will
As questionable forms and noises will;
Whole phyla of resentments every day
Give status to the wild men of the world
Who rule the absent-minded and this world.
We are created from and with the world
To suffer with and from it day by day:
Whether we meet in a majestic world
Of solid measurements or a dream world
Of swans and gold, we are required to love
All homeless objects that require a world.
Our claim to own our bodies and our world
Is our catastrophe. What can we know
But panic and caprice until we know
Our dreadful appetite demands a world
Whose order, origin, and purpose will
Be fluent satisfaction of our will?
Drift, Autumn, drift; fall, colours, where you will:
Bald melancholia minces through the world.
Regret, cold oceans, the lymphatic will
Caught in reflection on the right to will:
While violent dogs excite their dying day
To bacchic fury; snarl, though, as they will,
Their teeth are not a triumph for the will
But utter hesitation. What we love
Ourselves for is our power not to love,
To shrink to nothing or explode at will,
To ruin and remember that we know
What ruins and hyenas cannot know.
If in this dark now I less often know
That spiral staircase where the haunted will
Hunts for its stolen luggage, who should know
Better than you, beloved, how I know
What gives security to any world.
Or in whose mirror I begin to know
The chaos of the heart as merchants know
Their coins and cities, genius its own day?
For through our lively traffic all the day,
In my own person I am forced to know
How much must be forgotten out of love,
How much must be forgiven, even love.
Dear flesh, dear mind, dear spirit, O dear love,
In the depths of myself blind monsters know
Your presence and are angry, dreading Love
That asks its image for more than love;
The hot rampageous horses of my will,
Catching the scent of Heaven, whinny: Love
Gives no excuse to evil done for love,
Neither in you, nor me, nor armies, nor the world
Of words and wheels, nor any other world.
Dear fellow-creature, praise our God of Love
That we are so admonished, that no day
Of conscious trial be a wasted day.
Or else we make a scarecrow of the day,
Loose ends and jumble of our common world,
And stuff and nonsense of our own free will;
Or else our changing flesh may never know
There must be sorrow if there can be love.
~ Wystan Hugh Auden
Jul 29, 2010
Rispetto
The Rispetto is a 15th century Italian verse form. The name was taken from the purpose of the poetry, which was the poet paying respects to his lady love.
It consists of two rhyme quatrains with strict meter. The meter is usually iambic tetrameter with a rhyme scheme of ababccdd, abababcc, or abab cddc. A Heroic Rispetto is written in iambic pentameter, usually featuring the same rhyme scheme.
Meter is the organization of speech rhythms (stresses) into regular patterns. Poetry is organized by the division of each line of verse into "feet," metric units which each consist of a particular arrangement of strong and weak stresses. The most common metric unit is the iambic foot, in which an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed one.
Meter is also determined by the number of feet in a line. A line with five feet is called pentameter; thus, a line of five iambs is known as "iambic pentameter" (the most common metrical form in English poetry).
The most common line lengths are:
trimeter: three feet
tetrameter: four feet
pentameter: five feet
hexameter: six feet (an "Alexandrine" when iambic)
heptameter: seven feet (a "fourteener" when iambic)
Though typically the Rispetto only had one stanza, it was not uncommon to have more. I, of course, chose to stick with one for my example. :-)
Unfated
We met by chance, it was not planned;
A glance, a touch, and we were lost
There’s no denying love’s demand -
We did not think about the cost.
We should have known life isn’t fair
When perfect love became despair;
Two lovers torn apart again,
Where once was love is naught but pain.
It consists of two rhyme quatrains with strict meter. The meter is usually iambic tetrameter with a rhyme scheme of ababccdd, abababcc, or abab cddc. A Heroic Rispetto is written in iambic pentameter, usually featuring the same rhyme scheme.
Meter is the organization of speech rhythms (stresses) into regular patterns. Poetry is organized by the division of each line of verse into "feet," metric units which each consist of a particular arrangement of strong and weak stresses. The most common metric unit is the iambic foot, in which an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed one.
Meter is also determined by the number of feet in a line. A line with five feet is called pentameter; thus, a line of five iambs is known as "iambic pentameter" (the most common metrical form in English poetry).
The most common line lengths are:
trimeter: three feet
tetrameter: four feet
pentameter: five feet
hexameter: six feet (an "Alexandrine" when iambic)
heptameter: seven feet (a "fourteener" when iambic)
Though typically the Rispetto only had one stanza, it was not uncommon to have more. I, of course, chose to stick with one for my example. :-)
Unfated
We met by chance, it was not planned;
A glance, a touch, and we were lost
There’s no denying love’s demand -
We did not think about the cost.
We should have known life isn’t fair
When perfect love became despair;
Two lovers torn apart again,
Where once was love is naught but pain.
Jul 22, 2010
Abecedarius
An abecedarius is a poem in which each line or stanza begins with a successive letter of the alphabet. To be honest, when I first came across this form I thought it was going to be a modern, invented form. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the Abecedarius is a very old form. It was often used in ancient cultures for sacred compositions, such as prayers, hymns and oracles.
Historically, alphabets have often been given significance similar to that of numerology, in which numbers are given mystical meaning. This could explain why abecedarii are often religious in nature.
One of the most highly regarded examples is Psalm 118 (or 119 by King James numbering). It consists of twenty-two eight-line stanzas, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Unfortunately, the translation does not reflect the Hebrew alphabetical sequence, although I did find a bible that listed the Hebrew letter at the beginning of each stanza.
In 1375, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote "An ABC", a translation of a French prayer into twenty-three eight-line stanzas that follow the medieval alphabet (minus J, U, V, and W).
The modern Abecedarian poem is most often used as a mnemonic device or word game. There are, however, many more serious examples such as Carolyn Forché’s forty-seven page poem, "On Earth," where she adheres not only to alphabetical order as a guide to the stanzas, but also the words themselves.
To see some excellent examples of this form, click HERE.
And here is my own example:
A path lies before me
But before I make that first step
Careful consideration must be taken,
Direction must be chosen with care
Else all I have worked for will be
Forgotten, lost to time.
Gainsay me not
However you may feel.
Independence is gained at a cost,
Justified by circumstance perhaps but
Kindling forever a doubt that
Leaving the old behind
Might not be the wisest choice.
Nomadic wanderings are not the answer.
Oblivion beckons,
Paradise is waiting in the wings, filled with
Quixotic imaginings and
Ragamuffin dreams.
Sanctimonious souls preaching restraint
Taint the free will but leave me
Unmoved by their words.
Venomous thoughts seep through the cracks,
Waiting their turn for recognition like
Xenolith fragments in a rock.
Yearning to be elsewhere, the
Zephyr takes me away.
Historically, alphabets have often been given significance similar to that of numerology, in which numbers are given mystical meaning. This could explain why abecedarii are often religious in nature.
One of the most highly regarded examples is Psalm 118 (or 119 by King James numbering). It consists of twenty-two eight-line stanzas, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Unfortunately, the translation does not reflect the Hebrew alphabetical sequence, although I did find a bible that listed the Hebrew letter at the beginning of each stanza.
In 1375, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote "An ABC", a translation of a French prayer into twenty-three eight-line stanzas that follow the medieval alphabet (minus J, U, V, and W).
The modern Abecedarian poem is most often used as a mnemonic device or word game. There are, however, many more serious examples such as Carolyn Forché’s forty-seven page poem, "On Earth," where she adheres not only to alphabetical order as a guide to the stanzas, but also the words themselves.
To see some excellent examples of this form, click HERE.
And here is my own example:
A path lies before me
But before I make that first step
Careful consideration must be taken,
Direction must be chosen with care
Else all I have worked for will be
Forgotten, lost to time.
Gainsay me not
However you may feel.
Independence is gained at a cost,
Justified by circumstance perhaps but
Kindling forever a doubt that
Leaving the old behind
Might not be the wisest choice.
Nomadic wanderings are not the answer.
Oblivion beckons,
Paradise is waiting in the wings, filled with
Quixotic imaginings and
Ragamuffin dreams.
Sanctimonious souls preaching restraint
Taint the free will but leave me
Unmoved by their words.
Venomous thoughts seep through the cracks,
Waiting their turn for recognition like
Xenolith fragments in a rock.
Yearning to be elsewhere, the
Zephyr takes me away.
Jul 1, 2010
Rime Couée
The Rime Couée is a verse form of 12th century Provencal troubadours. The are some who believe it to be the predecessor of the Burns Stanza, a more popular Scots form, but I have found nothing to support this.
It consists of two rhymes. First there is a rhyming couplet of normally of eight syllables then a third and shorter line of six. The two couplets rhyme as do the two shorter lines. This gives us a suggested pattern :
x x x x x x x a
x x x x x x x a
x x x x x b
x x x x x x x a
x x x x x x x a
x x x x x b
The Rime Couée can have any number of stanzas, as long as it keeps the syllable count. The rhyme scheme can either be aabaab or aabccb. In my example you may notice the first stanza is mono-rhymed. This wasn’t deliberate, it was done purely by accident. :-)
The Tryst
The scent of lilac in the air
The summer sun upon her hair
Her beauty, oh, so rare
Passersby will stop and stare
Such a vision, meant to share
She is so very fair.
Preoccupied, she sees them not
She waits for he whose eye she caught
It was love at first sight
She was certain this was the spot
There was no chance that he forgot
She prayed he was all right
At last she hears a certain pace
And then beholds a much-loved face
Her fears are soon forgot
And though he feels he’s in disgrace
She warms his heart with her embrace
And once again he’s caught.
It consists of two rhymes. First there is a rhyming couplet of normally of eight syllables then a third and shorter line of six. The two couplets rhyme as do the two shorter lines. This gives us a suggested pattern :
x x x x x x x a
x x x x x x x a
x x x x x b
x x x x x x x a
x x x x x x x a
x x x x x b
The Rime Couée can have any number of stanzas, as long as it keeps the syllable count. The rhyme scheme can either be aabaab or aabccb. In my example you may notice the first stanza is mono-rhymed. This wasn’t deliberate, it was done purely by accident. :-)
The Tryst
The scent of lilac in the air
The summer sun upon her hair
Her beauty, oh, so rare
Passersby will stop and stare
Such a vision, meant to share
She is so very fair.
Preoccupied, she sees them not
She waits for he whose eye she caught
It was love at first sight
She was certain this was the spot
There was no chance that he forgot
She prayed he was all right
At last she hears a certain pace
And then beholds a much-loved face
Her fears are soon forgot
And though he feels he’s in disgrace
She warms his heart with her embrace
And once again he’s caught.
Jun 24, 2010
Décima
Because the décima had its start in Spain, much of its early history is in Spanish and unfortunately I only took one year of Spanish in high school. :-)
For the Spanish in the 14th and 15th centuries, the décima was a term used to describe any 10 line stanza. The form was developed by Vencinente Espinela into a verse form and was commonly referred to as “the little sonnet.”
The décima was also one of the most popular song forms in fifteenth-century Spain and has had a very strong presence in Latin America (Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Mexico), where it is still commonly heard. While the décima refers to a ten-line stanza of poetry, the song form generally consists of forty-four lines (an introductory four-line stanza followed by four ten-line stanzas).
The décima deals with a wide range of subject matter, including themes that are philosophical, religious, lyrical, and political. Humorous décimas typically would satirize an individual's weakness or foolish act. A decimero (someone who creates a décima) would frequently challenge the target of the satire or his/her defender to respond in kind with a décima, thereby setting up a song duel that tested the originality and wit of contending composers.
The structure and rhyme scheme of the Décima looks like this:
xxxxxxxA
xxxxxxxB
xxxxxxxB
xxxxxxxA
xxxxxxxA
xxxxxxxC
xxxxxxxC
xxxxxxxD
xxxxxxxD
xxxxxxxC
While a modern décima may have any number of stanzas, I chose to stick to the original “little sonnet” format of a single, ten line stanza.
Evening Song
Skin still warm from the summer sun
Glimmering in the fading light
Waiting until the moment’s right
Waiting until the day is done
Waiting for that special someone
The touch, the taste, the feel of him
The bending to another’s whim
Anticipation building slow
Reach the peak and then overflow
The moment caught, too soon to dim.
For the Spanish in the 14th and 15th centuries, the décima was a term used to describe any 10 line stanza. The form was developed by Vencinente Espinela into a verse form and was commonly referred to as “the little sonnet.”
The décima was also one of the most popular song forms in fifteenth-century Spain and has had a very strong presence in Latin America (Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Mexico), where it is still commonly heard. While the décima refers to a ten-line stanza of poetry, the song form generally consists of forty-four lines (an introductory four-line stanza followed by four ten-line stanzas).
The décima deals with a wide range of subject matter, including themes that are philosophical, religious, lyrical, and political. Humorous décimas typically would satirize an individual's weakness or foolish act. A decimero (someone who creates a décima) would frequently challenge the target of the satire or his/her defender to respond in kind with a décima, thereby setting up a song duel that tested the originality and wit of contending composers.
The structure and rhyme scheme of the Décima looks like this:
xxxxxxxA
xxxxxxxB
xxxxxxxB
xxxxxxxA
xxxxxxxA
xxxxxxxC
xxxxxxxC
xxxxxxxD
xxxxxxxD
xxxxxxxC
While a modern décima may have any number of stanzas, I chose to stick to the original “little sonnet” format of a single, ten line stanza.
Evening Song
Skin still warm from the summer sun
Glimmering in the fading light
Waiting until the moment’s right
Waiting until the day is done
Waiting for that special someone
The touch, the taste, the feel of him
The bending to another’s whim
Anticipation building slow
Reach the peak and then overflow
The moment caught, too soon to dim.
Jun 10, 2010
Minute Poem
Minute Poetry
The Minute Poem was created by Verna Lee Hinegardner, poet laureate of Arkansas, in the 1960s. It is a rhyming verse form consisting of 12 lines of 60 syllables written in strict iambic meter. The poem is formatted into 3 stanzas of 8,4,4,4; 8,4,4,4; 8,4,4,4 syllables. The rhyme scheme is as follows: aabb, ccdd, eeff. The minute is capitalized and punctuated like prose and captures a slice of life.
Schematic:
xxxxxxxa
xxxa
xxxb
xxxb
xxxxxxxc
xxxc
xxxd
xxxd
xxxxxxxe
xxxe
xxxf
xxxf
where "x" is the syllable count, "a" through "f" rhyme
Example :
I Need Someone
By Linda Newman
I need someone to hold me tight
Through dark of night,
Who won’t go ’way
At break of day.
Someone whose love will mend the seams
Of broken dreams,
And give me back
The trust I lack.
For love, it holds the magic key
To set me free,
To heal my soul
And make me whole.
You'll have to forgive me for not doing my own example, but as per the way my luck has been going lately, I got a tooth ache which made it really hard to concentrate on anything but the pain. :-0
The Minute Poem was created by Verna Lee Hinegardner, poet laureate of Arkansas, in the 1960s. It is a rhyming verse form consisting of 12 lines of 60 syllables written in strict iambic meter. The poem is formatted into 3 stanzas of 8,4,4,4; 8,4,4,4; 8,4,4,4 syllables. The rhyme scheme is as follows: aabb, ccdd, eeff. The minute is capitalized and punctuated like prose and captures a slice of life.
Schematic:
xxxxxxxa
xxxa
xxxb
xxxb
xxxxxxxc
xxxc
xxxd
xxxd
xxxxxxxe
xxxe
xxxf
xxxf
where "x" is the syllable count, "a" through "f" rhyme
Example :
I Need Someone
By Linda Newman
I need someone to hold me tight
Through dark of night,
Who won’t go ’way
At break of day.
Someone whose love will mend the seams
Of broken dreams,
And give me back
The trust I lack.
For love, it holds the magic key
To set me free,
To heal my soul
And make me whole.
You'll have to forgive me for not doing my own example, but as per the way my luck has been going lately, I got a tooth ache which made it really hard to concentrate on anything but the pain. :-0
Jun 4, 2010
Cro Cumaisc Etir Casbairnde Ocus Lethrannaigecht
Yes, that's right. I never got this post up yesterday so it's poetry today, serial tomorrow. Sorry!
I like Bob Newman’s definition of this form the best: This is an Irish verse form. The name means "Sorry, the translator can't take your call at the moment".
Irish poetry began with an oral tradition which depended upon rhyme to assist the memory. The ancient Irish poets, filidh (from the verb, to see) were highly respected and thought to have magical powers similar to the Welsh poets.
The Irish patterns depend heavily on alliteration, consonance and assonance, sharing the word cywdydd (harmony of sound) with the Welsh. A defining feature of ancient Irish poetry is, dunadh, beginning and ending the poem with the same syllable, word or line. This brings the poem full circle.
Around the 5th century, Christianity came to Ireland. With its introduction the filidh gave up their "magical" role and became "scholars". The poetry that emerged from the 6th to 12th century is intricately formal, dán dÃreach ("straight or strict verse"). During this time Ireland became known as an "island of saints and scholars".
The early Church in Ireland was unusually well organized. The Latin influenced system enabled the monks to record and preserve much of the ancient poetry. The Cro Cumaisc Etir Casbairnde Ocus Lethrannaigecht developed from this history and carrying the tradition of the ancient bards into the present.
The form calls for any number of 4-line stanzas rhyming abab. There’s also a strict syllable count, and here’s where my sources disagree. While some claim the syllable count is 7-5-7-5, others claim the count is 5-7-5-7. Being Irish, the lengths of the rhyming words are also specified, in this case as 3, 1, 3, 1. The 3 does not indicate triple rhymes; the requirement is simply that the rhyming words are three syllables long.
The verse form looks like this:
x x x x(x x a)
x x x x b
x x x x (x x a)
x x x x b
or
x x (x x a)
x x x x x x b
x x (x x a)
x x x x x x b
Cast Out
At the dawn of creation
when the world was new,
grew the tree of temptation –
fruit enough for two.
The serpent, so seductive
with his apple sweet –
this one act so destructive
such a deadly treat.
Should they have asked permission
Before they had a taste?
Theirs, a sin of omission
And a fall from grace.
Tears of grief and frustration,
yet they left the glade.
Faint the hope of salvation
in a promise made.
Life can be so oppressive
in this world of sins,
making man so agressive -
a game no one wins.
I like Bob Newman’s definition of this form the best: This is an Irish verse form. The name means "Sorry, the translator can't take your call at the moment".
Irish poetry began with an oral tradition which depended upon rhyme to assist the memory. The ancient Irish poets, filidh (from the verb, to see) were highly respected and thought to have magical powers similar to the Welsh poets.
The Irish patterns depend heavily on alliteration, consonance and assonance, sharing the word cywdydd (harmony of sound) with the Welsh. A defining feature of ancient Irish poetry is, dunadh, beginning and ending the poem with the same syllable, word or line. This brings the poem full circle.
Around the 5th century, Christianity came to Ireland. With its introduction the filidh gave up their "magical" role and became "scholars". The poetry that emerged from the 6th to 12th century is intricately formal, dán dÃreach ("straight or strict verse"). During this time Ireland became known as an "island of saints and scholars".
The early Church in Ireland was unusually well organized. The Latin influenced system enabled the monks to record and preserve much of the ancient poetry. The Cro Cumaisc Etir Casbairnde Ocus Lethrannaigecht developed from this history and carrying the tradition of the ancient bards into the present.
The form calls for any number of 4-line stanzas rhyming abab. There’s also a strict syllable count, and here’s where my sources disagree. While some claim the syllable count is 7-5-7-5, others claim the count is 5-7-5-7. Being Irish, the lengths of the rhyming words are also specified, in this case as 3, 1, 3, 1. The 3 does not indicate triple rhymes; the requirement is simply that the rhyming words are three syllables long.
The verse form looks like this:
x x x x(x x a)
x x x x b
x x x x (x x a)
x x x x b
or
x x (x x a)
x x x x x x b
x x (x x a)
x x x x x x b
Cast Out
At the dawn of creation
when the world was new,
grew the tree of temptation –
fruit enough for two.
The serpent, so seductive
with his apple sweet –
this one act so destructive
such a deadly treat.
Should they have asked permission
Before they had a taste?
Theirs, a sin of omission
And a fall from grace.
Tears of grief and frustration,
yet they left the glade.
Faint the hope of salvation
in a promise made.
Life can be so oppressive
in this world of sins,
making man so agressive -
a game no one wins.
May 27, 2010
Quinzaine
Oops! This is what happens when you schedule a post without your glasses. I had it set for PM instead of AM and when I checked it after work it wouldn't let me change it. Silly blogger!
When I promise a short form, I really mean it! :-)
The English word quinzaine come from the French word qunize, meaning fifteen. A quinzaine is an unrhymed verse of fifteen syllables.
These syllables are distributed among three lines so that there are seven syllables in the first line, five in the second line and three in the third line (7/5/3). The first line makes a statement. The next two lines ask a question relating to that statement.
Here's the pattern:
Line 1: Statement of 7 syllables
Line 2: Beginning of question with 5 syllables
Line 3: End of question with 3 syllables
As you will probably be able to tell, I had a lot of fun with these:
I love the changing seasons
Is it summer yet?
Who can tell?
The koi swim in lazy rings
What are they thinking?
Do they think?
The gardens look amazing
Is it the flowers?
Or colours?
Ducks landing in our pool
Have you eaten yet?
Want some bread?
A new adventure looming
Am I brave enough?
Will I dare?
When I promise a short form, I really mean it! :-)
The English word quinzaine come from the French word qunize, meaning fifteen. A quinzaine is an unrhymed verse of fifteen syllables.
These syllables are distributed among three lines so that there are seven syllables in the first line, five in the second line and three in the third line (7/5/3). The first line makes a statement. The next two lines ask a question relating to that statement.
Here's the pattern:
Line 1: Statement of 7 syllables
Line 2: Beginning of question with 5 syllables
Line 3: End of question with 3 syllables
As you will probably be able to tell, I had a lot of fun with these:
I love the changing seasons
Is it summer yet?
Who can tell?
The koi swim in lazy rings
What are they thinking?
Do they think?
The gardens look amazing
Is it the flowers?
Or colours?
Ducks landing in our pool
Have you eaten yet?
Want some bread?
A new adventure looming
Am I brave enough?
Will I dare?
May 13, 2010
Huitain
There are those who claim the Huitain is Spanish in origin, and others who swear it’s French. What everyone can agree on, is that it’s a simple form revolving around the number eight.
The true Huitain is a single verse, eight line poem with eight syllables per line. The rhyme scheme is:
a
b
a
b
b
c
b
c
The French form began as the Spanish with eight lines of eight syllables, but it also allowed for the continuation of the poem in additional eight line stanzas. It was even accepted as a form of collaborative poetry with several poets each contributing their own eight line stanza.
The English, with their fondness for iambic pentameter, also accepted ten syllable lines, but to me this strays too far from the original intent of the form. Myself, I stuck to the original, Spanish rules. My example is eight lines of eight syllables each. :-)
Prisoner
She stands alone, wind in her hair,
upon the cliff, above the sea;
for hours she’s done naught but stare,
I wonder, is she even free?
Her prison is not one you see
it has no bars, nor doors that seal,
it’s made of all her mind’s debris
and all the things she used to feel.
The true Huitain is a single verse, eight line poem with eight syllables per line. The rhyme scheme is:
a
b
a
b
b
c
b
c
The French form began as the Spanish with eight lines of eight syllables, but it also allowed for the continuation of the poem in additional eight line stanzas. It was even accepted as a form of collaborative poetry with several poets each contributing their own eight line stanza.
The English, with their fondness for iambic pentameter, also accepted ten syllable lines, but to me this strays too far from the original intent of the form. Myself, I stuck to the original, Spanish rules. My example is eight lines of eight syllables each. :-)
Prisoner
She stands alone, wind in her hair,
upon the cliff, above the sea;
for hours she’s done naught but stare,
I wonder, is she even free?
Her prison is not one you see
it has no bars, nor doors that seal,
it’s made of all her mind’s debris
and all the things she used to feel.
Apr 22, 2010
Clerihew
The form was invented by and is named after Edmund Clerihew Bentley. As a 16-year-old pupil at St Paul's School in London, Bentley invented the clerihew as a diversion from school work. His first clerihew was created during a science class:
Sir Humphry Davy
Abominated gravy.
He lived in the odium
Of having discovered sodium.
The first use of the word in print was in 1928. Clerihew published three volumes of his own clerihews, including Biography for Beginners (1905), which was published under the name "E. Clerihew”.
Form specifics:
A Clerihew is four lines long.
The first and second lines rhyme with each other, and the third and fourth lines rhyme with each other.
The first line names a person, and the second line ends with something that rhymes with the name of the person.
A clerihew should be funny.
They are not satirical or abusive, but they target famous individuals and reposition them in an absurd or commonplace setting, often giving them an over-simplified and slightly garbled description.
That's it! You don't have to worry about counting syllables or words, and you don't even have to worry about the rhythm of the poem.
You don't have to limit yourself to writing clerihews about people you know. You can write clerihews about people you have never met. A clerihew will work best, though, if you write it about someone who is well known, or who at least is known to the people who will read it.
Here’s my examples, and I challenge you all to give it a try. It’s lots of fun!
Here’s a nod to Twilight’s Bella
Who knows what works with both her fellas
With Edward and Jacob at her feet
Life for Bella is very sweet!
The writer Edgar Allan Poe
Wrote a lot of poems you know,
And though his work I just adore
He’s dead, so he’ll write nevermore.
Sir Humphry Davy
Abominated gravy.
He lived in the odium
Of having discovered sodium.
The first use of the word in print was in 1928. Clerihew published three volumes of his own clerihews, including Biography for Beginners (1905), which was published under the name "E. Clerihew”.
Form specifics:
A Clerihew is four lines long.
The first and second lines rhyme with each other, and the third and fourth lines rhyme with each other.
The first line names a person, and the second line ends with something that rhymes with the name of the person.
A clerihew should be funny.
They are not satirical or abusive, but they target famous individuals and reposition them in an absurd or commonplace setting, often giving them an over-simplified and slightly garbled description.
That's it! You don't have to worry about counting syllables or words, and you don't even have to worry about the rhythm of the poem.
You don't have to limit yourself to writing clerihews about people you know. You can write clerihews about people you have never met. A clerihew will work best, though, if you write it about someone who is well known, or who at least is known to the people who will read it.
Here’s my examples, and I challenge you all to give it a try. It’s lots of fun!
Here’s a nod to Twilight’s Bella
Who knows what works with both her fellas
With Edward and Jacob at her feet
Life for Bella is very sweet!
The writer Edgar Allan Poe
Wrote a lot of poems you know,
And though his work I just adore
He’s dead, so he’ll write nevermore.
Mar 4, 2010
Rubai and Rubáiyát
The Rubai is an Urdu-Persian poetic form. Each rubai stanza is supposed to be a quatrain, in which lines 1, 2 and 4 all rhyme. Therefore the rhyme sounds as AABA. Traditionally in Persia each rubai was regarded as a poem in its own right. When you have a collection of them, they’re known as a rubaiyat.
An "Interlocking Rubáiyát" is a series of rubai where the subsequent stanza rhymes its 1st, 2nd, and 4th lines with the sound at the end of the 3rd line in the stanza before it. In this form, the 3rd line of the final stanza is also rhymed with the 3 rhymed lines in the first stanza.
A rubaiyat, whether it’s interlocking or not, can have an unlimited number of stanzas.
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is the most famous example of Rubai form. It is actually a meditation on the meaning of life that concludes that we should eat, drink and be merry. Omar Khayyam lived in twelfth-century Persia, under Islamic law. The ideas in his Rubaiyat as well as his enthusiasm for wine were considered heretical. Therefore his Rubaiyat was circulated anonymously, and probably memorized a lot more often than written down.
There is a great deal of controversy about whether Omar Khayyam actually wrote all the rubaiyat attributed to him. He was a famous man in other fields as well - as an astronomer/astrologer, mathematician and philosopher - and the rubaiyat only became common knowledge after his death, when they could do him no harm.
For my example, I chose to do an interlocking Rubaiyat
Day Breaking
The stars begin to disappear,
They know the sun will soon be here.
A glowing line splits sea and sky,
The dark is just a thin veneer.
I bid the night a sweet good bye.
It slips away with just a sigh.
A breath of wind soon stirs the air
And swirls away as though it’s shy.
I sit alone and wonder where
The night goes when it is not there.
I watch until it disappears
As though it did not have a care.
I don’t know why I have these fears,
That haunt me when the sun appears -
I know I’ll see the night again -
This dance has danced for many years.
Of old the sun has been my bane
This rising orb that seems so plain.
I cannot stay, I disappear,
Returning once it’s set again.
An "Interlocking Rubáiyát" is a series of rubai where the subsequent stanza rhymes its 1st, 2nd, and 4th lines with the sound at the end of the 3rd line in the stanza before it. In this form, the 3rd line of the final stanza is also rhymed with the 3 rhymed lines in the first stanza.
A rubaiyat, whether it’s interlocking or not, can have an unlimited number of stanzas.
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is the most famous example of Rubai form. It is actually a meditation on the meaning of life that concludes that we should eat, drink and be merry. Omar Khayyam lived in twelfth-century Persia, under Islamic law. The ideas in his Rubaiyat as well as his enthusiasm for wine were considered heretical. Therefore his Rubaiyat was circulated anonymously, and probably memorized a lot more often than written down.
There is a great deal of controversy about whether Omar Khayyam actually wrote all the rubaiyat attributed to him. He was a famous man in other fields as well - as an astronomer/astrologer, mathematician and philosopher - and the rubaiyat only became common knowledge after his death, when they could do him no harm.
For my example, I chose to do an interlocking Rubaiyat
Day Breaking
The stars begin to disappear,
They know the sun will soon be here.
A glowing line splits sea and sky,
The dark is just a thin veneer.
I bid the night a sweet good bye.
It slips away with just a sigh.
A breath of wind soon stirs the air
And swirls away as though it’s shy.
I sit alone and wonder where
The night goes when it is not there.
I watch until it disappears
As though it did not have a care.
I don’t know why I have these fears,
That haunt me when the sun appears -
I know I’ll see the night again -
This dance has danced for many years.
Of old the sun has been my bane
This rising orb that seems so plain.
I cannot stay, I disappear,
Returning once it’s set again.
Feb 18, 2010
Ae Freislighe
Until the 5th Century the only written form of Irish was Ogham which was used solely for carving into trees and gravestones. As a result Gaelic Poetry was based on sound structures to make them easy to remember, with rhyme not as important as repetition, alliteration and rhythm.
The Ae Freislighe (ay fresh-lee) is an Irish syllabic stanza form. Almost all the Irish and Welsh forms are complex systems of rhyme, alliteration, and consonance. It is often difficult to reproduce such forms in English, so particular attention should be paid to the rhyme scheme and syllabification.
Simplified, the Ae Freislighe is a quatrain stanza of seven syllable lines. Lines one and three rhyme in triple rhymes; lines two and four rhyme in double rhymes. The poem (not the stanza) should end with the same first syllable, word, or line with which it begins. The technical term for this ending is dunadh, and it occurs in all the Gaelic forms. The diagram looks like this:
xxxx(xxa)
xxxxx(xb)
xxxx(xxa)
xxxxx(xb)
Your poem can contain as many stanzas as you are prepared to take to tell your story, however the last line of the poem, as stated previously, should end with the same syllable or word or line that it began with.
For example, if your poem started with the line “Blowing winds change direction” then the final line of your poem should end with the syllable “blow”, the word “blowing” or the entire line.
My example was a little harder to write than I expected, for the simple fact that I found it hard to write in seven syllable lines. I kept wanting to use eight.
Gazing Into Yesterday
Gazing into yesterday
All my thoughts have gone askew
Leaving me in disarray
With new pathways to pursue.
Changing thought with direction,
The path ahead is unclear;
Hopes and dreams of perfection
Suddenly become austere.
In my path is temptation
Of all my heart could desire
Forge ahead to salvation
Spirit flying e’er higher.
Needed here, a new perspective
Maybe one that’s more mundane.
Isn’t that our first objective?
Maybe then we start again.
I have come to realize
With chosen words for phrasing,
The poet will idealize
Yesterday into gazing.
The Ae Freislighe (ay fresh-lee) is an Irish syllabic stanza form. Almost all the Irish and Welsh forms are complex systems of rhyme, alliteration, and consonance. It is often difficult to reproduce such forms in English, so particular attention should be paid to the rhyme scheme and syllabification.
Simplified, the Ae Freislighe is a quatrain stanza of seven syllable lines. Lines one and three rhyme in triple rhymes; lines two and four rhyme in double rhymes. The poem (not the stanza) should end with the same first syllable, word, or line with which it begins. The technical term for this ending is dunadh, and it occurs in all the Gaelic forms. The diagram looks like this:
xxxx(xxa)
xxxxx(xb)
xxxx(xxa)
xxxxx(xb)
Your poem can contain as many stanzas as you are prepared to take to tell your story, however the last line of the poem, as stated previously, should end with the same syllable or word or line that it began with.
For example, if your poem started with the line “Blowing winds change direction” then the final line of your poem should end with the syllable “blow”, the word “blowing” or the entire line.
My example was a little harder to write than I expected, for the simple fact that I found it hard to write in seven syllable lines. I kept wanting to use eight.
Gazing Into Yesterday
Gazing into yesterday
All my thoughts have gone askew
Leaving me in disarray
With new pathways to pursue.
Changing thought with direction,
The path ahead is unclear;
Hopes and dreams of perfection
Suddenly become austere.
In my path is temptation
Of all my heart could desire
Forge ahead to salvation
Spirit flying e’er higher.
Needed here, a new perspective
Maybe one that’s more mundane.
Isn’t that our first objective?
Maybe then we start again.
I have come to realize
With chosen words for phrasing,
The poet will idealize
Yesterday into gazing.
Feb 11, 2010
Luc Bat
I really need to start researching these forms before I commit to which one I’m doing in a given week. This one not only has specific syllable lengths for each line, but it’s also got a rather funky rhyme scheme.
The Luc Bat style predates Indochina and was introduced into Europe by the French. It’s a traditional Vietnamese verse form that is deeply tied to the soul of Vietnamese culture and people. Luc Bat is Sino-Vietnamese for "six eight", referring to the alternating lines of six and eight syllables. It will always begin with a six-syllable line and end with an eight-syllable one, however, it can be as long as you wish.
Unlike other verse forms which are traditionally enjoyed only by high class Vietnamese, Luc Bat is traditionally composed and enjoyed by people of all classes, from the lowly peasants to the noble princes. It can be regarded as a living style of Vietnamese people. The rich treasure of Vietnamese folk poems (ca dao), which consists of hundred thousands of verses that reflect on life, morality, human relationship, and nature’s beauty, are almost entirely composed in Luc Bat form.
The Luc Bat uses a kind of falling/climbing rhyme where a rhyme sound first shows up as the end of a six-syllable line, then as the sixth syllable of the next eight-syllable line. The form interlocks and can go on for any number of couplets, finally interlocking back to the beginning.
There are two types of rhyme schemes for the Luc Bat. The first type is the more common and popular one. In this rhyme scheme, 6th syllable of the six-syllable line rhymes with the 6th syllable of the eight-syllable line, then the 8th syllable of the eight-syllable line rhymes with the 6th syllable of next six-syllable line, and the pattern goes on. This rhyme scheme can be summarized in the following model:
1 2 3 4 5 A
1 2 3 4 5 A 7 B
1 2 3 4 5 B
1 2 3 4 5 B 7 C
1 2 3 4 5 C
1 2 3 4 5 C 7 D
1 2 3 4 5 D
1 2 3 4 5 D 7 A
The second type is the less common one which involves the 6th syllable of the six-syllable line rhymes with the 4th syllable of the eight-syllable line instead.
1 2 3 4 5 A
1 2 3 A 5 6 7 B
1 2 3 4 5 B
1 2 3 B 5 6 7 C
1 2 3 4 5 C
1 2 3 C 5 6 7 D
1 2 3 4 5 D
1 2 3 D 5 6 7 A
For the first time my poetry muse has failed me. I started a couple of really awful poems in the Luc Bat form, but nothing I’d care anyone to actually read. I admit I was short on time and the Luc Bat is not a poetry form that will be rushed.
So here is an example of a Luc Bat by Etain Druantia.
Driftwood
We've drifted beyond reach
lonely wood on a beach of tears
misshapen by life's fears,
accumulated years of pain
grounded by tides again
worn down by driving rain, fierce breeze,
relentless, tossing seas
bursting in waves do tease and play
lunge at bleached bones each day
unmoved we keep away from light
shadows hide, dim clear sight
blind to hope shining bright, dead beech.
The Luc Bat style predates Indochina and was introduced into Europe by the French. It’s a traditional Vietnamese verse form that is deeply tied to the soul of Vietnamese culture and people. Luc Bat is Sino-Vietnamese for "six eight", referring to the alternating lines of six and eight syllables. It will always begin with a six-syllable line and end with an eight-syllable one, however, it can be as long as you wish.
Unlike other verse forms which are traditionally enjoyed only by high class Vietnamese, Luc Bat is traditionally composed and enjoyed by people of all classes, from the lowly peasants to the noble princes. It can be regarded as a living style of Vietnamese people. The rich treasure of Vietnamese folk poems (ca dao), which consists of hundred thousands of verses that reflect on life, morality, human relationship, and nature’s beauty, are almost entirely composed in Luc Bat form.
The Luc Bat uses a kind of falling/climbing rhyme where a rhyme sound first shows up as the end of a six-syllable line, then as the sixth syllable of the next eight-syllable line. The form interlocks and can go on for any number of couplets, finally interlocking back to the beginning.
There are two types of rhyme schemes for the Luc Bat. The first type is the more common and popular one. In this rhyme scheme, 6th syllable of the six-syllable line rhymes with the 6th syllable of the eight-syllable line, then the 8th syllable of the eight-syllable line rhymes with the 6th syllable of next six-syllable line, and the pattern goes on. This rhyme scheme can be summarized in the following model:
1 2 3 4 5 A
1 2 3 4 5 A 7 B
1 2 3 4 5 B
1 2 3 4 5 B 7 C
1 2 3 4 5 C
1 2 3 4 5 C 7 D
1 2 3 4 5 D
1 2 3 4 5 D 7 A
The second type is the less common one which involves the 6th syllable of the six-syllable line rhymes with the 4th syllable of the eight-syllable line instead.
1 2 3 4 5 A
1 2 3 A 5 6 7 B
1 2 3 4 5 B
1 2 3 B 5 6 7 C
1 2 3 4 5 C
1 2 3 C 5 6 7 D
1 2 3 4 5 D
1 2 3 D 5 6 7 A
For the first time my poetry muse has failed me. I started a couple of really awful poems in the Luc Bat form, but nothing I’d care anyone to actually read. I admit I was short on time and the Luc Bat is not a poetry form that will be rushed.
So here is an example of a Luc Bat by Etain Druantia.
Driftwood
We've drifted beyond reach
lonely wood on a beach of tears
misshapen by life's fears,
accumulated years of pain
grounded by tides again
worn down by driving rain, fierce breeze,
relentless, tossing seas
bursting in waves do tease and play
lunge at bleached bones each day
unmoved we keep away from light
shadows hide, dim clear sight
blind to hope shining bright, dead beech.
Feb 4, 2010
Terzanelle
In October, to prepare for NaNoWriMo, I did several extra poetry posts so all I’d have to do in November is post them. This form was one I considered doing, but ultimately abandoned because it’s a little . . . shall we say . . . challenging. As one web site put it: The terzanelle is a good form for the recovering obsessive-compulsive
The terzanelle, invented by Lewis Turco in 1965, is a poetic form that combines the villanelle’s refrain with the terza rima’s end line patterning. Turco’s "Terzanelle", the original terzanelle poem titled for the name of the form, was first published in the summer edition of The Michigan Quarterly Review that same year. Over the years, Turco’s invention has become well known and popular. Hundreds of terzanelle poems may be found by as many authors.
Here are the rules by which a terzanelle should be written:
The first and third lines of the opening tercet are refrained as the second and fourth lines of the closing quatrain.
The terzanelle body is comprised of tercets that each refrain the second line of the preceding tercet for its third line. The first line of each of these tercets is rhymed with its refrained line.
It is a fixed form of 19 lines (five triplets and a quatrain).
The closing quatrain refrains the second line of the last tercet as its third line and rhymes its first line with that refrain.
Lines may be in any length or meter within reason.
Terzanelles may be written on any subject.
To give you a better idea of how it works, here’s the repeating and rhyme scheme:
Line 1 A
Line 2 B
Line 3 A
Line 4 B
Line 5 C
Line 6 repeats line 2
Line 7 C
Line 8 D
Line 9 repeats line 5
Line 10 D
Line 11 E
Line 12 repeats line 8
Line 13 E
Line 14 F
Line 15 repeats line 11
Line 16 F
Line 17 repeats line 1
Line 18 F
Line 19 repeats line 3
My example was inspired by the new header on this blog. I have a soft spot for dragonflies. :-)
Dragonflight
The wind is sighing through the trees,
The warmth of summer shimmers ‘round;
Magic‘s found in days like these.
A forest pool, a wild playground,
Where water lilies are abloom,
The warmth of summer shimmers ‘round.
A wafting scent of rare perfume;
The air is soft with ambient light
Where water lilies are abloom.
Who directs your soaring flight,
Free spirit wandering where it will.
The air is soft with ambient light.
You dip and weave and fly with skill -
I’d follow if I only could,
Free spirit wandering where it will
I watch you flitter through the wood;
The wind is sighing through the trees.
I’d follow if I only could -
Magic is found in days like these.
The terzanelle, invented by Lewis Turco in 1965, is a poetic form that combines the villanelle’s refrain with the terza rima’s end line patterning. Turco’s "Terzanelle", the original terzanelle poem titled for the name of the form, was first published in the summer edition of The Michigan Quarterly Review that same year. Over the years, Turco’s invention has become well known and popular. Hundreds of terzanelle poems may be found by as many authors.
Here are the rules by which a terzanelle should be written:
The first and third lines of the opening tercet are refrained as the second and fourth lines of the closing quatrain.
The terzanelle body is comprised of tercets that each refrain the second line of the preceding tercet for its third line. The first line of each of these tercets is rhymed with its refrained line.
It is a fixed form of 19 lines (five triplets and a quatrain).
The closing quatrain refrains the second line of the last tercet as its third line and rhymes its first line with that refrain.
Lines may be in any length or meter within reason.
Terzanelles may be written on any subject.
To give you a better idea of how it works, here’s the repeating and rhyme scheme:
Line 1 A
Line 2 B
Line 3 A
Line 4 B
Line 5 C
Line 6 repeats line 2
Line 7 C
Line 8 D
Line 9 repeats line 5
Line 10 D
Line 11 E
Line 12 repeats line 8
Line 13 E
Line 14 F
Line 15 repeats line 11
Line 16 F
Line 17 repeats line 1
Line 18 F
Line 19 repeats line 3
My example was inspired by the new header on this blog. I have a soft spot for dragonflies. :-)
Dragonflight
The wind is sighing through the trees,
The warmth of summer shimmers ‘round;
Magic‘s found in days like these.
A forest pool, a wild playground,
Where water lilies are abloom,
The warmth of summer shimmers ‘round.
A wafting scent of rare perfume;
The air is soft with ambient light
Where water lilies are abloom.
Who directs your soaring flight,
Free spirit wandering where it will.
The air is soft with ambient light.
You dip and weave and fly with skill -
I’d follow if I only could,
Free spirit wandering where it will
I watch you flitter through the wood;
The wind is sighing through the trees.
I’d follow if I only could -
Magic is found in days like these.
Jan 28, 2010
Qasida
Qasida (also spelled qasidah) is a form of poetry from pre-Islamic Arabia. It typically runs more than 50 lines, and sometimes more than 100. The classic form of qasida maintains a single meter throughout the poem, and every line rhymes. These poems are considered some of the most elaborate in the world.
In his 9th century Kitab al-shi'r wa-al-shu'ara' (Book of Poetry and Poets) the Arabic writer ibn Qutaybah says that (Arabic) qasida are formed of three parts: - They start with a nostalgic opening in which the poets reflects on what has passed, known as nasib. The second section is rahil in which the poet contemplates the harshness of nature and life away from the tribe. Finally there is the message of the poem, which can take several forms: praise of the tribe, fakhr; satire about other tribes, hija; or some moral maxims, hikam.
After the 10th century, Iranians developed qasida greatly and used it for very different purposes other than praise or nostalgia as did Arabs originally for the tribal and nomadic life. For example, Naser Khosro used qasida extensively for philosophical, theological, and ethical purposes. Even Avicenna used qasida to express philosophical ideas.
In the Persian style, the opening is usually description of a natural event like seasons (spring, fall, etc) or a natural landscape, or an imaginary sweetheart. If it's about the spring it's called 'baharieh' (in Persian Spring Poem), if it's about the fall it's called 'khazanieh' (in Persian Autumn Poem). Then there comes the 'takhallos' (disengagement or escape or the main purpose) where the poets usually address themselves by using their pen name. Then the last section is the main purpose of the poet in writing the poem. Because, after all, 'qasideh' literally means intention and it was used to ask for support from a patron or to state a petition.
After the Mongol invasion and starting in the 14th century, Persian poets became more interested in ghazal and the qasideh declined in status. Ghazal was originally developed from the first part of qasideh where the poets praised their sweethearts.
I only managed a 40 line example – and trust me, you’re lucky to get that much because I found a mono-rhyme rather tedious after awhile. I'm not sure how well I stuck to the form either. Normally I search for examples of the form I'm working in to keep me on track - it helps to see it as someone else did it - but although I was able to find information on the Qasida, I wasn't able to find any that anyone else had written or interpreted, just links to books. So, if you want to see a bona fide Qasida, you'll have to search your local library. :-)
Dreamer’s Tale
I tell a tale of what may be -
Wait, before you disagree,
Hear my tale that you may see
The dream I dreamed beneath the tree
That stands within the mountain’s lee
Where rich enchantment captured me;
It caught me up, then set me free.
What seemed a daunting task to me
was not set in reality.
I was aware, to some degree
But still I did not disagree
Knowing there’s no guarantee
To life’s immense uncertainty.
A storm is coming, wait and see,
Though there are some who disagree,
They have not dreamt beneath the tree.
The world is such a potpourri,
Earth and fire, wind and sea,
And we, the guardians, meant to be
Have lost our way, to some degree.
The warnings come by two and three
Ignored by those too blind to see.
Earthquakes leave behind debris,
Broken souls no longer free;
Lives in shambles, spirits flee;
And hear the wailing of banshee.
The winds arise, so too, the sea,
And mortals to the heavens plea.
The heavens weep unnaturally,
The churches fill with bended knee,
Demands are made for guarantee
That life goes on with certainty.
But here is my reality
We are, none of us, free
True freedom is a rarity.
This I know, this is the key,
I tell you now so you may free
Yourself from your mortality.
For I have dreamed that you may see,
I dreamt a dream beneath a tree.
In his 9th century Kitab al-shi'r wa-al-shu'ara' (Book of Poetry and Poets) the Arabic writer ibn Qutaybah says that (Arabic) qasida are formed of three parts: - They start with a nostalgic opening in which the poets reflects on what has passed, known as nasib. The second section is rahil in which the poet contemplates the harshness of nature and life away from the tribe. Finally there is the message of the poem, which can take several forms: praise of the tribe, fakhr; satire about other tribes, hija; or some moral maxims, hikam.
After the 10th century, Iranians developed qasida greatly and used it for very different purposes other than praise or nostalgia as did Arabs originally for the tribal and nomadic life. For example, Naser Khosro used qasida extensively for philosophical, theological, and ethical purposes. Even Avicenna used qasida to express philosophical ideas.
In the Persian style, the opening is usually description of a natural event like seasons (spring, fall, etc) or a natural landscape, or an imaginary sweetheart. If it's about the spring it's called 'baharieh' (in Persian Spring Poem), if it's about the fall it's called 'khazanieh' (in Persian Autumn Poem). Then there comes the 'takhallos' (disengagement or escape or the main purpose) where the poets usually address themselves by using their pen name. Then the last section is the main purpose of the poet in writing the poem. Because, after all, 'qasideh' literally means intention and it was used to ask for support from a patron or to state a petition.
After the Mongol invasion and starting in the 14th century, Persian poets became more interested in ghazal and the qasideh declined in status. Ghazal was originally developed from the first part of qasideh where the poets praised their sweethearts.
I only managed a 40 line example – and trust me, you’re lucky to get that much because I found a mono-rhyme rather tedious after awhile. I'm not sure how well I stuck to the form either. Normally I search for examples of the form I'm working in to keep me on track - it helps to see it as someone else did it - but although I was able to find information on the Qasida, I wasn't able to find any that anyone else had written or interpreted, just links to books. So, if you want to see a bona fide Qasida, you'll have to search your local library. :-)
Dreamer’s Tale
I tell a tale of what may be -
Wait, before you disagree,
Hear my tale that you may see
The dream I dreamed beneath the tree
That stands within the mountain’s lee
Where rich enchantment captured me;
It caught me up, then set me free.
What seemed a daunting task to me
was not set in reality.
I was aware, to some degree
But still I did not disagree
Knowing there’s no guarantee
To life’s immense uncertainty.
A storm is coming, wait and see,
Though there are some who disagree,
They have not dreamt beneath the tree.
The world is such a potpourri,
Earth and fire, wind and sea,
And we, the guardians, meant to be
Have lost our way, to some degree.
The warnings come by two and three
Ignored by those too blind to see.
Earthquakes leave behind debris,
Broken souls no longer free;
Lives in shambles, spirits flee;
And hear the wailing of banshee.
The winds arise, so too, the sea,
And mortals to the heavens plea.
The heavens weep unnaturally,
The churches fill with bended knee,
Demands are made for guarantee
That life goes on with certainty.
But here is my reality
We are, none of us, free
True freedom is a rarity.
This I know, this is the key,
I tell you now so you may free
Yourself from your mortality.
For I have dreamed that you may see,
I dreamt a dream beneath a tree.
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