Pi's Form Challenge - Are You Poet Enough?

[Have Your Pi]

After reading an entire page of free verse and unmetered ABAB/AABB poetry, I'm puttin' my foot down. It's awful to see that no one, absolutely no one, is showing any love for established poetic forms. You're making this old heart cry.

So here's the deal. I want to see you all shape up, and I'm willing to put my gold on the line to make that happen.

Here are the rules:

1) Reply to this topic to announce your participation. When you do, roll one 20-sided die (it's that post action thingy on the right, for the less attentive out there [like me...]).
2) Go to the next post to see what form corresponds to the number that you rolled. Each form will have a different gold reward amount based on difficulty.
3) Research the form thoroughly.
4) Write a poem in that form.
5) Edit your original post (the one with the die roll) with your finished poem.
6) If your poem adheres to all aspects of the form, you win the amount of gold listed for that form.
7) If you've missed something about the form, you'll get a second chance to revise and submit your poem for 50% of the listed reward.

---

Now for some auxiliary tips/warnings.

* I'll tip your entry post just for giving it a shot! wink

* This is not a contest. You are not competing with any other poets; you are simply challenging yourself to try something new.

* Each reward is relative to the difficulty of the form. So while that sestina may look mighty tasty at a glance, believe you me - you're going to have to work for it. Not to mention that the harder it is, the pickier I'm going to be about following it.

* I am a hawk when it comes to following forms. Failure to complete could range from not following the prescribed meter to not following the traditional spirit of the form. That means, if you end up in sonnet-land, you'd better know what a volta is and make a good honest effort to execute it. If you feel that I might pick on something that you know drifts from the strict rules of the form, point it out in your post so I know you know.

* You do not get to choose your form. Of course, you're welcome to explore any and all of them outside of this thread - and well you should! But if you want to participate here for glory and riches, it must be random. (Mostly because I don't want to read 50 bajillion haiku. You'll see how much I love haiku if you're unlucky enough to get that one...)

* You may submit more than one poem, but your current entry must be submitted before you start a new one.

* While I will be reviewing your form adherence, I will not be critiquing the poems themselves. I like to put good effort into my critiques, and unfortunately, that's just too much of a time drain for me right now. gonk So if you would like people to review your poem, please create a new thread in the OP/L to get input.

* I am not necessarily online all the time, so if I don't respond right away, don't fret! I just have a day job that loves to eat up most of my free time these days. xp If I feel that for any reason I can't keep up with the entries, I will close down the reward portion of this thread (all entries up until that time will still count, of course) but continue to leave it open for anyone and everyone to try their hand at a random form or two.

Sound good?

Now then... LET THE POETRY BEGIN!

[Have Your Pi]

Your Forms (Should You Choose to Accept Them)

Each form below is listed with its corresponding die roll, a general summary of the elements involved in the form, and the reward for successful completion. Do be aware, though, that the summary offered here is not a complete description of the form's contents, and it's up to you to research the form on your own to understand the nuance involved in your form.

1
Haiku - 100 gold
....Syllable count

2
Cinquain - 100 gold
....Syllable count

3
Dodoitsu - 250 gold
....Syllable count

4
Pleiades - 250 gold
....Line starts

5
Limerick - 500 gold
....Meter, ending rhyme

6
Double Dactyl - 500 gold
....Meter, ending rhyme

7
Sijo - 500 gold
....Syllable count

8
Englyn cyrch - 750 gold
....Ending rhyme, internal rhyme

9
Cywydd llosgyrnog - 1,000 gold
....Syllable count, ending rhyme, internal rhyme

10
Trimeric - 1,000 gold
....Repeated lines

11
Burmese climbing rhyme - 2,500 gold
....Internal rhyme

12
Ghazal - 2,500 gold
....Meter, repeated words

13
Triolet - 2,500 gold
....Repeated lines, meter, rhyme

14
Tritina - 5,000 gold
....Line endings

15
Pantoum - 5,000 gold
....Repeated lines

16
Villanelle - 5,000 gold
....Repeated lines

17
Italian (Petrarchan) sonnet - 7,500 gold
....Meter, rhyme

18
Spenserian sonnet - 7,500 gold
....Meter, rhyme

19
Shakespearean sonnet - 7,500 gold
....Meter, rhyme

20
Sestina - 10,000 gold
....Line endings

[Have Your Pi]

Successful Participants

None so far... so get a move on and join in!

[0-DCB]

Is it safe to post? I'm so doing this! I just recently wrote a terza rima to see if I could still do form poetry. xD
I'm assuming we can't use past works? x}
Also, a good site {in my opinion} for learning about these different types of poems is Shadow Poetry.
EDIT; It doesn't have everything, but it has a lot.

[0-DCB]

Calm

Nothingness creeps in and strikes
the air with a stillness the earth tears
with her slight breathing. In and out.

She is trapped in an alley spinning out
of control into the shadows. He strikes
her like a flash of lightning and tears

through the darkness, grabbing her as tears
flood down her face; she attempts to break out
from his grip, but the opportunity never strikes.

She strikes his hand, tears away, and breathes in and out.

{Tritina.
gonk Dang! That got more difficult towards the end. Also, no need for any gold. I don't need it.}

[Have Your Pi]

0-DCB

Is it safe to post? I'm so doing this! I just recently wrote a terza rima to see if I could still do form poetry. xD
I'm assuming we can't use past works? x}
Also, a good site {in my opinion} for learning about these different types of poems is Shadow Poetry.

The idea would be to write something new, yes. I thought about that, and I think it's best to start from scratch, even if you've written in it before - especially because you might've missed something.

Now to take a look at the first victim poem... twisted

[0-DCB]

Have Your Pi

0-DCB

Is it safe to post? I'm so doing this! I just recently wrote a terza rima to see if I could still do form poetry. xD
I'm assuming we can't use past works? x}
Also, a good site {in my opinion} for learning about these different types of poems is Shadow Poetry.

The idea would be to write something new, yes. I thought about that, and I think it's best to start from scratch, even if you've written in it before - especially because you might've missed something.

Now to take a look at the first victim poem... twisted

Yeah, definitely.

I can't promise it's too good. I did my best, though. xD

[Have Your Pi]

Quote:

{Tritina.
gonk Dang! That got more difficult towards the end. Also, no need for any gold. I don't need it.}

I was so excited when I saw there was an abbreviated form of the sestina. And it's seriously awesome that it came up first!

0-DCB

Calm

Nothingness creeps in and strikes
the air with a stillness the earth tears
with her slight breathing. In and out.

She is trapped in an alley spinning out
of control into the shadows. He strikes
her like a flash of lightning and tears

through the darkness, grabbing her as tears
flood down her face; she attempts to break out
from his grip, but the opportunity never strikes.

She strikes his hand, tears away, and breaths in and out.

Perfecto! Love that "tears" served both as verb and noun throughout the poem. Squee! whee

And while you may not take gold, I WILL AT LEAST GIVE YOU LOVE. heart

[0-DCB]

Awesome; thanks!
EDIT; What I like about the different forms of the sestina is that they're easy to figure out. I remember once when I wanted to write a sestina but was too lazy, so I just tweaked it to four lines each stanza instead of six.

Originally, I wanted to do that with the word "envelopes," but then I realized that it's spelt "envelops." xP

[Asynchronous IO]

Established poetic forms are what I was known for back in the day.

Will post an attempt later/tomorrow, but for now here is a show of support. <3
No need to pay me, either. I love doing forms. Just haven't done them in a while...

EDIT: And I got the sestina, an old friend of mine. It's on.

[0-DCB]

I want to write something else, so here's hoping for something relatively easier.
I will be deleting this post if I get one of the harder ones because I'm lazy like that. xD
EDIT; Crap! gonk
Ok, ok. I'll at least try.

Radiance

How radiant your smile is, beaming down
so gracefully and breaking through the dark!
The golden sun sits on your head: a crown
that matches your entire self-worth. You spark
a thousand thoughts like massive ships that lark
inside my empty mind and sing of bright,
unchanging futures -- even while the stark,
contrasting wind comes down and blocks the light.
Yet, all your beauty splits the cloud, in spite
of all the chaos that it makes; it stills
itself like calming waters, breathing right
in tune with ev'ry note. The music chills.
How dull am I: a peasant speaking words
that nearly vanish, carried by the birds!

{Spenserian sonnet.
I didn't know what a volta was, but luckily it was explained with how to write this type of sonnet. I've literally been working on this since I made this post 3 hours ago, taking a ten minute break at most. xD
It was tough, but I think I did alright. Either way, thanks to you I'm trying new things!}

[Have Your Pi]

0-DCB

I want to write something else, so here's hoping for something relatively easier.
I will be deleting this post if I get one of the harder ones because I'm lazy like that. xD
EDIT; Crap! gonk
Ok, ok. I'll at least try.

Radiance

Awwww... but you really did great with it! Let's face it, the volta is a tricky element to use, not to mention easy to ignore while still trying to fit into a rhyme scheme AND iambic pentameter. I do love the shift from the ardent admirer to the hopeless dreamer.

I should probably make good and jump in, shouldn't I? =P

[Have Your Pi]

Die roll die roll die roll... oh what the FERG.

Oh well, time for my Spenserian effort. =P

[0-DCB]

Have Your Pi

0-DCB

I want to write something else, so here's hoping for something relatively easier.
I will be deleting this post if I get one of the harder ones because I'm lazy like that. xD
EDIT; Crap! gonk
Ok, ok. I'll at least try.

Radiance

Awwww... but you really did great with it! Let's face it, the volta is a tricky element to use, not to mention easy to ignore while still trying to fit into a rhyme scheme AND iambic pentameter. I do love the shift from the ardent admirer to the hopeless dreamer.

I should probably make good and jump in, shouldn't I? =P

Thanks. It's been a while since I had to use any sort of fixed meter {or rhyme scheme}, so a bunch of words would flash inside my head that almost worked but had the wrong accents.
Also, the site I found explaining the Spenserian sonnet mentioned that he liked to insert in a sort of "trick volta" in line 9 -- usually with a word like "but" or "yet." However, the real volta would occur near the very end. I thought that was very interesting.

Ooh, good luck!

[Reed Meroe]

Heh. This sounds like fun. I always like to learn new forms. Let's see what I get...