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 Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 12:18 am
DISCLAIMER: I did not write any of this. I also don't remember who did. Please don't sue me for plagiarism. If you want to know who wrote it, copy paste part of it into google.
Rhyming
Welcome! This guide gives a basic overview of how to write poems that rhyme well. Note the word 'well' at the end there - it's important. Rhyming, much like writing in general, is not difficult; creating poetry that rhymes well is the tricky part. What do I mean by rhyming well? To begin, I'll give an example of what NOT to do, just to demonstrate:
The elven girl came outside and saw a star
It was very far
And it glowed like a firefly in a jar
She stared at it for hours, amazed
And all the people who saw her thought she was dazed
Then she went back into the bar.
What, exactly, is wrong with this poem? The short answer is: everything. But let's be more specific. One major problem is that it does not have a consistent rhyme scheme. I'll start with that.
1. Always choose a consistent rhyme scheme when writing a rhyming poem.
Of course, there are no absolute laws in writing. Every rule ever written about poetry has been broken countless times by countless poets, and many times the results are outstanding. These rules, however, are a starting point; master them first, then decide if and when you want to ignore them. Anytime you break a rule in writing, you should not only be aware that you are breaking it but also have a very good reason for doing so.
But what do I mean by a 'rhyme scheme,' anyway? Well, take a look at the example above. Look at how each line ends: star, far, jar, amazed, dazed, bar. Lines 1, 2, 3, and 6 all rhyme with each other, and lines 4 and 5 also rhyme with each other. This means the overall rhyme scheme for the whole poem is AAA BBA. All lines with the same ending rhyme are given the same letter.
Now, notice how the first stanza (group of lines) has a different rhyme scheme from the second? They're not consistent. The reader reads the first three lines and sees that they all rhyme with each other; then, when the first two lines of the second stanza rhyme, he's expecting the third line to rhyme also. When instead it jumps back and rhymes with the first stanza again, the spell is broken. It doesn't 'fit.' Make sense?
By the way, there's nothing wrong with having parts of a rhyming poem that don't rhyme, as long as these are consistent also. Many perfectly good poems are written in the format AXAY, where the first and third lines rhyme with each other, and neither the second nor the fourth has anything to do with anything as far as rhyming goes. Again, the crucial idea here is consistency. Whatever you decide to do, stick with it.
Ok, so now we've decided that we're going to keep a consistent rhyme scheme. With this in mind, let's try another poem. We pick a good, consistent rhyme scheme - say, ABAB CDCD - and go with that.
A dragon sunned itself outside
Its skin was green
Huge, shiny emeralds covered its hide
The most beautiful you've ever seen.
Its wings were brilliant red
And covered in rose petals
(Or so it's said)
And they shone like precious metals.
This is a little better, but it's still pretty awful. So what's wrong with this one? Look at the number of syllables in each line. Try counting them. What do you get? 8-4-10-9 6-7-4-8. It's a mess. This brings us to our next guideline, and you can probably guess what it is already:
2. Always pick a consistent pattern of syllables when writing a rhyming poem.
EVERY stanza should follow EXACTLY the same pattern of syllables. This may sound strict, but the end result is much better-sounding poetry.
Does it matter which syllable pattern you choose? Well, some sound better than others, of course, but you'll work this out through experimentation. There's nothing wrong with having a very simple pattern; 10-10-10-10, for example, is a great one. 8-6-8-6 will also work, or 10-10-8, or any of countless other variations. The important thing is that once a syllable pattern is chosen, the poem sticks with that pattern until it's finished.
All right, we're armed with the knowledge of consistent rhyme schemes and consistent syllable patterns. Let's try this "poem-writing" thing yet again, and see what happens!
I adore thee with every fiber of my soul
My passion cannot be expressed in these mere words
Without thee, darling, my heart can never be whole
Thy speech is like the melody of singing birds.
Some people ask the gods for silver or for gold
And both of these are very beautiful, it's true
But these leave just worthless money when they are sold
And money can't hold its value compared to you!
How was that? Better, yes, but still not as good as it could be. We're still missing something. In order to get it, we're going to have to be even more picky. A big part of writing is just that: being picky. Try not to dismiss small, finicky rules as unimportant; when they're followed, they make your writing seem just that much better.
So what rule do we need to follow to make this poem sound better?
3. Always pick a consistent pattern of syllable stresses when writing a rhyming poem.
So what does that mean? I'll show you. Let's examine the words 'happy' and 'explode.' Both are two-syllable words, but try saying them out loud. The first comes out as HAP-py, while the second is ex-PLODE. 'Happy' stresses the first syllable, but 'explode' stresses the second. See the difference?
There are four basic "metric feet," or stress patterns, in poetry. They are as follows:
Iamb
Stress pattern: unstressed, stressed
Example: The hero drew his sword
Trochee
Stress pattern: stressed, unstressed
Example: Answer all my riddles
Anapest
Stress pattern: unstressed, unstressed, stressed
Example: In the heart of the rock
Dactyl
Stress pattern: stressed, unstressed, unstressed
Example: Glorious victory
This is a lot to absorb at once, but the basic concept is fairly simple. It isn't really necessary even to learn the names of the four types of feet, as long as you understand the idea behind them. The message here is that rhyming poems should keep a consistent metric foot throughout their entirety. Personally I almost always use the iamb, just because I find it the easiest.
Let's try this yet again:
I fought my foes as bravely as I could
My blade was stained incarnadine with blood
I led the charge, as every captain should
And beat a path for justice through the mud.
My horse was as a creature born of light
Before my lance the storm of darkness fled
The day was mine, and yet before the night
I too will lie beside them, cold and dead.
Now, look back at the poem in the beginning of this article. There is simply no comparison between these two in terms of rhyme and structure. These simple guidelines make a world of difference. Of course, the poem above is still not perfect, but in terms of structure and how it sounds to the ear, it does the job nicely.
I have one last guideline to share about writing rhyming poetry.
4. Do not compromise the poem's content for the sake of following the rules.
This is where things start to get really tough. Even when you're obeying all these complicated laws, you still have to make the words and the meaning of the poem sound completely natural. If you write something like this:
He lived inside a small and cozy house
He stood much taller than a tiny mouse
...your audience will sense the problem instantly. The second line sounds completely contrived. Of course he's taller than a mouse - that's obvious! Why would a poet say that? He says it because he is looking for a rhyme. Writing this way might be tempting, but don't give in. Keep thinking until you've found a line that really, truly fits what you're trying to say, as well as all the other guidelines listed above. This isn't easy, and there's no simple trick to it; it just takes practice. Writing a poem in this way is not always quick. You may have to agonize over a single stanza for hours or days (or even longer) - but what you finally have at the end is something that really rhymes well, and in my opinion that's worth the extra effort. One thing to keep in mind is that nothing you've already written is set in stone. If your first line ends in the word 'siren,' and you just can't think of anything good to rhyme with that, try rewriting the first line with a word th at is easier to rhyme. You can also buy rhyming dictionaries to help with the process, although I personally don't use one. One technique I've found helpful is to simply go through the alphabet, sticking the ending sound on every letter to see if anything fits. For example, if I want a rhyme for 'sight,' I can do the following: a-ite, b-ite (bite!), c-ite (kite!), d-ite, e-ite, f-ite (fight!), etc. Of course, this only supplies one-syllable rhymes - you're not going to get the word 'termite' using this method - but I still find it useful as a writing tool.
Some people might look at all these rules and say, "What's the point? Why can't I just forget about all this silliness, ignore all these so-called 'laws,' and just write? I'll never have any freedom to express myself if I'm worrying about this stuff all the time!" It's true, these methods do restrict the artist's freedom to some degree - but the benefits in quality far outweigh the initial restrictions. Consider Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest artists who ever lived. Imagine if he had said this - if he had decided to stop worrying about all these silly ideas of "getting the proportions right" and "doing the shading properly" and simply let himself paint, unhindered by such considerations. He could've had complete freedom just to splash paint around. It would've been faster, easier, and probably a lot more fun. But which would you rather have - a splattered canvas, or the Mona Lisa?
I will end with a poem that showcases all the techniques I've mentioned and manages to be a masterpiece of depth and emotion at the same time. For a work like this I turn to Percy Bysshe Shelley. He doesn't have a gallery in Wyvern's Library (dying in 1822 will do that to you) but you may enjoy his writing nonetheless.
Ozymandias
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said--"Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert....Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 12:21 am
Poetic Forms (A-G)
Introduction
Welcome! What follows is a tutorial on writing the various forms of poetry. Although poetry need not (and frequently does not) follow any set "form," the forms do exist for those who wish to try them. This article is intended to serve as more of a reference guide to poetry than a start-to-finish tutorial, and the following table of contents is provided with that in mind.
One final note. There are some terms in this guide which, properly speaking, are not exactly "forms," and certainly there are many legitimate poetic forms which do not appear here. I have been somewhat arbitrary in my selection of which terms to include. My goal has been to provide information on a wide spectrum of different types of poetry. If you find any mistakes or significant omissions in the information below, however, please let me know! Accuracy is very important to me!
Table of Contents
Acrostic
Ballad
Ballade
Bref Double
Cinquain
Clerihew
Diamante
Eclogue
Epic
Epigram
Ethere
Ghazal
Glosa
Haiku
Huitain
Idyl
Kyrielle
Lai
Limerick
Luc Bat
Nonet
Ode
Pantoum
Pantun
Paradelle
Quatern
Renga/Renku
Retourne
Rictameter
Rondeau
Rubaiyat
Senryu
Sestina
Sijo
Sonnet
Tanka
Terza Rima
Terzanelle
Triolet
Tyburn
Villanelle
ACROSTIC
Acrostic poems are very simple; the poet thinks of a word, name, or phrase, and writes it vertically down the page. These letters then become the first letter of each line of the poem. Acrostic poems do not have to rhyme or follow any other requirements, so they are fairly easy to write.
Notice how the word "fountain" is formed in the following acrostic poem:
Firing upward towards the sky
On wings of foam
Unhindered by oppressive gravity
Neatly forming an arc
That frames the sun in its crescent curve
And delivers a slice of eternity
In its aquatic simplicity
Never tiring of joy.
Back to the Table of Contents.
BALLAD
(Not to be confused with ballade.)
"Ballad" is a rather vague term, but in general it refers to poems which tell a story, have a refrain (repeated verses), and are meant to be sung out loud. They are generally folk tales. Ballads vary greatly in length, from a handful of short stanzas to hundreds of lines. The sample below is from the ballad "Lord Randal" (author unknown).
O where have you been, Lord Randal, my son?
O where have you been, my bonny young man?
I've been with my sweetheart, mother make my bed soon
For I'm sick to the heart and I fain would lie down.
And what did she give you, Lord Randal, my son?
And what did she give you, my bonny young man?
Eels boiled in brew, mother make my bed soon
For I'm sick to the heart and I fain would lie down.
Back to the Table of Contents.
BALLADE
(Not to be confused with ballad.)
The ballade originated in France. In the strictest sense, it is a poem of three eight-line stanzas followed by a fourth stanza with four lines. The fourth stanza (called an "envoy" in this case) is usually dedicated to some prince or patron. The first three stanzas all follow the same rhyme scheme (ababcbcb is a common one) and the fourth stanza also has a rhyme scheme tying it to the rest of the poem, bcbc for example. In a ballade, the a, b, or c rhyme from one stanza carries over to all the other stanzas - in other words, the stanzas are linked in rhyme. Finally, all four stanzas have the same ending line. Not all ballades follow this form exactly; some have seven-line stanzas, others have ten, and the rhyme scheme varies from one ballade to another.
The ballade below was written by Edmund Clerihew Bentley (creator of the clerihew). It is entitled "The Ballade of Liquid Refreshment," and it is a departure from the frequently serious subject matter of ballades.
Last night we started with some dry vermouth;
Some ancient sherry with a golden glow;
Then many flagons of the soul of fruit
Such as Burgundian vineyards only grow;
A bottle each of port was not de trop;
And then old brandy till the east was pink
- But talking makes me hoarse as any crow,
Excuse me while I go and have a drink.
Some talk of Alexander; some impute
Absorbency to Mirabeau-Tonneau;
Some say that General Grant and King Canute,
Falstaff and Pitt and Edgar Allan Poe,
Prince Charlie, Carteret, Hans Breitmann - so
The list goes on - they say that these could clink
The can, and take their liquor - A propos!
Excuse while I go and have a drink.
Spirit of all that lives, from God to brute,
Spirit of love and life, of sun and snow,
Spirit of leaf and limb, of race and root,
How wonderfully art thou prison'd! Lo!
I quaff the cup, I feel the magic flow,
And Superman succeeds to Missing Link,
(I say, 'I quaff'; but am I quaffing? No!
Excuse while I go and have a drink.)
Hullo there, Prince! Is that you down below
Kicking and frying by the brimstone brink?
Well, well! It had to come some time, you know,
Excuse me while I go and have a drink.
Back to the Table of Contents.
BREF DOUBLE
As you might guess, the bref double is a French form. It is similar to the sonnet, but it need not be written in iambic pentameter. The bref double contains three quatrains (four-line stanzas) followed by a final couplet. Its rhyme scheme is axbc xaxc axab ab (where the x's represent lines which do not rhyme with anything else, even the other x's).
I imagine the subject matter of a bref double is normally more serious than it is in the one below, but it provides an ample demonstration of the form's structure nonetheless.
Now William Shakespeare was a man
Who did some writing (so I'm told)
Some say he had a bit of skill -
Perhaps was handy with a pen.
And thinking back now I suppose
I can remember...yes, I can
I've read a play or two of his
(A year, now? How long has it been?)
I can't say I'm his biggest fan
I think some others liked him more
For instance, Mr. Johnson. (Dan?
Was that his name? Or Ben? But still...)
His genius ink in rivers ran
A fine intrepid fellow, Will!
Back to the Table of Contents.
CINQUAIN
At its most basic level, "cinquain" simply means a stanza (or poem) with five lines. However, the word also refers to either of two more specific types of five-line poems. The first type is usually centered to give it a diamond shape and has the following format:
First line: a one-word subject or title.
Second line: two adjectives which describe the subject.
Third line: three verbs relating to the subject.
Fourth line: four words forming a phrase, sentence, or set of feelings relating to the subject.
Fifth line: one word which summarizes the poem or restates the subject.
The second and more traditional type is simpler and requires only that the pattern of syllables per line in the poem is 2, 4, 6, 8, 2. (In other words, the first line has two syllables, the second has four, etc.)
The following example demonstrates the first specific type of cinquain:
Pharaoh
Royal, Militant
Commanding, Proclaiming, Leading
He stands for Egypt
King
Back to the Table of Contents.
CLERIHEW
Clerihews are short, fun little poems that are easy to write. Their name comes from Edmund Clerihew Bentley, who pioneered the form in his teenage years. Clerihews are four lines long and have an aabb rhyme scheme. They are about a specific person, and the second line must rhyme with the person's name. Clerihews are meant to be funny, even silly. There are no restrictions concerning rhythm or number of syllables.
This example is about Frodo Baggins, a character from The Lord of the Rings. (As a reminder, fan fiction of any kind is prohibited on Elfwood.)
There once lived a hobbit named Frodo
Whose stature resembled that of a dodo
He liked to wander, get dirty, and sing
But when he took baths, he always left a Ring.
Back to the Table of Contents.
DIAMANTE
The diamante is a poem form similar the the cinquain. It consists of seven lines, as shown below:
First line: a one-word subject that contrasts with the subject in line seven.
Second line: two adjectives which describe the subject in line one.
Third line: three verbs relating to the subject in line one.
Fourth line: two nouns related to the subject in line one, followed by two nouns related to the subject in line seven.
Fifth line: three verbs relating to the subject in line seven.
Sixth line: two adjectives which describe the subject in line seven.
Seventh line: a one-word subject that contrasts with the subject in line one.
There is also another, simpler type of diamante which contains only one subject. In this form, the first and seventh lines contain words which are two ways of saying the same thing. The example below demonstrates the former, more complex type.
Growth
Lush, Poetic
Spreading, Flourishing, Multiplying
Youth, Life, Death, Darkness
Shrinking, Dying, Shriveling
Diseased, Fetid
Decay
Back to the Table of Contents.
ECLOGUE
An eclogue is a poem about rural life, generally a conversation between shepherds, in which country life is usually portrayed in an idealistic way. Eclogues are also known as bucolics, idyls, or pastorals.
The following is the beginning of "Eclogue I" by Virgil. In the complete poem, the conversation continues to switch back and forth between the two men.
Meliboeus.
You, Tityrus, 'neath a broad beech-canopy
Reclining, on the slender oat rehearse
Your silvan ditties: I from my sweet fields,
And home's familiar bounds, even now depart.
Exiled from home am I; while, Tityrus, you
Sit careless in the shade, and, at your call,
"Fair Amaryllis" bid the woods resound.
Tityrus.
O Meliboeus, 'twas a god vouchsafed
This ease to us, for him a god will I
Deem ever, and from my folds a tender lamb
Oft with its life-blood shall his altar stain.
His gift it is that, as your eyes may see,
My kine may roam at large, and I myself
Play on my shepherd's pipe what songs I will.
Back to the Table of Contents.
EPIC
Epics are very long narrative poems which typically feature heroic characters, noble deeds, fantastic battles or events, and a high style of writing (epics take themselves very seriously). The excerpt below is taken from a translation of Beowulf, an epic about a hero of the same name. The name of Beowulf's author is a mystery which will probably never be solved.
Soon then saw that shepherd-of-evils
that never he met in this middle-world,
in the ways of earth, another wight
with heavier hand-gripe; at heart he feared,
sorrowed in soul, -- none the sooner escaped!
Fain would he flee, his fastness seek,
the den of devils: no doings now
such as oft he had done in days of old!
Back to the Table of Contents.
EPIGRAM
An epigram is a very short poem, usually two or four lines long, with a simple rhyme scheme. The goal of an epigram is to encapulate a brief bit of wit or wisdom in poetic form. The epigram below, written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge about a volunteer singer, is a case in point.
Swans sing before they die--'twere no bad thing
Should certain people die before they sing!
Back to the Table of Contents.
ETHERE
An ethere has ten lines and no pattern of rhythm or rhyme. Each line contains the same number of syllables as its line number. There is also a reverse ethere, which is the opposite (first line contains ten syllables, second has nine, etc.) and also a double ethere, which usually consists of an ethere followed by a reverse ethere. The example below is simply a normal ethere.
Fear
It rides
In the night
On shadow wings
As a specter of
Some ancient black horror
Which manifests suddenly
On the small, pale, shivering mind
And then, like a half-remembered dream
Dissolves peacefully into nothingness.
Back to the Table of Contents.
GHAZAL
The ghazal is a Middle Eastern form. It is arranged in a series of couplets, usually five or more. The couplets are independent; each can stand alone as a separate poem and still make sense. The couplets can be thematically related, but this is not a requirement. Ghazals contain a refrain - a word or a short phrase - which appears at the end of both lines of the first couplet and at the end of the second line of every subsequent couplet. The ghazal also has a rhyme which appears, not at the end of the line, but within it, directly before every repetition of the refrain. Ghazals are also required to maintain a strict meter (syllable stress pattern). Finally, a ghazal's last couplet may contain the poet's name as a kind of signature, although this is not required.
The example below does not have this "signature." Notice the refrain, "today," as well as the "-ite" sound that always precedes it.
I think I'll go outside and see the light today
I plan to grant myself the gift of sight today
No more of this uncertainty and solitude
The humming of the quiet world seems right today
The shadows fall, uncertainty is ever near
But no, the brilliant sun is clear and bright today
How often shades of gray have muddled simple things -
I want to see in crystal black and white today
Now put aside this dismal work for just an hour
I ride to see my children as a knight today!
Back to the Table of Contents.
GLOSA
In the glosa, a Spanish form, the first stanza serves as the template for the overall poem. Each subsequent stanza elaborates on one particular line from the first stanza and usually contains the line itself at least once as a refrain. (Other, stricter versions of the glosa also exist.) This example's first stanza was written as a complete poem by an anonymous poet, and the rest was added much later by Lewis Turco (writing under the pseudonym of Wesli Court) to form a glosa.
Western wind, when wilt thou blow,
That the small rain down shall rain?
Christ! that my love were in my arms,
And I in my bed again.
Western wind, when wilt thou blow?
When shall the rivers begin to flow
Over this ice toward the sea?
When will the branches of the tree
Drop their mantles of rime and snow?
Western wind, when wilt thou blow,
That the small rain down shall rain?
Then may the willows in their train
Loosen their limbs upon the stream;
Then may birdsong burst this dream
Of winter to seek the sprouting grain,
That the small rain down shall rain.
Christ! that my love were in my arms
Where the grass greens and the bee swarms!
She is fair as the mountain heather,
Comely and kind as Maytime's weather
Over the land after April storms--
Christ! that my love were in my arms,
And I in my bed again
Where gladly I have slept and lain
Upon the pillow of her hair.
When shall I once more come there,
Her breast beneath the counterpane,
And I in my bed again.
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 12:22 am
poetic forms (H-P)
HAIKU
The word "haiku" is Japanese in origin, and the Japanese idea of its definition is subtle and complex. In English, however, "haiku" usually refers to a three-lined poem with no pattern of rhythm or rhyme wherein the first and third lines contain five syllables each, while the second line contains seven. For example:
Overhead the light
Is growing ever fainter
Thunder splits the deep.
Haiku are also generally nature-oriented and serious, unlike their cousin, the senryu.
For a sample of authentic Japanese poetry, consider the following haiku by the Japanese master Basho. They are not three separate poems, but rather three different translations of the exact same poem; the contrast between them is meant to illustrate the difficulty of transferring the essence of poetry from one language to another.
The old pond
A frog jumps in
The sound of water.
Old pond
leap - splash
a frog.
Old dark sleepy pool
quick unexpected frog
goes plop! Watersplash.
You may notice that these translations do not follow the five-seven-five syllable pattern. This is of course because they are translations; however, even in their original Japanese, the 5-7-5 rule is often brushed aside in favor of a better word choice. Furthermore, even when the rule is followed, it applies to onji, which have no real English counterpart, rather than syllables. In recognition of this, many Western haiku poets have given up the syllable rule entirely in order to follow in the footsteps of the Japanese haiku more closely. Nothing is ever simple!
Back to the Table of Contents.
HUITAIN
A Spanish form of poetry, the huitain revolves around the number eight - there are eight lines in the poem, and each line contains eight syllables. The rhyme scheme is ababbcbc. That's all there is to it!
I teeter on the rocky edge
The brink is sheer - but far below
I see another, smaller ledge
On which stands someone else I know
I hear him shout, "Why worry so?
For even if you fell, you see
You'd still have quite a way to go
Before you fell as low as me!"
Back to the Table of Contents.
IDYL
(Also spelled idyll.)
There are two separate meanings for "idyl." In the first meaning, it is simply a synonym for eclogue. In its other meaning, an idyl is a narrative poem written in high language that deals with an epic or romantic theme. Probably the best-known idyl is Alfred Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King, from which the lines below are taken:
For many a petty king ere Arthur came
Ruled in this isle, and ever waging war
Each upon other, wasted all the land;
And still from time to time the heathen host
Swarmed overseas, and harried what was left.
And so there grew great tracts of wilderness,
Wherein the beast was ever more and more,
But man was less and less, till Arthur came.
Back to the Table of Contents.
KYRIELLE
The French kyrielle is composed entirely of quatrains (a quatrain is any stanza with four lines). There is no set number of stanzas, although generally a kyrielle contains three or more. The rhyme scheme is up to the poet (aabb ccbb ddbb etc. is frequently used), but it must be the same for all stanzas. Also, the last line of all stanzas is the same. Kyrielles generally have eight syllables per line, although this is not a requirement.
The lines that follow are taken from a kyrielle entitled "A Little Pain," written by John Payne.
A little pain, a little pleasure.
A little heaping up of treasure,
Then no more gazing upon the sun.
All things must end that have begun.
Where is the time for hope or doubt?
A puff of the wind and life is out:
A turn of the wheel and the rest is won.
All things must end that have begun.
Golden mornings and purple night,
Life that fails with the failing light:
Death is the only deathless one.
All things must end that have begun.
Back to the Table of Contents.
LAI
A lai consists of stanzas with nine lines each (although some versions do not require a specific number of lines per stanza). The pattern of syllables per line is 5,5,2,5,5,2,5,5,2 and the rhyme scheme for each stanza is aabaabaab. There is no set number of stanzas and the stanzas are not linked to each other in terms of rhyme. Put all this together and you'll get something like this:
Gaze across the land
Heath, still water, sand
The bay.
Would you call it grand
If within my hand
It lay?
All at my command
For the final stand
Today.
Nights grow long and dire
Those who call me sire
Amass.
Purposes grow higher
Dare I start to tire?
The grass -
Swept across with fire
Vast, uncaring pyre
Alas!
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LIMERICK
Limericks are short poems not meant to be taken seriously. They consist of five lines with rhyme scheme aabba. The pattern of syllable stresses is not set in stone, but it is generally anapestic (unstressed, unstressed, stressed). The first, second, and fifth lines contain nine syllables, while the third and fourth have six.
This is a dry and technical explanation for a poem which is, in reality, simple and fun to write. Limericks frequently make slight departures from the "proper" form, and this is perfectly acceptable. The limerick below gives you an idea of what limericks are all about.
There was once a young fellow whose brain
Was the size of a cereal grain
But his shortage of wit
Was a great benefit
For he failed to register pain.
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LUC BAT
The luc bat is a Vietnamese form of poetry. It means simply "six eight" due to its pattern of syllables per line: 6,8,6,8,6,8, etc. There is no set length to the luc bat, so it can be as long or as short as you'd like. But what really makes this form interesting is the rhyming structure, which sounds a little complicated but is easy to grasp in practice. The sixth syllable of every eight-syllable line rhymes with the last syllable of the six-syllable line before it, which in turn rhymes with the eighth syllable of the eight-syllable line before it. When the end of the poem is reached, the last line jumps back and rhymes with the first. In other words, the syllables go like this:
* * * * * a
* * * * * a * b
* * * * * b
* * * * * b * c
* * * * * c
* * * * * c * d
* * * * * d
* * * * * d * a
...although of course the poem can be as long as you wish. Remember that it is always the final line of the poem which ends in the "a" rhyme, linking it back to the beginning.
Hopefully an example will help clear things up.
The grand untarnished sea -
How glorious for me and you
To wander as we do
Along its beach and through the tide!
How can I harbor pride
Now walking here beside the shore?
Can you, my love, ignore
The sigh, forevermore to dwell
Within our glassy shell?
The gleaming stars, which fell to earth -
What was their glory worth
Beside the gentle birth of life?
What need have we for strife?
The two of us, dear wife, are free!
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NONET
A nonet has nine lines. The first line has nine syllables, and each line after that has one less, until the end is reached with only one syllable. Nonets need not have any rhyme or meter.
A spider on a window screen sees
An insect on the other side
It manages to kill it
But cannot get its bulk
Through the thin wire mesh
And so it must
Be content
With mere
Death.
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ODE
Odes are traditionally serious, dignified poems about a specific subject or event. There are many different types of odes, so numerous and varied that I will not attempt a listing of them here. This means that odes often have a fairly rigid structure, but what that structure actually is varies greatly from one ode to another. The lines below form the final stanza from John Keats' legendary "Ode on a Grecian Urn." They are characteristic of the lyrical and poetic beauty that odes possess.
O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou sayst,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty, -that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."
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PANTOUM
Pantoums are composed entirely of quatrains (four-line stanzas). There is no restriction on the number of quatrains, but each quatrain must follow the rhyme scheme abab within itself. The characteristic feature of a pantoum, however, is its repetition. The first and third lines of every stanza (except the first stanza) are identical to the second and fourth lines of the previous stanza, respectively. For the final line, there is an additional rule: the second and fourth lines must be the same as the first and third lines from the first stanza, respectively. Thus the overall pattern of lines in a five-quatrain pantoum would be as follows:
Stanza #1: 1 2 3 4
Stanza #2: 2 5 4 6
Stanza #3: 5 7 6 8
Stanza #4: 7 9 8 10
Stanza #5: 9 1 10 3
In some cases, the final stanza is as follows:
Stanza #5: 9 3 10 1
Again, pantoums may be any number of stanzas; the use of five quatrains above holds no special significance (although some stricter versions of this form do require exactly four stanzas).
An example pantoum, "Rising Sap" by Mabel Ferrett, follows.
After all earth is dead,
all lovely things undone,
a crocus rears its head,
gold to the sun.
All lovely things undone
until a shaping force
-gold to the sun -
re-aligns its course;
until a shaping force
I feel, but cannot know,
re-aligns its course
as dry roots grow.
I feel, but cannot know,
how in the end all things
as dry roots grow
burst into blossomings,
how in the end all things
with effortless delight
burst into blossomings,
dazzling the sight.
With effortless delight
after all earth is dead,
dazzling the sight,
a crocus rears its head.
The pantoum was originally derived from the pantun.
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PANTUN
A Malay form, the pantun can consist of two, four, six, eight, or even ten lines; the most popular form is four. Four-line pantuns have the rhyme scheme abab, and each line generally contains eight to twelve syllables. The distinguishing feature of a pantun, however, is the relationship between the first and second pairs of lines. The first two lines establish an opening image or idea, while the second pair creates a separate image which quite often has nothing whatsoever to do with the first pair (although this is not always the case). The example pantun below is part of a series of pantuns meant to be recited during a betrothal ceremony.
So many beads in this jacket here,
Of many colours and threaded neat;
All those visiting are welcome here,
Here's water to cleanse your feet.
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PARADELLE
The paradelle is French in origin, and it is one of the more difficult forms. It consists of four stanzas, each of which contains six lines. Each of the first three stanzas has the following format: the first two lines are identical, the third and fourth lines are identical, and the last two lines use all the words from the first and third lines (and no others). The fourth and final stanza's only requirement is that it use all the words from the first and third lines of the previous three stanzas (and no others). The example below illustrates.
The frenzied pace of life
The frenzied pace of life
To death it swiftly speeds
To death it swiftly speeds
The pace of life to it
Frenzied, death speeds swiftly.
Our time is scattered dust
Our time is scattered dust
How short our fleeting hours
How short our fleeting hours
Is time our scattered hours?
How short this fleeting dust!
Mortality, the wind
Mortality, the wind
They are a single soul
They are a single soul
A soul, the single wind
Mortality they are.
This dust, mortality
Single, they are scattered
To frenzied death it speeds
How short is time? The hours?
A swiftly fleeting pace
The soul wind of our life.
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 12:24 am
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:18 am
Wow, i didn't know there were so many forms of poetry!
We were only taught a few in English at school.
Very informative! I shall try to write in a specific form sometime.
sweatdrop
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