The Clerihew is a funny little form invented by English humorist, poet, and novelist Edmund Clerihew Bentley. These bite-sized biographies are meant to entertain as much as inform the reader.
Key Features
Form: Consists of a single four-line (quatrain) stanza following an AABB rhyme scheme.
Content: Biographical and humorous in tone. The first line states the subject’s name, the following three lines state something surprising or funny about the subject.
A Clerihew by E. C. Bentley
George the Third Ought never to have occurred. One can only wonder At so grotesque a blunder.
Another Clerihew by Unknown
Did Descartes Depart With the thought “Therefore I’m not”?
~
Four Original Clerihews
I. Edmund C. Bentley Penned poems aplenty. He wrote some good mysteries, too, But he’s best known for his clerihew.
II. Johann Sebastian Bach Really knew how to rock. His compositions were so clever They changed music forever.
III. Senator Bernie Sanders Speaks with honesty and candor. And he’s likely our best hope To dump the orange dope.
IV. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes Is an athlete down to his chromosomes. Still he’s nice enough to permit His teammates to call him Kermit.
The hay(na)ku is a newer form that is beautiful in its simplicity. It’s a short form—a three-line poem like the haiku—but unlike that traditional form, words are counted instead of syllables. The hay(na)ku was invented by poet Eileen Tabios. (See links at the end of this post to learn more.)
Key Features
Form: a three-line form (tercet) with one word in the first line, two words in the second line, and three words in the third line. Tercets may be repeated to create a longer work, like in the example below.
As I celebrate reaching the halfway mark of this 52-week challenge (whoop!), I’d like to thank everyone who has taken the time to check out these posts and show their support by following, liking, and commenting. I created this poetry challenge as a test of my own resolve, willpower, and writing ability, and though I’d still be posting if I hadn’t any followers at all, knowing that there are some folks out there who get enough from it to take the time to interact with my blog is a wonderful feeling.
You may have noticed I’ve taken the last couple of weeks off (due to illness and general holiday busyness) and this will be my last post of 2019. The challenge will pick up right where it left off in January 2020, so please come back and join me in the new year. I hope the end of the year (and the decade!) brings you love and joy, no matter how you choose to celebrate the season.
And now…the main attraction!
Meet the Rondeau
The word rondeau derives form the French rond, meaning “round,” and, indeed, it is a form that turns round and round. The rondeau originated in Provencal poetry in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The term originally included various short poetic forms. The current form was fixed toward the end of the fifteenth century and became especially popular in French poetry.
– Edward Hirsch, A Poet’s Glossary
Key Features
Form: Consists of fifteen lines in two or three stanzas and a refrain that is introduced in line 1 and repeats in lines 10 and 15
Rhyme: Follows a unique rhyme scheme
Meter: Often written in iambic tetrameter
~
Example
“We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
We Wear the Mask
We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,— This debt we pay to human guile; With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Why should the world be over-wise, In counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, while We wear the mask.
We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries To thee from tortured souls arise. We sing, but oh the clay is vile Beneath our feet, and long the mile; But let the world dream otherwise, We wear the mask!
~
An Original Rondeau
The Fix Was In
The Fix was in right from the start. They wrote the script, assigned the parts, Then hired a team to advertise, To teach to want, each worthless prize A meal designed to slowly starve.
We work to live; our lives are hard. Our hands are strong, but marked with scars, And long before we realized The Fix was in,
They dulled our minds and tamed our hearts. We fell in line, we pushed the cart Through crowded aisles, half mesmerized. And on we’ll play, the stakes will rise, not knowing as we fold our cards The Fix was in.
The Chanso (also sometimes called the Canso) poetic and song form was popular with the French troubadours in the second half of the 13th century. When reading about the chanso, you’ll likely run into the following terms, which I’ve broken down below for clarification.
Chanso/Canso/Chanson/Canzone
Chanso: A poetic and song form used by the troubadours Canso: Another name for the chanso form Chanson: A lyric-driven French song Canzone: An Italian variation of the chanso form
“3PO! Come in, 3PO! 3PO! Where could he be?” -Luke Skywalker
With all the things I have been through, I thought it must be obvious– the odds good you already knew– like R2 I’ve grown mischievous
and abandoned Jedi and Sith for a vacay with my Ewoks, who love to hear me spin a myth and always listen when I talk.
Not that I hate on Master Luke, though I could do without that Han, who’s quick to give a tough rebuke every time things don’t go to plan.
It’s just I don’t like being shot or getting pulled into pieces. After all, I’m not a robot when I’ve got telekinesis,
or at least, that’s what Ewoks think as they sing “yub-yub” on their moon, which was once on the very brink of the Empire’s galactic doom.
So look and you’ll find me no more: I’ll be the droid you’re looking for.
Requirements of the Form
Form
– Consists of four or five stanzas of equal length, followed by a half-stanza (known as an envoy or tornada) which is identical in structure to the second half of the preceding stanza
Content
– Poet’s choice, but historically written as a love song – The first stanza usually introduces the topic of the poem – The envoy often features a summation of the themes explored in the previous stanzas
Syllables
– Poet’s choice, but each line of the poem should contain the same number or syllables
Rhyme
– Poet’s choice, but should be consistent from stanza to stanza, excepting the envoy, which usually ends in a couplet
Requirement Breakdown
Example of a Chanso in Five Stanzas
[Stanza 1] 4 lines, 8 syllables, ab rhyme [Stanza 2] 4 lines, 8 syllables, cd rhyme [Stanza 3] 4 lines, 8 syllables, ef rhyme [Stanza 4] 4 lines, 8 syllables, gh rhyme [Stanza 5] 2 lines, 8 syllables, ii rhyme
An Original Chanso
What Happens Now
What happens now is important: a journey of a thousand miles, a heroic test of fortune, will carry you across the isles
of fear and imagination, of suffering and beauty found interwoven through creation, like the moon’s pull on the tide, bound
inextricably together. Don’t scar the earth mining for gold; the cave within holds the treasure so often sought, but never sold,
and never bought at any price, though you’ll find many dishonest men advertising otherwise. Your actions now are a promise;
Your choices now fashion your fate— Choose courage now; it’s not too late.
The Japanese love their five-line forms. (I love them too!) The word Gogyohka (sometimes written Gogyōka in English) translates literally from Japanese to mean “five-line form.” An unnamed version of the form has existed at least since the early 1900s, but the popularity of the form today is largely credited to poet Enta Kusakabe who developed and trademarked the gogyohka in 1983 as a freer adaptation of the tanka form.
A Gogyohka by Enta Kusakabe
What kind of stained glass have your rose-coloured cheeks passed through
Enta Kusakabe
Five rules of Gogyohka by Enta Kusakabe*
Gogyohka is a new form of short poem that is based on the ancient Japanese Tanka and Kodai kayo.
Gogyohka has five lines, but exceptionally may have four or six.
Each line of Gogyohka consists of one phrase with a line-break after each phrase or breath.
Gogyohka has no restraint on numbers of words or syllables.
The Haibun features a fascinating paring of prose poetry and haiku. It was invented and popularized by 17th century Japanese master poet Matsuo Bashō. The prose and haiku of the haibun are often in communication with each other in direct or subtle ways.
I walk the north end of the lake this time every summer. Listen to the murky green waters slap up against the weather beaten dock. In the distance, the sound of children skinny dipping.
from a navy sky sound of cicadas calling full moon on the rise
Requirements of the Form
Structure
– Titled, unlike traditional haiku
– Begins with a small number of short paragraphs (typically one to three) written in prose poetry style
– Ends with a traditional haiku that reflects or is in some relationship with the introductory prose poem
Content
Common elements and themes include: – Strong sense of place through natural imagery and sensory detail – Travel or sense of journey – Autobiographical elements – Economy of language – Sense of presence and immediacy typically found in haiku – Haiku follows other rules typically found in form
Syllable Count
– For the haiku, syllables needn’t be counted 5-7-5 as in the English Haiku. Rather, aim for a short first line, followed by a longer line, ending with another short line. This approach more closely reflects the spirit of the traditional Japanese form.
An Original Haibun
October 28, 2019[a haibun]
October is ending. The blazing reds of the sugar maple have begun to yellow. I stand at the front window, still in my bathrobe though noon approaches, still fighting a cold with rest and medication. A small grey cat brushes against my leg and then the curtain. Beside her, a fat tabby dozes on a quilt on a rocking chair. Beside the rocking chair, a wastebasket full of crumpled tissues waits to be emptied.
I refill my coffee mug, warming my hands with it as I return to the window. The leaves on the lawn are beginning to brown, reminding me of the promise to rake. Last year we let them lay and they choked the irises. At the feeder, only the occasional finch returns. The water in the birdbath is not yet frozen.
October ends orange leaves and white snowflakes fall together
Oh, those plucky Welsh forms with their fun names, lively musicality, strict syllable restrictions and internal rhymes. The Clogyrnach is the third Welsh form so far in this challenge (after the gwawdodyn and the cywydd llosgyrnog) and is just as challenging as its fellow forms.
Requirements of the Form
Like many other Welsh forms, there are no restrictions in content or meter, but there are various other requirements that must be adhered to rather strictly.
Form
– Consists of any number of six-line stanzas (sestets)
Syllable Count
– Lines 1 and 2 contain eight syllables – Lines 3 and 4 have five syllables – Lines 5 and 6 have three syllables each
Rhyme
-End rhymes (lines 1-6): aabbba
Variations
– There is a five-line variation* of the Clogyrnach which combines lines 5 and 6. (see below for details)
Requirement Breakdown
1-xxxxxxxa 2-xxxxxxxa 3-xxxxb 4-xxxxb 5-xxb 6-xxa
*Form Variation*
1-xxxxxxxa 2-xxxxxxxa 3-xxxxb 4-xxxxb 5-xxbxxa
An Original Clogyrnach
Fall
I love the autumn’s red and gold, but every fall I catch a cold. So, I’m stuck in bed with a stuffy head until the meds take hold.
I long to stroll beneath the trees breathing in the October breeze. Buried in tissues with sinus issues, I achoo, cough and wheeze.
Lost leaves scattered across the ground, pillows piled in a high white mound; not what I would call an awesome time, ya’ll. Love of fall’s got me down.
An Acrostic poem uses the first letter of each line to spell a word or name central to the theme of the poem. Acrostics have been used in literature and poetry for many hundreds of years. Even today, they are commonly used as mnemonic devices to aid in memory retention and retrieval.
Form Example
“An Acrostic” by Edgar Allan Poe:
Elizabeth it is in vain you say “Love not”—thou sayest it in so sweet a way: In vain those words from thee or L.E.L. Zantippe’s talents had enforced so well: Ah! if that language from thy heart arise, Breath it less gently forth—and veil thine eyes. Endymion, recollect, when Luna tried To cure his love—was cured of all beside— His follie—pride—and passion—for he died.
~
An Original Acrostic Poem
Trump – An Acrostic
Dangerous Delusions Direct this Obnoxious, Obstinate, Orange Narcissist. Negligence and an Arrogant Aggression define this Loud-mouthed Liar, this Destructive Dimwit whose Twitter Temper-Tantrums Repel all but Repugnant Racists. Unite against this Unwelcome, Manipulative Misogynist, this Pussy-grabbing Pig.
Along with the English Haiku and the Cinquain, the Alphabet Poem is likely one of the first poetry forms students are introduced to in school. There’s something about the simplicity of the challenge that makes the alphabet poem a lot of fun to play with.
Three Ways to Play with the ABCs
Approach One: List Them Out
Write a poem by listing each letter down the left-hand margin and assigning each letter at least one word. This approach is similar to what you’d find in an anagrammatic poem (more on that in a post to come!) The important thing is that each letter is clearly represented by at least one word.
[see example below: “An Original Alphabet Poem”]
Approach Two: Tell a Story
Write a story using each letter of the alphabet as the first letter of each word. Words can be in alphabetical order, reverse alphabetical order, or any other configuration, as long as each letter is represented by a single word.
Original Example Average bears can’t dance every fourth generation. However, ingenious juveniles know lazy Monday nights often provide quite remarkable situations to unleash various waltzes, xaxados, yurukikos, zydecos.
Approach Three: The Quick Brown Fox Method
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
This simple phrase is interesting because it includes every letter of the alphabet in nine short words, and eleven syllables. Poets up for a challenge could try to match the efficiency of the above phrase by creating their own collection of words that meet the same criteria in as many words. (Or less, if you can manage it!)
Original Example Quit flummoxing plucky wizard hives by June (7 words, 11 syllables)
My alphabet poem is also a list poem where I’ve listed some of my favorite words to hear and say out loud. What are some words that catch and thrill you when you hear them? The type of word that you can’t help but stop to appreciate and repeat out loud, even if it means interrupting someone in mid-sentence. Comment to share!
Astra Poetica 