Tag: original poetry

Week Thirty-Two: Terzanelle

On By Adam AstraIn poetry, Poetry Challenge, writing1 Comment

Meet the Terzanelle

Having already covered the terza rima (week 30) and the villanelle (week 23),  now is a great time to introduce the Terzanelle, which is a kind of mash-up of those two very popular Italian forms. 

Key Features

Form: same as villanelle; features a total of nineteen lines, consisting of five tercets concluding in a quatrain

Rhyme: follows the terza rima’s interlocking rhyme scheme (aba-bcb-cdc, etc)

Content: features the villanelle’s repeating refrains

Meter: traditionally iambic pentameter, but modern standards are more relaxed


*For additional help getting started with this somewhat complicated form, check out the links below in the Want to Learn More section.*

Example Poem

Terzanelle in Thunderweather
Lewis Turco

This is the moment when shadows gather
under the elms, the cornices and eaves.
This is the center of thunderweather.

The birds are quiet among these white leaves
where wind stutters, starts, then moves steadily
under the elms, the cornices, and eaves–

these are our voices speaking guardedly
about the sky, of the sheets of lightning
where wind stutters, starts, then moves steadily

into our lungs, across our lips, tightening
our throats. Our eyes are speaking in the dark
about the sky, of the sheets of lightening

that illuminate moments. In the stark
shades we inhibit, there are no words for
our throats. Our eyes are speaking in the dark

of things we cannot say, cannot ignore.
This is the moment when shadows gather,
shades we inhibit. There are no words, for
this is the center of thunderweather.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An Original Terzanelle

Terzanelle by Adam Astra

Even now, there’s some ink left in this pen;
As long as I can find an empty page,
It’s never too late to begin again.

It still feels like I’m naked on a stage
When I undress all these old doubts and dreams.
As long as I can find an empty page,

I can return to the source—that wild stream.
Years spent swimming through stacks of old notebooks
Where I undress all these old doubts and dreams.

I’ve cast out many lines without a hook,
And well, I don’t have time to dwell on my
Years spent swimming through stacks of old notebooks,

Wondering where I’ve lost the time and why.
It’s been a long journey, but now I know
Too well. I don’t have time to dwell on my

Regrets, but I’ve got time to let them go.
Even now, there’s some ink left in this pen.
It’s been a long journey, but now I know
It’s never too late to begin again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to Learn More? Start Here:

Terzanelle – Wikipedia
Terzanelle – Writer’s Digest
Terzanelle – Shadow Poetry

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Week Thirty-One: Katauta

On By Adam AstraIn poetry, Poetry Challenge, writing1 Comment

Meet the Katauta

The Katauta is a short romantic poem addressed to a lover and is similar to other Japanese forms such as the haiku, somonka, and sedoka. A katauta asks a question, but since the question remains unanswered, it’s sometimes considered more of a half-poem.

Key Features

Form: A short three-line poem, typically untitled
Content: Addressed to a lover and asks a question
Syllable Count: usually 5-7-7, but sometimes 5-7-5

Example Poem

Untitled Katauta, by Robert Lee Brewer

why do winter stars
shine brighter than summer stars
as if they are shards of glass?

An Original Katauta

my love, will we rise
up against this wave of hate,
or will we stay here in bed?

~

Want to Learn More? Start Here:

Katauta – Writer’s Digest
Japanese Poetry Forms – The Poet’s Garret
Katauta – Poets Collective

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Week Thirty: Terza Rima

On By Adam AstraIn poetry, Poetry Challenge, writing2 Comments

Meet the Terza Rima

The Terza Rima is a type of verse stanza invented by Italian poet Dante Alghieri and is used in his epic masterwork, The Divine Comedy. Terza rima poems are always written in tercets with an interlinking rhyme scheme unique to the form. In English, the terza rima may be incorporated into other well-known forms, such as the sonnet (see example below).

Key Features of The Terza Rima

Form: Written in any number of tercets, but you’ll probably want at least three to establish the rhyme scheme.


Rhyme: Features a terza rima rhyme scheme (sometimes called a chain rhyme) of aba-bcb-cdc, etc.

Example Poem

Below is an example of a terza rima sonnet

Ode to the West Wind
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1795-1825)

First Movement
O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being,
Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead
Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing.

Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,
Pestilence-striken multitudes: O thou,
Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed

The winged seeds, where they lie cold and low,
Each like a corpse within its grave, until
Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow

Her clarion o’er the dreaming earth, and fill
(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air)
With living hues and odours plain and hill:

Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;
Destroyer and preserver; hear, oh hear!

An Original Terza Rima Poem

A Galaxy Newly Born

Nascent love is like a galaxy newly born,
Its elements simple and lighter than air.
But in darkness, its stars yet unformed.

From its center it is an experience as rare,
As clear as desire unclouded by dust,
But from a distance—a dim blue glare.

Heavier elements—security and trust—
Require a ritual, a sacrifice of stars.
Much later will come the planet’s crust.

~

Want to Learn More? Start Here:

Terza Rima – Poets.org
Terza Rima – Wikipedia
Dante Alighieri – Wikipedia
Sonnet Examples – Poetry through the Ages

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Week Twenty-Nine: The Golden Shovel

On By Adam AstraIn poetry, Poetry Challenge, writing1 Comment

Picking Up the Golden Shovel

The Golden Shovel borrows a line (or sometimes many lines) from an existing poem by another poet and uses each word from the existing line(s) as the end word for each line of a new, original poem. This is a great way to give a shout-out to a poet you admire, so always be sure to give credit to the original author!

An Original Golden Shovel

These I Will Keep

after Robert Frost

I’ve always eyed the
path leading into the woods
with curiosity and wonder. Are
the oaks there as lovely,
are the shadows as dark,
as I’ve imagined? And
are the solitudes as deep?

The temptation lingers, but
after everything I
have lost, all I have
left are the promises
I have made to
myself. These I will keep.

~

Want to Learn More? Start Here:

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
The Golden Shovel by Terrance Hayes

The Golden Shovel – Poetry Foundation
Golden Shovel – Writer’s Digest

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Week Twenty-Eight: The Clerihew

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Meet the Clerihew

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.

~

Want to Learn More? Start Here:

Clerihew – Wikipedia
What is a Clerihew? – Verse.org

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Week Twenty-Seven: Hay(na)ku

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Hay(na)ku Introduction

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.

Example Hay(na)ku by Rebeka Lembo

Victor
Hugo might
have said there

were
neither bad
seeds nor bad

plants
but bad
raisers; I, however,

firmly
believe he
must have never

had
little hogweeds
in his garden.

~

Two Original Hay(na)ku

I.
January

January—
shivering under
a white sky.

II.
When the Boat is on Fire

There’s
no time
to argue blame

when
the boat
is on fire.

We
must act
with one purpose

if
we wish
to stay afloat.

~

Want to Learn More? Start Here:

Hay(na)ku – Writer’s Digest
Hay(na)ku Poetry – Haynakupoetry.blogspot
Hay(na)ku – Eileen R Tabios

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Week Twenty-Five: The Chanso

On By Adam AstraIn poetry, Poetry Challenge, writing1 Comment

History

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

Example

On the Forest Moon, by Robert Lee Brewer

“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.

Links to Online Resources

Canso – Wikipedia
Chanso: Poetic Form – Writer’s Digest
Chanso – Poets Collective

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Week Twenty-Four: The Gogyohka

On By Adam AstraIn poetry, Poetry Challenge, writing1 Comment

Introduction

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 theme of Gogyohka is unrestricted.
    *from Wikipedia

Three Original Gogyohka

I.

The autumn sunset
the prairie moon
the astounding things
the eyes can do
with light

II.

In arctic silence
even an echo
of a heartbeat
can become
an avalanche

III.

Don’t stack up
your worry
against the frost
you’ll wither without
that winter sun

Links to Online Resources

Gogyohka – Writer’s Digest
Gogyohka – 5gogyohka.com
Gogyōka – Wikipedia
What is a Gogyohka? – Thanet Writers

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Week Twenty-Two: The Haibun

On By Adam AstraIn poetry, Poetry Challenge, writing1 Comment

Introduction

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.

Haibun Example

LAKE SADDLEBAG by marie a. mennuto-rovello

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

Links to Online Resources

Haibun – Wikipedia
Haibun Poems – Writer’s Digest
Matsuo Bashō – Wikipedia
A Closer Look at Writing Haibun – Poets.org
Haiku – Wikipedia

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Week Twenty-One: The Clogyrnach

On By Adam AstraIn poetry, Poetry Challenge, writing2 Comments

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.

Links to Online Resources

Clogyrnach – Writer’s Digest
Clogyrnach – Popular Poetry Forms

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