Of all the forms we’ve covered so far, the Concrete Poem is unique in its emphasis on the physical form—the actual shape of the words—along with the meaning. Poetry meets typography meets graphic design in this experimental, visually inventive form.
An Original Concrete Poem
Description: Image one reads in black text, “I carry this would like a weapon.” Text of image one is shaped like a sword or dagger. Image two reads in red text, “I am invincible in my pain.” Text of image two is shaped like a shield.
Jumblers and scrabblers are well-versed in the art of the anagram, a technique that uses the shuffling of a given selection of letters to find new words. Anagrams can be a lot of fun, so it’s no surprise they are used in many popular word games and puzzles.
Key Features of the Anagrammatic Poem
Content: Always titled, and only letters featured in the title can be used
Form: The anagrammatic method can be combined with existing poetic forms (such as the haiku, sonnet, etc.) or used to create new ones.
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.*
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Astra Poetica 