Tag: rhyme

Week Eight: The Cywydd llosgyrnog

On By Adam AstraIn Uncategorized4 Comments

The Cywhatnow?

The Cywydd llosgyrnog is the second Welsh form of this challenge and includes many of the features you come to expect from a Welsh form including: strict syllable count, both end rhymes and internal rhymes, and an extremely difficult-to-pronounce (and spell) name!

Using this handy online Guide to Welsh Pronunciation, the best I can suss out as far as the pronunciation of this form would sound something like “kuh-with th-laws-gurr-nog,” but please understand this is only an educated guess.

Requirements of the Form

The Cywydd llosgyrnog form prescribes 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 single six-line stanzas (sestets)

Syllable Count

– Lines 1, 2, 4 and 5 contain eight syllables 
– Lines 3 and 6 have seven syllables 

Rhyme

-End rhymes (lines 1-6): aabccb
-Internal rhymes (lines 3 and 6*): ac
*generally falling on syllable 3 or 4

Requirement Breakdown*

1-xxxxxxxa
2-xxxxxxxa
3-xxxaxxb
4-xxxxxxxc
5-xxxxxxxc
6-xxxcxxb

*adapted, with thanks, from Writer’s Digest

An Original Cywydd llosgyrnog

When I stop to watch

When I stop to watch the deep blue
Evening descend and the last few
Fading hues of daylight’s dream
Diffuse into the sloping plains
A peace upon my mind again
Falls like rain into a stream

Online Resources

A Guide to Welsh Pronunciation – go4awalk.com
Cywydd llosgyrnog – Writer’s Digest
Cywydd – Wikipedia
Cywydd llosgyrnog – Poet’s Collective
Cywydd llosgyrnog – Poetry Magnum Opus

Week Seven: The Minute Poem

On By Adam AstraIn Uncategorized1 Comment

The Minute Poem is a modern form of unknown origin. Despite it’s name–and fortunately for us–the Minute Poem is not a poem that you must write in 60 seconds. Rather, it’s a poem consisting of exactly sixty syllables. Further requirements in length, meter, and rhyme help this form stand out and make for a fun and fairly simple challenge.

Lucky for us, the Minute Poem counts syllables, not seconds.

Requirements of the Form

Form

– Consists of three quatrains (four-line stanzas) for a total of twelve lines

Meter

– Strict iambic (unstressed-stressed)

Syllable Count

– Eight syllables in the first line of each stanza
– Four syllables in the proceeding lines of each stanza

Rhyme Scheme

– aabb/ccdd/eeff

Requirements Breakdown

1-xxxxxxxa
2-xxxa
3-xxxb
4-xxxb

5-xxxxxxxc
6-xxxc
7-xxxd
8-xxxd

9-xxxxxxxe
10-xxxe
11-xxxf
12-xxxf

An Original Minute Poem

I often sleep through summer’s storm

I often sleep through summer’s storm
when nights are warm
and thick with dreams
or so it seems

the quilt pulled high covers my eyes
as lightning flies
like moon in shroud
of creeping cloud

I wake to find the darkened road
the flowers bowed
the sagging sky
the river high

Online Resources

Minute Poetry – Shadow Poetry
Minute Poem – Poetry Dances
Minute Poem – Writer’s Digest

Week Six: The Décima

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**Special Announcement: This week’s post will feature a bonus original poem from poet and singer-songwriter Brandon Barnett!**

Meet the Décima

The Décima poetic form is widely used in poetry and song throughout Spain and Latin America, though the requirements may vary somewhat by region. People who write and perform décimas are often referred to as decimistas or deimeros. The form is also known as the espinela in Spanish, after the creator of the modern version of the décima, writer and musician Vicente Gómez Martínez-Espinel.

Photo caption: Spanish writer and musician Vicente Gómez Martínez-Espinel

Regional Variations

A few regional variations are listed below. Pick your favorite, or try them all!

Puerto Rico: Consists of a 10-line stanza, with 8 syllables per line (octosyllabic) and an abbaaccddc rhyme scheme

Italy: The decima Italiana is a 10-line poem, with 8-syllable lines and an ababcdedec rhyme scheme

Ecuador: Here the décima is a 44-line poem made up of a quatrain and four ten-line stanzas. It’s nearly identical to the glosa poetic form

Poetry and Song

The song form of the décima usually consists of 44 lines and is often improvised. Much like the “freestyle rap battle” of modern hip-hop, Decimeros often challenge one another with dueling songs as a way to show off the composer’s wit and skill.

Requirements of the Form

The requirements listed below are for the Puerto Rican poetic form:

Form

– Single 10-line stanza

Content

-Subject matter varies widely, but common themes include philosophy religion, and politics. Satirical décimas are often humorous.

Syllable Count

– 8 syllables per line

Rhyme Scheme

– abbaaccddc

An Original Décima Poem

After Maria

The cameras flash, Trump fakes a smile;
He holds his breath, swallows a growl,
And throws a roll of paper towels.
Empathy missed by a mile
For Puerto Rico, enchanted isle.
No concern for the common health
of neighbors in the commonwealth;
Once slaving for the hacienda,
Victims of encomienda,
They fight to own a sense of self.

*An Original Décima Poem by Special Guest, Brandon Barnett*

We never knocked on rust-streaked doors
but entered like the bums we were
with hair so ragged–greased like fur–
and alcohol from every pore

The only word we spoke was “more!”
with glassy eyes on shining things
refulgent suds the evening brings
and singing out in harmony

But all that now is far from me
Though oft-recalled with mem’ry strings

Online Resources

Decima – Wikipedia
The Decima –  Puerto Rican Cuatro Project
Decima – Writer’s Digest
Decima Poem Lesson – American Collection
Vicente Espinel – Wikipedia