Swinburne Decastitch

This form combining the rhyming pattern of an interrupted Petrachan Sonnet, with the breathing  cadence of common meter may have somewhere been used before, but it was definitely used and captured for us by Algernon Charles Swinburne in his "A Ballad of Death".

I merely record it here and give it a name by which we can refer as we attempt to write such poems of our own.

It is stanzaic, consisting of any number of stanzas.

It is Syllabic: 10/10/6/10/10/10/6/10/10/10

It is Rhymed: abbacdecde

It is composed in iambic meter.

Example Poem

Cultural Patrimony     (Swinburne Decastitch)

When any culture deems it right to maul

and kill, inflicting pain, can you explain

away my great disdain?

Can you excuse the citizens and all

who legislate and rule who use as tool

the very worst impulses of man's mind?

Against such things let's rail!

We simply cannot fool ourselves- it's cruel

to torment any species that we find.

With that in mind I'd like to tell this tale.

Young boys are often wooed by danger's taunt

and while still teens endeavor to learn skills

to please the crowds with thrills.

'Tis machismo alone that these boys flaunt,

and doubtlessly they want to earn the fame

accruing to the greatest in this "sport"

so fam'lies can be proud.

And many boys who play this dangerous game

will end up lame or have their life cut short

where death and torture's commonly allowed.

In training some are killed or truly maimed.

and never set their feet into bull's ring.

This is an honored thing!

But culture failing still persists unnamed,

where people think this cost perhaps is small;

and small it well may be when men have learned

compassion has no role.

If humankind is not herewith appalled

by acts dispensing pain where it's unearned

each man accepts canker on his soul.

When man pits bull against a lion foe,

again to entertain and titillate,

we each should fee self-hate.

The gladiator games we must outgrow,

like burning ants and pulling off fly's wings.

Each species may do harsh things to survive.

But evil has its cost.

When man accepts it's right to torture things

which share our space and roam our earth alive,

compassion for all life will soon be lost.

© Lawrencealot - April 13, 2014

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Yabba Dabba Do

The YABBA DABBA DO was created by Havyk Dementius of Allpoetry

         

It is syllabic 5/10/10/10/10  15/10/10/10/10  15/15

It is a complete poem consisting of two quintets and rhyming couplet.

Line 1 consists of 5 syllables.                                         

Lines 2-5 follow an ABBA rhyme scheme in iambic pentameter. 

Lines 6 & 11 &12  consist of 15 syllables.                         

Lines 7-10 follow an ABBA rhyme scheme in iambic pentameter.  

Lines 11 and 12 must rhyme.                                                                        

Thus the Rhyming pattern is xabba xabba cc

Example Poem

Cluttered Nest     (Yabba Dabba Do)

I'm motivated

yet have so many things I have to do

I have no notion where I  ought to start.

Sometimes I wish that I had had a clue-

I should have started with another part.

You left to visit relatives living several states a way.

I've cleaned out what was called garage- in fact

the cars can now be driven right inside.

A double storage shed I've built out back

for all the detritus we must abide.

Since we're storing the kids stuff 'til they decide to move away

out of site it's hiding now; our kids and stuff will always stay.

© Lawrencealot - December 13, 2013

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Villonnet

A Villonnet is a hybrid of the Villanelle and the Sonnet. It has the Iambic Pentameter of both, but holds the four-stanza/line structure of the sonnet, while utilizing the two-line rhyme nature of the villanelle. The final stanza replaces the sonnet couplet with a typical villanelle tercet.

The Villonnet is another hybrid form created by D. Allen Jenkins. This is a recent invented form which is said to be a cross between a Villanelle andSonnet.

The Villonet is:

• a poem in 15 lines, made up of 3 quatrains followed by a tercet.
• metric, iambic pentameter.

• rhymed, A¹bbA² cddc effe A¹bA² or A¹xxA² bxxb cxxc A¹xA² x being unrhymed.

• NOTE: Jenkins also used A1xxA2  axxA1 axxA2

     see:http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/villonnet.html

• L1 is repeated as L13 and L4 is repeated as L15.

Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?/topic/2190-villonnet/>

Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the resource at PMO

Example poem

Rooted in Love (Villonnet)

A spell was cast to keep me from my bride 

Our lives could not be taken, we were changed; 

Our molecules were vastly rearranged. 

And I could break the spell if I but tried. 

I metamorphed, becoming half a man 

My wizard gave mobility to me, 

and said, "You must now find your sweetheart's tree. 

Touch it and you'll become as you began" 

I searched the valleys- climbed up many hill, 

I followed rumors sent from other trees; 

and pheromones relayed by helpful bees, 

and when I found her, she was lovely still. 

A spell was cast to keep me from my bride 

The one who cast the spell had been deranged

and I could break the spell if I but tried. 

© Lawrencealot - Oct. 20, 2013

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Grá Reformata

The Grá Reformata, created by Michael King, is based upon the Villanelle form.

Following the basic setting of the Villanelle, the a Grá Reformata has an extra couplet between each tercet. This couplet can be either rhymed within the structure of the rest of the poem, or in free verse, but always in iambic pentameter.

This is Stanzaic, consisting of alternating tercets and couplets, followed by a quatrain.

Meter is Iambic Pentameter

 Rhyme Scheme is AbA2 xx abA xx abA2 xx abA xx abA2 abAA2

where x is either rhymed or not, and A and A2 are Refrain lines.

Example Poem

Typhoon Flotilla     (Grá Reformata)

The mighty craft were built for wartime use

they're armed with weapons, they'll with luck, not need

and show their strength when faced with real excuse.

Typhoon Haiyan has stuck with natures force,

and man must bow to Gaia's strength of course.

The USA and Britain ships have cruised

to technologically intercede.

The mighty craft were built for wartime use

A corpse-choked wasteland stretches through the land

with isolation hard to understand.

The ships provisioned for a grand re-use--

with craft to reach the folks they need to feed

and show their strength when faced with real excuse.

The helicopters may again save lives,

by reaching rural land where some survive.

The water Britain's warships can produce

will be delivered with the greatest speed.

The mighty craft were built for wartime use.

The food and medicine that countries send

will find that structured order is their friend.

Relief efforts have no more time to lose

organization's what makes ships succeed

and show their strength when faced with real excuse.

They'll all work hard before their homeward cruise,

and try to help although their hearts may bleed.

The mighty craft were built for wartime use

and show their strength when faced with real excuse.

© Lawrencealot - November 27, 2013

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Analogue

• Analogue  is a metered invented form that is limited to 3 rhymes. It's source is Rena Ferguson Parks a 20th century poet and educator.
  
  The Analogue is:
• a 9 line poem.
• metered, all lines are iambic pentameter.
• rhymed, rhyme scheme abbaabbcc.

Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1199#trillium>

When I searched this was the only information available on the web, a big Thank you to PMO and Judi Van Gorder!!

Example Poem

Ladies Choice     (A double Analogue)

A group of girls without their men espy         

a hotel; "Women only",  sign proclaims.         

"Hmm, let's discover if it meets our aims?".        

The bouncer was a most attractive guy.         

He told them how he hotel worked and why.         

Enjoy your choice of floors to please all dames         

each floor has signs instead of merely names.         

The first floor sign said "men are short and plain".         

The gals just laughed then went on up again.         

On two the sign said "Short and handsome here".         

Not yet said one, continue to ascend."         

"Floor three has tall and plain", one told her friend,        

"We need to go on up, I think that's clear."         

On four they saw the perfect sign appear:         

"All men are tall and handsome without end!"        

The girls were ready but could not pretend--        

What might they miss? So they went up to five.         

"Empty! You can't please any gal alive."         

© Lawrencealot = November 26, 2013

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Rondeau Redoublé

The rondeau redoublé is not an easy form to write. It uses only two rhymes throughout, repeats whole lines, and has an awkward repeated half-line at the end. Let's look at an example.

The first stanza is the key to the whole poem. Its four lines reappear in turn as the final lines of the next four stanzas, and the first part of the first line reappears again as the half-line at the very end. Each stanza rhymes either abab or baba. For the sixth stanza, either is possible.

To write one of these, start with the final half-line, then do the opening stanza, and you're half-way there.

Complication

The blessed Malcovati, curse him, tells us that one of the two rhyme groups in a rondeau redoublé must be masculine and the other feminine. (The example he gives appears not to satisfy this rule - or perhaps my French is not good enough to appreciate the way in which it does.) Anyway, if he is to be believed - and he usually is - the above is not a true example of the form after all. It still seems good enough to me, though.

Pasted from <http://www.volecentral.co.uk/vf/rondouble.htm> 

 This seems as good a description as any I found, and the added info regarding complication allows us to ponder how formal we want to be with our writes. 

Stanzaic: Five quatrains plus a Quintet

Meter:      Iambic Pentameter

Rhyme pattern:

A1,B1,A2,B2 - b,a,b,A1 - a,b,a,B1 - b,a,b,A2 - a,b,a,B2 - b,a,b,a,(A1)

Example poem

Now is Good, Eternity is a Concept (Rondeau Redoublé)

Religions I can't sell. They're man created,

they're based on fear; they're doing very well.

One can be saved by doing what's mandated.

I don't need heaven; you can keep your hell.

I need no virgin births to make things swell.

I need no virgins, promised and post-dated.

I chuckle at the tales tall fables tell.

Religions I can't sell. They're man created.

All bigotry lets hate get concentrated,

as they recruit each other's clientele.

Religions preach; with doubters oft berated.

They're based on fear; they're doing very well.

The golden rule makes common sense; I shall

embrace that while not notions fabricated.

I need no saving yet on streets some yell

One can be saved by doing what's mandated.

I've others and I've been appreciated

The unknown does not bother me, nor quell

my peace. This life's unfolding, unabated.

I don't need heaven- you can keep your hell.

If "Let's pretend" placates you, rings your bell

and banishes unfounded fears created

by preachers touting everlasting hell,

and brings  you peace, please believe, be placated.

Religions I can't sell.

© Lawrencelaot - July 31, 2013

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Rhyme Royal

9:40 AM

The rhyme royal stanza consists of seven lines, usually in iambic pentameter. 

The rhyme scheme is a-b-a-b-b-c-c. In practice, the stanza can be constructed 

either as a tercet and two couplets (a-b-a, b-b, c-c) or 

a quatrain and a tercet (a-b-a-b, b-c-c). 

This allows for a good deal of variety, especially when the form is used for 

longer narrative poems and along with the couplet, 

it was the standard narrative metre in the late Middle Ages. 

Example Poem

Tenpus Ambigua        (Rhyme Royal)

The concept time is quite beyond my ken.

String theory baffles brilliant folks and me.

I'll not wax philosophical again.

Perhaps I did already, shame on me.

We'd be confused in synchronicity.

For flies who live for but a single day,

young boys and men would seem two breeds at play.

¨*•.¸¸¸¸.•*¨*•? .?.•*»? ??•*¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¸¸.•*¨*•

We can tell larva and the grown-up fly

are one, we see them grow. They must mistake

we humans as a species that won't die.

Our sense of time is different awake 

or when asleep, and tasks a diff'rence makes.

Don't tell a guy that seconds are the same

while shov'ling shit or kissing up a dame.

© Lawrencealot - July 12, 2013

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Butterfly Quintet

This is a Butterfly Quintet created by Amanda Jean Norton

Stanza 1 is Iambic Pentameter rhyming abcbd

Stanza 2 is Iambic Tetrameter rhyming effe

Stanza 3 has 2 lines of Iambic Trimeter, Enveloped by 2 lines of Iambic Pentameter

The rhyming words are the same words in each set EGGE

Stanza 4 is Iambic Tetrameter rhyming hiih

Stanza 5 is Iambic Pentameter rhyming abcbd

Example Poem

Write a Butterfly Quintet

To write a Butterfly Quintet my pet

you place complex content in stanza one.

There's room internally to romp with rhyme

or sprinkle sparks of alliteration.

The same thing goes, by jive in stanza five.

In middle stanzas do your play.

These step more quickly, I believe;

less time to ponder, think or grieve.

First line next stanza have you say!

Expound your thesis here-- it's quite okay.

Exclaim your point right now.

Make emphasis some how.

The repeated words for that deed are okay.

Now butterfly, just flutter by.

Just play and give the air some shoves--

enjoyed wherever there are loves.

You light their hearts up butterfly.

Here the conclusion you'd most likely set,

with evidence supporting, now begun.

If playful theme there's still a  lot of time

To zig and zag, and twist the plot for fun.

Your muse can use this form to come alive.

© Lawrencealot  - July 2, 2012

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Decquain

The Decuain (pronounced deck•won), created by Shelley A. Cephas,
is a short poem made up of 10 lines, which can be written on any subject.
There are 10 syllables per line and the poem is
written in iambic pentameter.
There are 3 set choices of rhyme scheme:
ababbcbcaa, ababbcbcbb, or ababbcbccc
For a longer Decuain poem, add more stanzas for a double, triple, quatruple, etc. Decuain.


Example Poem

Leap to Lancelot 

They thought they had me trapped-- the silly fools.

But I'm an acrobat and dive with skill.

I do double twists into tiny pools.

I'll foil their evil plans to rape and kill.

After a safe dive, which will be a thrill,

I' ll be saved by Sir Lancelot by skiff.

He's promised so I know he surely will.

His little boat was hidden by the cliff.

No maiden fair (and that does describe me,)

will Lancelot allow be lost at sea.

(c) Lawrencealot - April 18,2012

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Stress Matrix Dectet

This is a form Invented by British Poet Luke Prater,

it comprises ten lines, ten syllables per line, following the rhyme-scheme/structure

 aBa BcBc DcD

where lowercase are iambic pentameter and uppercase are trochaic pentameter – they alternate the whole way, yielding a perfect ‘checkerboard’ of stressed and unstressed syllables, ten lines down x ten syllables across (=100 syllables completely evenly distributed; the rhyme scheme is also  even/symmetrical mathematically).

Ampersandcastles

The Ages, Dark, concede, recede like tides,

leaving shores to Renaissance sand-castles

built big, with shells and mortar; fairground rides

chitter-chatting dusky-distance rascals.

From beach to fair, knots in my hair, and sand,

shaken out, like doubt of change, the mask-all.

Hey, dance – try throwing shapes! An ampersand?

Just like you, to groove to punctuation.

No ampersand; sniff out a woman’s hand,

claiming back some laddish inclination.

Copyright © Luke Prater (2011)

If the syllabic feet (iambs and trochees) are singled out, and only the stressed syllables are highlighted (and stanza-breaks removed), you can more clearly see the ‘checkerboard’ of stresses and unstresses evenly distributed over the 10×10 (100) -

the A | ges DARK | con CEDE | re CEDE | like TIDES

LEA ving | SHORES to | REN ai | SSANCE sand | CA stles

built BIG | with SHELLS | and MOR | tar; FAIR | ground RIDES

CHI tter | CHA tting | DUS ky | DIS tance | RAS cals

from BEACH | to FAIR | knots IN | my HAIR | and SAND

SHA ken | OUT like | DOUBT of | CHANGE the | MASK-all

hey DANCE | try THROW | ing SHAPES | an AMP | er SAND

JUST like | YOU to | GROOVE to | PUNC tu | A tion

no AM | per SAND | sniff OUT | a WO | man’s HAND

CLAI ming | BACK some | LA ddish | IN cli | NA tion.

Pasted from <http://www.lukeprater.com/stress-matrix-forms/>

Example Poem

Here I have expanded the concept to write a

 Stress Maxtrix Dectet with the diminishing  Hexeverse form concept/

The Experiment

'Twas the tempest thrumming through our culture

restraint forgotten, crowding at the till.

Leaders sought to feed- not kill the vulture.

 Ask not how will I serve, but how my will

best be served if pork be granted voters?

Give them from their own cart; they are the thill

made to pull.  We're simply gift promoters.

 If business pledged what cannot be sustained

government will bail out General Motors

because the Union votes have been ordained.

Envy, greed, and yes, annoyance

have marked our liberty's demise.

Harking this took no clairvoyance.

Largess bestowed is no surprise.

 Bondage first then faith -spiritual,

courage, then liberty; which grows

abundance, before residual

complacent apathy then shows.

Soon we are dependent

and after that we're slaves.

History's resplendent

with samples of such waves.

This is how we'll end it.

kowtowing to the raves.

Here we're standing

with troubled brow,

sad soft-landing

but we saw how.

(c) Lawrencealot - December 25, 2012

Dorsimbra

Created by Eve Braden, Frieda Dorris and Robert Simonton, the Dorsimbra
 is a 12-line poem consisting of (1) a quatrain of iambic pentameter rhyming abab
(2) a quatrain of "short and snappy" free verse, and
(3) a quatrain of blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter).
The final (12th) line is the same as the first line.

The form's creators suggest the use of enjambment, interlaced rhymes, 
and near-rhymes to bind the three stanzas/

Example Poem


Safe Fax

Today's environment demands safe fax.
If you fax to yourself you won't go blind.
A cover used will not let you relax.
If you fax too fast, most consorts won't mind.

Not age restricted
Married or single  fine
contact quick
frequently gratifies.

If you have no outlet for your fax needs
you can then pay for service, legally.
If you know them then everything's okay.
Today's environment demands safe fax.

© Lawrencealot - April 23, 2012

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Lauranelle

A poetic form created by Laura Lamarca,
The Lauranelle - is a hybrid (variation) of both the Villanelle and the Terzanelle forms.

 It consists of 6 tercets and 1 quatrain
ending with a refrain made up of lines 1 and 3.

 Lines MUST be 10 syllables in length and also MUST be in iambic pentameter.

Rhyme scheme is as follows:

A1bA2 bcb cdc ded efe fbf ggA1A2

Poems can either be formatted in stanzas or as a whole piece without line-spacing.

Example Poem

A Little Uncertainty Goes a Long Way (Lauranelle)

When we without a doubt accept as real
what we are told is settled fact about
most anything- we are enchained by zeal.

When pulpiteer delivers truth with clout
conditions favor comfort if you choose
a certain truth you need not think about.

Illusions pleasant though they be to use
as guideposts do not come without their cost.
Bestowed, our reason seems not just to lose.

No fact of science has proved settled long,
religion not at all.  That we don't know
conditions maybe right- but maybe wrong

do not excuse intransigence in thought.
Mere beliefs deemed a truth worthy of war.
Absurd!  Is bellicosity now sought?

One outcome zeal promotes is hate.  The door
to human peace is open if all shout,
"Wait-- I may be wrong Let us think some more."

What one thinks is so simply may not be.
We may kill men for an absurdity.
When we without a doubt accept as real
most anything- we are enchained by zeal.

(c) Lawrencealot - June 27, 2012




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Sonnette

Invented by Sherman Ripley. It consists of 7 lines in pentameter, predominately iambic, with two stanzas, rhyming abba cbc. It is, essentially, half of a sonnet.


Example Poem

Write a Sonnette

Let's write one-half a sonnet here and now.
We'll use Iambs, and five of them per line.
although if you choose, trochees would be fine.
One-half a sonnet? Here I'll show you how.

One quatrain followed by a sestet works.
A sonnet built with training wheels- divine.
A sonnet sans the benefits and perks.

© Lawrencealot - Oct. 20, 2012


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Rhyme Royal

Rhyme Royal:

The rhyme royal stanza consists of seven lines, usually in iambic pentameter. 

The rhyme scheme is a-b-a-b-b-c-c. In practice, the stanza can be constructed 

either as a tercet and two couplets (a-b-a, b-b, c-c) or 

a quatrain and a tercet (a-b-a-b, b-c-c). 

This allows for a good deal of variety, especially when the form is used for 

longer narrative poems and along with the couplet, 

it was the standard narrative metre in the late Middle Ages. 

Example Poem

Tempus Ambigua

Time is a concept quite beyond my ken.

String theory baffles brilliant folks and me.

I'll not wax philosophic then again 

Perhaps I did already, shame on me.

Time keeps everything in order you see.

For flies who's life-cycle completes in one day,

Men and boys would be distinct I would say.

We can tell a larva and the  grown fly

are one and the same. Flies would see two types 

of animals that grouped but would not know why.

Our sense of time is different awake 

or when we sleep, and by task goodness sake.

Don't tell a guy that seconds are the same

while shoveling manure or kissing a dame.

© Lawrencealot - April 14, 2012

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Rondeau Redoublé

Rondeau Redoublé (Redoubled Rondeau): 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rondeau_(poetry)

6 quatrains, rhyming abab baba alternately. Quatrains 2-5 end with the first, second, third and fourth lines of quatrain 1, respectively. The poem ends with a tail from the first part of the first line of the poem. 

Example Poem

They Can't Be Sure

They can't be sure but in their hearts he's there.

Those theists who assure us God's on hand

could be mistaken or correct I swear.

The atheists assert God is nowhere.

Descartes had "proof" that I could understand.

Thereafter certainty becomes quite spare.

Some Gods have bloomed in almost every land.

They can't be sure but in their heart he's there.

The Holy books I've read feature despair

and silliness in parts, and they demand

a subjugation not just to God.  Spare

Those theists who assure us God's on hand.

That tragedy, disease, and blight withstand

all calls to all the Gods, makes me aware

that Godly intervention though not banned,

could be mistaken... or correct I swear.

If God set everything in motion, bear

in mind:  that answers question one.  Who planned

all this? without a need for priests to scare.

The atheists assert God is nowhere.

My God's irrelevant to my repair.

What will of me become, if the demand

for mantra is not met, jars not this player.

Unless their God, fills one's heart, resides there

They can't be sure.

© Lawrencealot - May 23, 2012

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Sonnatina Due

SONNETIAN DUE  Five couplets

Rhyme Scheme: aabbccddee

Usually Iambic tetrameter or petrameter

Example Poem

Order UP (Sonnetina Due)

When hatched then orphaned what's the fix?

What do they do with baby chicks

They're sent to Foster Farms I guess.

Bad joke here kid, I must confess.

I wonder what you might think worst,

To go as egg or get fat first?

I'd say the egg is insensate-

and chicken feed is not that great.

So Jimmy's fate is not so bad.

Serve me with toast and I'll be glad.

 © Lawrencealot - July 27, 2012

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Sonnetina Uno

SONNETINA UNO

A ten line poem

Requires: IAMBIC PENTAMER using BLANK VERSE

Example Poem

Interlude (Sonnetina Uno)

The winter settled down, it's artwork done, 

The thermometer dropped stopping the snow 

and holding for us still-life clearly cast. 

The roads were all cleared; a recess was called 

for visitors to take pictures to share. 

A suspension of time, deferring spring, 

with frigid heart-warming inversion felt 

as still air-motionless, and mutely crisp. 

While not every year is such a scene seen, 

these days are treasures wrought for memory's sake. 

© Lawrencealot - January 4, 2013

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