Ochtfochlach

The ochtfochlach is an Irish verse form consisting of an eight-line stanza with a consistent but unspecified length and meter. The rhyme scheme is aaab cccb.

The Ochtfochlach

I like the form and rhythm, too;

It fits and wears like well-made shoe.

With luck it lasts a whole life through

And looks no worse for wear.

Iambic feet can march along

And lend their cadence to a song

With beats that switch from soft to strong,

A pace that's light to bear.

Pasted from <http://lonestar.texas.net/~robison/ochtfochlach.html>

My example poem

Fochlach It   (Ochtfochlach)

The Ochtingfochlach rocks

it's not some damn flummox;

I penned this wearing socks,

and yes, without my shoes.

Define most any style

this form will soon beguile

and render forth a smile.

So what is there to lose?

© Lawrencealot - December 4, 2013

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There is no requirement for meter or line-length, though I chose iambic trimeter for this write. 

Twisted End

The Twisted End form is a creation of Nichole Alexander.

This is a stanzaic poem consisting of four or five tercet stanzas.

Each stanza has independent monorhyme.

There is no line-length or meter requirement.

The defining requirement of the form is that some part  of each of the first two lines be "twisted"

together in forming the third stanza line which MUST INCLUDE INTERNAL RHYME.

Example Poem

Write a Twisted End   (Twisted End)

You must depend on rhyme as your good friend

with mono and internal rhyme to blend

depend on your internal rhyme to end.

The Twisted End sets forth no metric tone.

but permits choice if poet is so prone.

The Twisted End my friend permits your own.

No poetic device is disallowed.

A verse endowed will rise above the crowd.

Device endowed attempts should make one proud.

Alliterate or write with metaphor

or obfuscate and be a common boor.

Allit with wit makes common a bit more.

 © Lawrencealot - March 13, 2013

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English Quintet

The English Quintet is a rhymed 5 line stanza or poem. There is no English word for a 5 lines of verse therefore they borrowed the Italian word quintet. Up until the 19th century English poetry was pretty much built on the couplet and quatrain. The English version of the quintet arrived at a time when most English poetry was still being written in iambic pentameter.

The English Quintet is:
• stanzaic, written in any number of quintets (5 line stanzas).
• metered, most commonly iambic pentameter, although meter is optional.
This is a popular form of Quintain having no set measure or foot
rhyme scheme ababb, cdcdd etc.

Description of form copied and pasted from PoetryMagnumOpus.com http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=670

Example Poem

Not a Muscle Car

I earned my dough to buy a car at last.
In '56 I'd break the geekdom mold.
"No", said mom "You'll buy nothing that goes fast.
You're sixteen and will do what you are told."
I could afford to buy some car quite old.

A Studebaker, mom thought looked all right.
With white walls it stood proudly green and clean.
It had one after market feature quite
unique, a sequined roof of stars was seen
upon the overhead; girls thought it keen.

It lasted 'til my high school days were done.
Four bits worth of gas could cruise all night long.
The crankshaft dropped so no more could it run.
That happened when I punched it- that was wrong,
and why mom let me buy it for a song.

© Lawrencealot -  December 16, 2012



Visual Template (for Iambic pentameter)

Fold

Gillena Cox, poet from Trinidad & Tobago, best known for writing haiku/senryu has created a new experimental short form called the fold.  Presented on line first at Sketchbook in 2007.

Syllabic, No set meter, No set line-length, Rhymed, Refrain

THE FOLD takes credibility from haiku; it shares moments which are special simply and exactly. Grasping the tools of juxtaposition and contrast, THE FOLD crafts itself into a rhyming form of ELEVEN lines—unlike its three lined haiku progenitor.

   There is one rhyme continuing throughout the poem, occurring at every other line: uneven lines rhyme. Lines ONE, FIVE and ELEVEN carry the same last phrase, to form the EDGES of the FOLD. Line ONE repeats at line FIVE which is the CREASE of the FOLD.

Since there are no metric or syllable requirements, any template can merely be

illustrative, so here one is:

Example Poem

Burners    (Fold)

people shed their clothes at the Burning Man;

self-expression and anarchy rule;

a community grows in desert sand,

freedom expressed in artistic artifacts,

people shed their clothes at the Burning Man;

fifty thousand acting as they please

no big- name acts, attendees themselves can

dance, sing, entertain with instruments,

make-up, costumes, magic, getting a tan;

strangers welcome most any where;

community works at the Burning Man.

© Lawrencealot - October 9, 2012

Gratitude

This form was Created by Victoria Sutton aka Passionspromise
It consists of two or more 8 line stanzas, each with the
refrain rhyming scheme of  ababcCab
with ONLY the "c-rhyme" requiring the same sound each stanza.
There is NO metric or line length requirement, EXCEPT that
lines 5 and 6 are shorter than the others.

Example Poem

A Gift to Poets (Gratitude)


A lovely poet gave to me this form.
She said, "Take it. Perhaps you'll find a way
to specify the path to keep it warm."
The specs I saw were loose enough to sway
a poet to invent
and follow mind's intent.
I've chosen Iambs, you need not conform.
I'm grateful this form let's the poet play.

I first thought "Torylet" could be the name,
but "toilet" sounds too close for me so now,
while sitting here, this new idea came.
I'll name it, "Gratitude" in note of how
the poet may select his bent
and follow mind's intent.
My next attempt shall be a whole new game
for many variants this will allow.

© Lawrencealot - November 5, 2012


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Harrisham Rhyme

This form consists of a six-line rhyming stanza.
In this form, the last letter of the first word of each line
is the first letter of the first word of next line.
Rhyming scheme : ababab.
There is no restriction on the starting letter of the first line.
No restriction upon line length or meter.
Invented by:  Harrisham Minhas

Example Poem

Stuck?              (Harrisham Rhyme)

Deoppilate exsuflicate concerns.

Enter some eximous and friendly verse 

removing problem words that meter spurns.

Get stuck during day?  Then try the reverse. 

Try to dinurate 'til the muse returns.

Yet a geck? Oh what the heck?  I've done worse.

 © Lawrencealot - March 2, 2013


*Deopillate - remove an obstruction
*Exsuflicate - "something which is silly or trifling"
*Eximous "choice or excellent"
* Dinurate - sleep during the day
* Geck - 2. An object of scorn; a dupe; a gull


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Mirrored Refrain

The Mirrored Refrain is a rhyming verse form constructed by Stephanie Repnyek.       

The poem is formed by three or more quatrains where two lines within        

the quatrain are the "mirrored refrain" or alternating refrain.       

The rhyme scheme is as follows: xaBA, xbAB, xaBA, xbAB, etc..  

There is no set meter or line-length.      

       

x represents the only lines that do not have to rhyme within the poem.  

But you CAN choose to rhyme them.     

A and B represent the refrain.

Example Poem

A Night for Us

Her earrings match her blouse and skirt.

I hand the rose to my best friend,

With slow and silent kiss I start.

In brash flamboyant glee I end.

      

The fireplace shadows seem to flirt

With ceiling as the fire I start.

In brash flamboyant glee I end.

With slow and silent kiss I start.

      

We finish the night with the kids

at mom's so ardor will ascend.

With slow and silent kiss I start.

In brash flamboyant glee I end.

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Phyquain

Form Created by John Madison Shaw, Sr., aka Arkbear on Allpoetry

MUST have 5 Quatrains -

No Set Line length

No Set Meter

The Nth line of each quatrain must rhyme with each other.

Letter use restrictions.

No letter ( a ) in 1st L of each Q -

No letter ( b ) in 2nd L of each Q -

No letter ( c ) in 3rd L of each Q -

No letter ( d ) in 4th L of each Q -

ALL 1st L's must have same end Rhyme -

ALL 2nd L's must have same end Rhyme -

ALL 3rd L's must have same end Rhyme -

ALL 4th L's must have same end Rhyme -

Flow is a MUST!

Metaphors are a MUST!

Beautiful Poetic voice is a MUST!

There can be no fixed template for the form, for line length is NOT specified

Most I have seen have been pentameter or longer. 

Since one can choose any line-length and meter

I have chosen Iambic tetrameter for this work.

Example Poem

Absurdlutely My Beloved    (Phyquain)

I'll mow my way through drive-way snow

I'll shovel  through the growing grass

I'll throw the pigs at angry birds

or fly-fish somewhere in a blimp.

I'll cry when comedy's the show

and laugh at church and scratch my ass.

I'll roller skate in buff'lo herds

I'll teach ballooning to a shrimp.

I might return before I go,

or teach at school that has no class

or write a poem without words

or book a nun that needs a pimp.

I might invite the firefly's glow

to brighten up each underpass

or make all homeboys into nerds.

I could teach rattlesnakes to primp.

These I might do, you'll never know.

However you will be my lass

forever plus about two-thirds.

Always will I remain your imp.

© Lawrencealot - January 22, 2013

Since one can choose any line-length and meter

I have chosen Iambic tetrameter for this work.

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Pleiades

Pleiades form

This titled form was invented in 1999 by Craig Tigerman, 

Sol Magazine's Lead Editor. Only one word is allowed in the title 

followed by a single seven-line stanza. 

The first word in each line begins with the same letter as the title. 

Hortensia Anderson, a popular haiku and tanka poet, added her 

own requirement of restricting the line length to six syllables. 

 Example Poem

Storm

Striking lightning frightening.

Sending shadows darting.

Sudden squall surprising.

Shrieking wind whistling.

Slamming hail bombarding.

Suddenly it's over.

 © Lawrencealot - April 16, 2012

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