Sapphic Stanza

The Sapphic Stanza is classic Aeolic verse and attributed to the poetess Sappho 6 BC, Greece. Plato so admired her that he spoke of her not as lyricist, poet but called her the 10th Muse. Her poems spoke of relationships and were marked by emotion. In a male dominated era she schooled and mentored women artists on the island of Lesbos and her writing has often been equated with woman-love. "Rather than addressing the gods or recounting epic narratives such as those of Homer, Sappho's verses speak from one individual to another." NPOPP. 

Sappho's work has often been referred to as fragments, because only two of her poems have survived in whole with the vast majority of her work surviving in fragments either from neglect, natural disasters, or possible censorship.

Sapphic Stanza is:

• quantitative verse, measuring long / short vowels. In English we transition to metric measure of stress / unstressed syllables which warps the rhythm a bit but brings it into context the English ear can hear. L= long s = short
• stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. This evolved to a quatrain during the Renaissance period from the ancient variable 3 to 4 line stanzas. The quatrain is made up of 3 Sapphic lines followed by an Adonic line which is usually written as a parallel to L3.
  Sapphic line = 11 syllables, trochaic with the central foot being a dactyl
  Adonic line = 5 syllables, a dactyl followed by a trochee
  (see below for more detail on these two components)
• The modern Sapphic scansion should look like this (Stressed or Long = L; unstressed or short = s )
  Quantitative Verse (L=long syllable * s=short syllable)
  Ls-Ls-Lss-Ls-Ls
  Ls-Ls-Lss-Ls-Ls
  Ls-Ls-Lss-Ls-Ls
  Lss-Ls
  
  with substituted spondee
  Ls-Ls-Lss-Ls-LL
  Ls-Ls-Lss-Ls-LL
  Ls-Ls-Lss-Ls-LL
  Lss-Ls
• originally unrhymed, in the Middle Ages the stanza acquired rhyme, rhyme scheme abab. Because of the predominant use of trochee and dactyls the rhyme will generally be feminine or a 2 syllable rhyme with the last syllable unstressed.

• Adonic line is most often written as a parallel to a previous line. It is the last line of the Sapphic stanza. It is composed in 5 syllables, a dactyl followed by a trochee. It can also be found as a pattern for the refrain in song to honor Adonis, from which it derived its name.
  "death has come near me."
  last line of Like the gods
  . . . by Sappho 4th century BC
  edited by Richmond Lattimore
  Quantitative Verse
  Lss-Ls
  Meaningless prattle. ---jvg

• Sapphic line -Since the Renaissance period the Sapphic line has been recognized as being a 5 foot trochaic line with the central foot being a dactyl. Prior to the Renaissance period this 11 syllable trochaic pattern was known as the "lesser" Sapphic line and the Sapphic line was a combination of the lesser Sapphic line and an adonic line.
  
  After Renaissance Sapphic line Ls-Ls-Lss-Ls-Ls : Passion, lust, consumed our beginnings fully.
  Prior to Renaissance Sapphic line Ls-Ls-Lss-Ls-Ls,- Lss Ls : greed to love? It happened deceptively, tricking emotions.
  Apparently, the technical terms of "lesser" Sapphic and Sapphic lines have been corrupted over time.

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1240#adonic

My Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the wonderful resource at PMO

I am restating the specifications for the 21st century English writing poets, knowing full well that academicians may insist we have corrupted Sappho's use of long and short vowel sounds.  A real poet might strive to make those sounds and the syllabic accents coincide, then none can argue.

A Sapphic Stanza is:

Stanzaic, consisting of any number of quatrains.

Syllabic, each stanza consisting 3 Sapphic Lines plus a Adonic line.

Metrical.  The Sapphic lines being trochaic with the central foot being a dactyl (11 syllables), and

          The Adonic lines being a dactyl followed by a trochee (5 syllables)

Rhymed, the pattern being abab.

Example Poem

Quantitative Verse       (Sapphic Stanza)

Seek out passion, write of the trials that poets

face, with no complaint but with guidance, using

items neither trite nor near dying, so it's

true and amusing.

© Lawrencealot - April 17, 2014

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In this example I have tried to make each accented syllable also use an English long vowel sound.

Deibhidhe

Deibhidhe

The deibhidhe is an Irish form. In English it is more often spelt deibide, but you still have to pronounce it jayvee. (The Irish language uses a lot of unlikely-looking clusters of consonants, and most of them seem to be either pronounced as "v" or not pronounced at all. Exercise: pronounce the name of the poet Medbh McGuckian.) 

Here's a deibhidhe about the time I spent working in the oil industry: 

No, Watercolour...

Of a subject dire I sing:

Reservoir Engineering

I could never understand -

A queer and quaggy quicksand!

I was sent away to learn

About it in climes northern,

But while at Herriot-Watt

My zeal did not run riot.

All the years I worked in oil,

My conscience was in turmoil.

I floundered through the fog

Like a bogged-down wan warthog.

My colleagues would make a fuss.

Those strata - were they porous?

It bothered me not a whit

How the drill bit grey granite.

The mysteries of the rock

Made me feel like a pillock.

Underground movements of gas

Alas, my mind can’t compass.

I don’t work there any more,

Redundancy my saviour.

Not a tragedy at all -

A small but welcome windfall!

There was a TV advert for an airline some years ago which featured the following exchange between two passengers on a flight to Aberdeen. Large outgoing American: "D'you work in oil?" Weedy-looking bespectacled Brit: "No, watercolour." Hence the title. Herriot-Watt University is situated near Edinburgh and offers week-long courses on such arcane subjects as Reservoir Engineering, cleverly sugaring the pill by making them coincide with the Edinburgh Festival. 

As for the form, each stanza has 4 lines of 7 syllables each, rhyming aabb, and both of these rhymes are deibide rhymes i.e. in the first line of each rhyming pair, the rhyming syllable is stressed, and in the second it is unstressed.

The form also demands an aicill rhyme between lines 3 and 4 i.e. the word at the end of line 3 rhymes with a word somewhere in the middle of line 4 (as whit/bit, gas/alas above). 

Finally, there must be alliteration between the last word of each stanza and the preceding stressed word (as quaggy quicksand, welcome windfall above).

This amounts to a lot of constraints for the fourth line to satisfy in the space of only 7 syllables. I found this form a tough one, except when writing the last stanza. Perhaps I was getting into the swing of it by then.

Thanks to Bob Newman for his wonderful Volecentral resource site.

My example poem

Night Nymph     (Deibhidhe)

I was mesmerized, entranced

when she stood in the entrance.

Just one glance at her'd confur

instantly a pure pleasure

The nymph caused my heart to sing

and set my nerves to dancing

I viewed her in near undress

and dreamed she'd be my mistress.

But it was not meant to be,

this maiden oh so pretty.

for she was gone with the sun

a nighttime visit vision.

© Lawrencealot - April 10, 2014

art by Herbert James Draper [d. 1920]

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Ch'I Yen Shih

Ch'i-Yen-Shih metre

This is, believe it or not, a Chinese verse form. Whether it's worth doing in English is debatable. Stanzas have four lines of seven syllables each, with lines 2 and 4 rhyming. Each line has a caesura, or break, after the fourth syllable; I have laid the example out to emphasise this. That's all there is to it, really, except that, to make it sound a little more Chinese, only words of one syllable should be used. 

Fenland

Long straight black road

far from home.

The moon hangs snagged

in the trees.

Foot down, I speed

through the night.

Rain falls in sheets,

starts to freeze.

The cats eyes pulse

like Morse code.

Far sparks speed close,

blaze then fade.

For hours on end

there’s no change:

Road, light, rain, wind,

screen and blade.

I’m tired and cold,

on my own.

How much of this

can I take?

I grit my teeth,

try to guess

How long I’ll last

till I brake.

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

Thanks to Bob Newman for his wonderful Volecentral resource site

Ancient Verse is probably the same verse form as Ch'I Yen Shih from the Lu Shi code verse. Ancient Verse is found desribed in John Drury's poe-try-dic-tion-ar-y and is similar to Ch'I Yen Shi, with slight variation. As described by Drury, caesura was not specified and more latitude was given in the character count. This is probably an example of how form evolves or is corrupted by translation. For now I will treat this verse form as separate.

(Drury uses "syllable count") Technically in Chinese prosody, character count and syllable count are one in the same since Chinese characters are one word and Chinese words are usually one syllable. However in English translation, a character could represent a 2 or 3 syllable English word. I use "character" in most of my metric descriptions of Chinese verse and often count words rather than syllables when attempting to write poems using Chinese verse forms in English. However, since Drury's book describes the meter for this form as syllabic, I follow his lead.

Ancient Verse is:

• stanzaic, written in quatrains.
• syllabic, 5 to 7 syllable lines.
• rhymed, rhyme scheme either xaxa xaxa etc or xaxa xbxb etc.
• no fixed tone pattern.
• always composed with parallels and balance.
  
  pyramid by Judi Van Gorder
  
  fresh dug dirt makes space and waits
  rich earth forms a pyramid
  to welcome polished pine box
  with white roses on the lid

Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?/topic/633-ancient-verse/>

Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for her wonderful PMO resource site.

My example poem

Surveillance       (Ch'I Yen Shih)

My house has eyes in the dark

Big dogs see but first they smell.

I don't switch them - off or on

still they serve as my door bell.

© Lawrencealot - April 9, 2014

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Violette

• The Violette is a stanzaic form with a rhyme scheme similar to the Zéjel without the mundanza, introduced by Viola Gardner. Line 4 carries a linking rhyme from stanza to stanza.

The Violette is:
○ stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains.
○ syllabic, 6-6-6-4 syllables per line.
○ rhymed, feminine rhyme used aaab cccb dddb etc b is a linking rhyme from stanza to stanza.



Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1882#baccresiez

My Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the wonderful resource at PMO

My example poem

Fairy Trails     (Violette)

I followed her that day
to where the fairies play,
I thought 'twould be okay.
She ran from me.

I touched her; thought I'd earned
that for which I'd so yearned
but with that touch I turned
into a tree.

As seasons' colors changed
with words and thoughts exchanged
the fairy maid arranged
to set me free.

With nothing more to lose,
each year she brings me clues
and monthly she will choose
to sit with me.

© Lawrencealot - April 7, 2014

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Cromorna

• Cromorna is a verse form that has compact lines and exacting meter and rhyme developed by Viola Berg.
  
  The Cromorna is:
• stanzaic, written in 3 quatrains.
• syllabic, with 5-3-5-3 5-3-5-3 5-3-5-3 syllables per line.
• rhymed, rhyme scheme abab cbcb dbdb.

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1882#baccresieze

•  

My Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the wonderful resource at PMO

My example Poem

Diverse     (Cromorna)

An electric arc

could have been

the requisite spark

way back when.

And that ignition

led to men

and our condition,

now and then.

If so, I suppose

we must yen

for each one of those

who our ken.

© Lawrencealot - March 18, 2014

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Trifrain

This is a form created by Lisa LaGrange on Allpoetry.com

It is Stanzic, consisting of any number of quatrains.

It is isosyllabic, eight syllables per line.

It is metered, generally iambic tetameter, but not limited thereto.

It has a repetition (Refrain) requirement

Except for the refrain, which is the first 4 syllable of line one, repeated twice as line 4, it requires mono-rhyme.

Rhyme pattern: aaaR 

Note: Added 2/23/2014:

The Trifrain is a new form that I added to this blog in January 2014, which is so very like a Monotetra (created in 2003), that I have been contacted with the following message: I think you should be careful when giving credit to a poet for creating a poetic form. You documented that Lisa LaGrange created a new form called a "Trifrain". She now insists that it's her form when in actuality it's nothing more than a modified Monotetra created years ago by: Michael Walker.

I agree with the statement that is it nothing more than a modified Monotetra, but it is just that – modified.  It adds the REQUIREMENT of a REFRAIN (While dropping the requirement of MONO-RHYME.)

Lisa could well have simply credited her writing as  such a modification, without giving it a name.  But now we have a label we can refer to if we wish to write this style. 

My dilemma, is that I cannot unilaterally decide that the new requirements are insufficient to allow a new name.  Many sonnet forms were invented with merely a change of rhyme pattern, etc…

But I definitely can and will give credit to the inspiring poet upon whose shoulders one is standing.

Example poem:

Nap Time     (Trifrain)

I need a nap to clear my head 

that happens when I go to bed 

to sleep instead, well just instead. 

I need a nap. I need a nap. 

My tasks await, I can't delay 

my puppy sez it's time to play 

my wife wants barking far a way. 

My tasks await. My tasks await. 

I'll get things done I'll catch up soon 

I'll still have all this afternoon 

but with my muse I must commune. 

I'll get things done. I'll get things done. 

My head is clear. I took a nap 

with puppy cuddled in my lap 

I'm better now, My nap's a wrap. 

My head is clear. My head is clear. 

© Lawrencealot - January 30, 2014

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This template shows iambic tetrameter.

Double Refrain Kyrielle

Type: Structure, Metrical Requirement, Repetitive Requirement, Rhyme Scheme Requirement, Isosyllabic, Stanzaic
Description:
This is a kyrielle with two rhyming refrains in the second and fourth lines of each stanza. It has has octosyllabic lines.
Attributed to: “The Dread Poet Roberts”
Origin: French
Schematic:
aB1aB2 cB1cB2 dB1dB2 eB1eB2 fB1fB2, etc.
Rhythm/Stanza Length: 4

Copyright © 2001-2013 by Charles L. Weatherford. All rights reserved.
Pasted from http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/000/96.shtml

My Thanks to Charles for his fine poetrybase resouce.


Example Poem

Hanging Around     (Double Refrain Kyrielle)

I'm getting used to hanging 'round;

I seem to have out-lived my friends

Some friends were shot and some were drowned

I'm hanging on until the end.

In youth we lived a rapid pace-

I seem to have out-lived my friends

Some died in war but with God's grace

I'm hanging on until the end.

Some friends led not such honest lives.

I seem to have out-lived my friends

They did not find themselves good wives.

I'm hanging on until the end.

Some thought that acquisitions won-

I seem to have out-lived my friends

they are all through but I'm not done.

I'm hanging on until the end.

© Lawrencealot - January 26, 2014

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Domino Ryme

• Domino Rhyme  is a very clever innovation of Bob Newman which can be found at his site as well as many others on the internet. Much like a slinky, rhymes tumble from stanza to stanza, it is something he calls "remote rhyming".
  
  The Domino Rhyme is:
• stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains.
• metered, written in a loose tetrameter. Lines should be same length.
• rhymed. L2 and L3 of the first stanza rhyme with L1 and L4 of the next stanza and so on down until the last stanza when L2 and L3 rhyme with L1 and L4 of the first stanza. abcd befc eghf gijh ... iadj.

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1192#decrina

 Thanks to Judi Van Gorder of PMO.

Domino rhyme

A poem in domino rhyme is written in four-line stanzas, within which there are no rhymes at all. However, every line rhymes with a line in another stanza. Specifically, lines 2 and 3 of each stanza rhyme with lines 1 and 4 respectively of the next stanza. The final stanza completes the loop, its lines 2 and 3 rhyming with lines 1 and 4 of the first stanza.

Here are the opening few stanzas of a poem written in this form:

from Inspiration Fails

They don’t come to me here, the girls
My self-restraint should draw. Who knows       
What force might motivate them; why
Most other hermits pack them in.

My fount of inspiration flows
Most fecund when the buckie ears
Of buxom women spur it onward.
One tender bite: I versify

In buckets. But it’s many years
Since last I penned a plangent ode.
My old kerchief still bears the knot
I tied then. Why? Remembering’s hard,

For Lethe’s bitter wind has blowed,
Or current swept my thoughts away.
Some lesser poet conjured it -
He’ll be remembered; I, forgot.

This is the sequel to a poem called Inspiration Falls, and it carries on for quite a lot longer.

Why Domino rhyme? 

The idea is to rhyme without the reader consciously noticing, because the rhymes are unusually far apart - what I call "remote rhyming". With the poem laid out as above, the pattern is relatively easy to spot - but remove the gaps between the stanzas, and the reader is likely to be satisfyingly baffled. 

I call this particular rhyming scheme "domino rhyme" for two reasons. First, because the rhymes ripple through the poem like toppling dominoes. Second, because one of the most popular domino games is called Fives and Threes (or Threes and Fives!) and here pairs of rhyming lines are always either five or three lines apart.

Note for Logophiles

In the example above, each stanza is built around an obscure word which does not actually appear in the poem. (This is not an essential part of the verse form!) The words are: agapetae early churchwomen who lived with celibate men; gynotikolobomassophile one who likes to nibble women’s earlobes; quipu mnemonic knots in ancient Peru; castrophrenia: the belief that enemies are stealing ones thoughts.

Similar forms

I only know of one other verse form in which every line rhymes, but all the rhymes are external. This is rimas dissolutas. 

Pasted from<http://volecentral.co.uk/vf/domino.htm

 Thanks to Bob Newman.

My Example Poem

Humility Earned     (Domino Rhyme)

She does not think less of herself

for acts she did when she was young

The scars she has are not displayed

invoked, or played upon at all.

New melodies are being sung

by youngsters facing tempting threats.

She works with them in song and verse

her voice each morning an aubade.

She's risen above her regrets,

and frets not at all 'bout her past

She harvests beauty floating by,

considers grumpiness a curse.

No opportunity's your last

mistakes like read books on a shelf

are simply signposts for us all

take note, move on, spread wings, and fly.

© Lawrencealot - December 31, 2013

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Loop Poetry

Loop Poetry is a poetry form created by Hellon. There are no restrictions on the number of stanzas nor on the syllable count for each line. In each stanza, the last word of the first line becomes the first word of line two, last word of line 2 becomes the first word of line 3, last word of line 3 becomes the first word of line 4. This is followed for each stanza. The rhyme scheme is abcb.

Variations: 

1. Stanzas, writers choice on the number, no rhyming, the last word, first word scheme is maintained.  The rhyme scheme is abcb. (added by blogger)

2. One long stanza, no limit on number of lines, no rhyming scheme, the last word, first word scheme is maintained.

3. Couplets mixed with 4 line stanzas, the last word, first word scheme is maintained in the stanzas. It can also be used in the couplets.

Rhyme scheme is ab, cc, defg, hh, ii, jklm, nn, oo.

Example #1:

How I See You

Eyes that don't see

see the things that you do

do you wish me to describe

describe how I see you...

Skin so delicate

delicate as a rose

rose that will blossom

blossom as it grows.

Hair moving gently

gently you tease

tease...softly whispering

whispering summer breeze.

Voice so melodic

melodic singing birds

birds, such sweet tunes

tunes...enchant like your words.

Dress...rustling

rustling tress bare

bare as leaves fall

fall, the colour of your hair.

Your perfume..sweet fragrance

fragrance frangipani's bring

bring back many memories

memories of spring.

Yes...I am blind

blind, yet I see

see in my mind

mind you fill will glee.

Copyright © 2009 Hellon

Example #2:

Bloody eyes

Bloody eyes..watching..waiting

waiting in gloomy shadows

shadows of night

night so...still

still they watch, still they wait

wait for you

you..the next victim

victim of evil

evil that lurks

lurks in silence

silence then...screams

screams...then silence

silence of night

night of shadows

shadows of gloom..waiting

waiting...watching

watching..bloody eyes

Copyright © 2009 Hellon

Example #3:

Picture Frame

Looking out at the world from a picture frame

smile frozen in time.. skin of porcelain

Eyes of green meadows on a warm summer's day

auburn hair falling cascades to disarray...

disarray like her life

life changed this young girl

girl with a past

past life..secrets hidden

around the frame wallpaper is faded

just like her life, over...jaded

smile frozen in time behind emerald eyes

there in a past entwined with lies

Lies...there were many

many secrets..haunting

haunting her now

now re-living the nightmare

Fear of a night she would rather forget

so long ago still she lives with regret

picture frame now smashed, shattered glass on the floor

just like her life, dreams are no more.

Copyright © 2009 Hellon All Rights Reserved

Pasted from <http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/looppoetry.html> 

Abhanga

Abhanga

There are not many verse forms whose names begin with the letter A.  The abhanga is a Marathi form, Marathi being one of the major languages of India. It is the official language of Maharashtra, and is also spoken in several neighbouring states in the west of the country, including Goa and Karnataka. 

The form is simply described: four lines, with syllable counts of 6, 6, 6, 4, and lines 2 and 3 rhyming.

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

Thanks to Bob Newman for this wonderful resource.

Abhanga, "the completion" is a stanzaic form commonly used for devotional poetic composition although it has also been used for cynicism, satire and reflective moods. It was popular from the 13th thru 17th centuries Marathi Region of India and is described as complex and classic.

...

The Abhanga is:

• stanzaic, written in any number of 4 line stanzas.
• syllabic, 6-6-6-4 syllables each
• rhymed L2 and L3 rhyme. Often internal rhyme is employed. End rhyme scheme x a a x , x being unrhymed.

Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?/topic/1212-vi-marathi-region-the-abhanga/> 

Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for this wonderful resource.

Example Poem

Nurturer     (Abhanga)        

When life it brought into         

our world with woman's pain         

before the child's refrain         

sends it away…         

the nurturing begins         

with boys and girls, and yes,         

with men we must confess.         

The woman builds.         

When this small fact is found         

to be untrue, then what?        

Then you've defined a slut,         

female, that's all.         

The care and love rendered         

describe a woman's ilk.         

Their touch is soft as silk         

but strong as glue.         

As aging wrinkles up         

my face, I'm satisfied         

a woman's by my side         

and she has cared.         

© Lawrencealot - November 26, 2013        

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Chandlerian

This form was invented in 2005 by B_Chandler on AP.

I found it on PoetryMagnusOpus listed as "Chandler's Sonnet, with the caveat that it 

• The Chandler Sonnet is an invented verse form introduced by B Chandler that although it is called a sonnet, has nothing in common with thesonnet form.
  The Chandler Sonnet is:
• a poem in 22 lines, written in 3 quatrains, an octave and a couplet in that order.
• syllabic, the first 3 quatrains are dodecasyllabic, the quatrain is hendecasyllabic and the couplet is heptasyllabic lines.
• rhymed, turned on only 4 rhymes, abab baba abab cdccdcdd ee.

Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=2253>

My thanks to Judi Van Gorder of PMO, one of the hardest working site administrators on the web.  A wonderful resource.

I have chosen to give the form the Original name the creator applied, even though in her

description she called it "The Chandler Sonnet"..  I am already catching enough flax for finding so many non-complying sonnet forms.  

Example Poem

Instinct     (Chandelarian)

Instinctively the spider knows he has to build.

A DNA encoded knowledge, never taught

enables his performance, diligent and skilled.

His mommy never taught him though you think she ought.

To teach this task in college would require a lot,

and grant you membership in an especial guild.

Geometry and Physics, rules of Mandelbrot,

and Chemistry and math would be the skills they sought.

Our spider weaves his web without a second thought,

then finds it rendered useless by the moist air chilled

by nature's nocturnal show's ever changing plot.

The web will dry and work, or else he will rebuild.

Discontent with other's actions can occur

in daily functions even when we're trying

to co-operate- attempting to defer,

and misspoken words are taken as a slur.

This happens even when you are complying

and we don't always comply, that is for sure.

If mates can touch the care that's underlying

as by instinct they'll find their love undying.

My wife's patient as a saint

that's so, even though I ain't.

© Lawremcealot - Novemeber 20, 2013

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This template uses beginning Anapest for "c" rhymes

poet may choose any meter for either rhyme