Zejel

Zejel

The zejel is a Spanish form which my Spanish friends have not heard of. They tell me though that it is pronounced the-hell, with the stress on the second syllable. (How the hell do they know?)

My example in this form is about how men can't help thinking about sex. I hope this doesn't offend anyone, and get me a reputation as a male chauvinist pig. As I'm always saying, the opinions expressed in the poem are not necessarily those of the poet himself. (See also my Masefield parody.) 

I checked on the web how many times a day men are reputed to think about sex. The consensus seemed to be that it was about 200. The lowest figure came from the Ladies Home Journal, which said "4 or 5". The highest came from the film Simply Irresistible, which says 278 - apparently it uses this as a running gag. (One site actually topped this with a claim of "every 8 seconds", which works out at 450 times an hour, but I think that writer may have been shooting from the hip, as it were.)

Anyway, here's the poem: 

Proposition

Mostly, sex tops men’s agenda.

I’m not one to buck the trend - a

Red-blooded repeat offender.

Hurrying for the morning train,

Spirit not damped by teeming rain,

There’s only one thing on my brain:

All the time I think of gender.

At the office, deep in filing,

Boredom on frustration piling,

Even then, a woman smiling

Makes me feel all warm and tender.

Are you female and eighteen plus?

A good sport and adventurous?

We have a great deal to discuss.

Come back to my hacienda!

The first stanza, known as the mudanza, has three lines, rhyming aaa. All the other stanzas - as many of them as you like - have 4 lines, rhyming bbba, the a rhyme harking back to the first stanza. So the overall rhyming scheme for the poem is aaa/bbba/ccca/ddda/...

Colloquial language tends to be used, and 8-syllable lines are usual (though not obligatory), so that's what I've used here. I have interpreted the term "8-syllable line" to mean "a line with 8 syllables", and I suggest that you should do the same. However, in Spanish poetry syllable-counting works differently, and the term "8-syllable line" is liable to be interpreted as "a line in which the last stressed syllable is the seventh"; such a line might have 7 syllables, or 8, or 9, or even more. (I wonder whether the Spanish write haiku?)Pasted from <http://volecentral.co.uk/vf/zejel.htm>

Thanks to Bob Newman for his wonderful Volecentral resource site.

Example Poem

Toothless Smile      (Zejel)

The tortoise lived out on a heath

with only sage to hide beneath

his home he never could bequeath.

While I am taxed for my household

and pay and pay until I'm old,

and shall until I'm dead and cold

and I'm ensconced beneath a wreath.

My brilliant smile was once okay,

before my teeth all went away;

my progeny will have to say,

"He kept his house but lost his teeth."

© Lawrencealot - April 16, 2014

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SIJO

SIJO  (from Shadow Poetry Handbook)

A short Korean poetry form consisting of three lines,

each line having a total of 14-16 syllables in four groups 

ranging from 2 to 7 (but usually 3 or 4) syllables, with a natural pause at the end of the second group and a major pause after the fourth group. 

The third line often introduces a resolution, a touch of humor, or a turn of thought. 

Nature is often the subject matter of these poems like traditional haiku."

Either narrative or thematic, 

this lyric verse introduces a truth (perhaps a problem) in line 1, 

development (called a turn) in line 2, 

and a strong conclusion beginning with a surprise (a twist) in line 3, 

which resolves tensions or questions raised by the other lines 

and provides a memorable ending. 


Related Forms: Alphabet Haiku,  Crystalline,  Haibun,  Haiga,  Haiku,  Haikuette,  Kimo, Lune, Pixiku, Rhaiku, Sijo, Ukiah, Zip

Example Poem

Surprise Test

Trained by nature over time, learned and changed my DNA. 

Teacher springs surprise exam; tough, could be season ending. 

Snow bonnet fends off freezing adds resilience to my beauty. 

 © July 23, 2012

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Shanzi

In December 2005 Andreas Gripp,  of  London, Ontario announced a new form.   The Shanzi is written in 7 lines with breaks of 2, 2 and 3. The poem contains 31 syllables arranged in this manner: 4-5, 5-4, 4-4-5.   The first 2 lines introduce the image/subject; the next 2 lines amplify what is affected by the image/subject; the last 3 lines focus on a new image/subject that complement and provide a meditative conclusion. Shanzi may be titled.

Pasted from <http://allpoetry.com/poem/9903945-Crafting_Thought-by-Reason>

Thanks To Reason for the info, here it is retated:

In December 2005 Andreas Gripp,  of  London, Ontario announced a new form.

This is a syllabic poem in seven lines  4/5 5/4 4/4/5

Unrhymed

Lines 1 and 2   INTRODUCE the SUBECT

Lines 3 and 4   AMPLIFY what is affected by the image/subject.

Line 5 thru 7    Focus on NEW SUBJECT that complements and provides a meditative conclusion.

Shanzi may be Titled

Example Poem

Backyard in August

In the backyard

apples all about

rake and basket wait

under the tree

some for the birds

some for neighbors

some for you and me

© Lawrencealot - August 20, 2012

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Trinquint

Triquint

Triquint, a poem form created by Sylvia A. Feeley, which consists of 3 verses, 5 lines each. Lines 3 and 4 of verse 1 (Refrain) repeat in verses 2 and 3. The syllable count for each stanza is 9, 7, 5, 3, 1 and has an aaAAb rhyme scheme.

Example:

Heartache

Words written in verses, they appeal.
Sung about in songs you feel.
Heartache, all to real.
Ne'er ideal.
Hears.

Emotions which are hard to conceal.
Feelings that are so surreal.
Heartache, all to real.
Ne'er ideal.
Tears.

Beliefs that if you were to reveal,
would cause pain too hard to heal.
Heartache, all to real.
Ne'er ideal.
Fears.

Copyright © 2008 Sylvia A. Feeley

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

A thanks to Shadow Poetry for this resource.

Union     (Triquint)

How'd you happen to start loving me?

I speculate that maybe

reciprocity

sets us free.

How?

Each one supporting the other's chi,

manifests duality;

reciprocity

sets us free.

now.

When two souls merge, their reality

makes strong singularity,

reciprocity

sets us free.

Wow!

 © Lawrencealot - Dec. 8, 2013

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Than-Bauk

Than-Bauk

The Than-Bauk is Burmese. It goes something like this:

A kind of verse

Some are worse than.

It’s terse, but rhymes.

Three lines, four syllables each. And the fourth, third and second syllables respectively all rhyme. It's even shorter than a haiku, but a lot more structured. Traditionally, than-bauks are supposed to be witty and epigrammatic.

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

Than Bauk

In view of the Haikus popularity in the West, it's surprising that the Than Bauk is not more popular. It consists of three lines of four syllables that should be witty. The nickname for this form of poetry, could be "Stairway", because of the rhyme steps through the poem. This is the basic rhyme scheme:

O. O. O. a

O. O. a. O

O. a. O. b

You can see from this that it forms a descending step, and at this point it can be terminated. You have twelve syllables to work with, and it could be very hard work. It could be much easier if a longer poem were made. If this is the case, then the practice is that the last syllable of the third line starts the next descent as shown below:

O. O. O. a

O. O. a. O

O. a. O. b

O. O. b. O

O. b. O. c

O. O. c. O

O. c. O. d. etc.

Pasted from <http://www.thepoetsgarret.com/orient/than.html>

Example Poem

The  sun is bright

while moonlight is

seen night and day.

© Lawrencealot - November 22, 2013

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Only Three lines are required, but if you wish to continue, the pattern follows.

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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